O'Leary House – under construction

Located on the far south coast of NSW, the steep and bushy site, presented a range of challenges. Council policies had given the site setbacks of 15m from each of the side boundaries, yet the site was only 29m in width. At the time of the design a new bushfire policy had recently become law, which because of the steep topography and bushy vegetation, classed the site as 'flame zone'. Initially Council's response was to advise that the site was not suitable for dwellings, but fortunately common sense prevailed on this issue and the side setback issue. Nevertheless, the new policy did dictate that we we could not use any exposed timber and so the decision to use steel and concrete blockwork was made.

Whilst the site was steep, it was relatively consistent across the width of the site and with distant views of the Bega Valley at the rear of the site, we decided to build a long narrow house, with a heavy concrete block base built on the ground and a contrasting glass and steel first floor level, which met our client's desire to live amongst the trees and very much exposed to the constantly changing environment outside the walls of the house.

Shortly after starting work on the house, the clients moved to Japan for 6 years and so we're excited that they have now returned and are finishing the house in their limited spare time. We look forward for the long awaited house warming party.

Site Location: Wallagoot | NSW

Architect: JCB Design Partnership

Project Architect: Campbell Baird

Builder: Building Habitats