Taking a house tour inside a home made entirely from local and sustainable building materials, Topology Studio offers a rare insight into how a structure becomes one with its surrounds. Sitting atop the land, House at Otago Bay looks out toward the bay and as far as Mount Wellington – offering the owners a home that is flush with the landscape. Modest upon arrival, House at Otago Bay is positioned at the end of the drive with its back towards neighbours and its front facing the opposite bush reserve. Made of locally sourced bricks, bushfire-resistant timber and glass, the home’s design showcases a passion for building sustainably for the present and future.
Entering the home at the main living level, Topology Studio has designed the space to open and focus on unrivalled views of the bay. Though sitting on a narrow site, the insertion of unique architectural and design choices inside a home, such as the continuous curved ceiling, help the home to branch outwards and avoid being marginalised by frames. Stairs that sit off to the side lead down to the lower ground floor, in which a bedroom and ensuite have been partially set into the foundation of the home, offering a distinctive view out across the grass and towards the water’s edge. With a seamless connection that isn’t often seen inside a home, the external façade blurs the lines between inside and out and adds a layer of connection to the surrounding environment.
Sitting quietly and calmly upon the land, the architects have chosen to use tones that reference the rocks, water and greenery of the landscape. Using locally sourced and produced materials inside and out took away the need to import from overseas, avoiding unnecessarily increasing the home’s carbon footprint during construction. After specifying the Tasmanian brick, Topology Studio positioned the building to maximise sunlight during winter and shield the inside during the summer, while also taking advantage of the expansive views. To cater to the changing temperature inside a home, the masonry and concrete floor provide a high level of thermal mass through the seasons and take away the need for external heating technology.
House at Otago Bay is supplied electricity by the solar panels on the boat house – taking away any need for gas and minimising running costs and impact on the environment. Though inside a home can be thought of as sustainable, Topology Studio has taken the extra step to respect the environment by providing robust materials across both outside and inside – proving that homes can provide longevity for its owners in sustainable and eco-friendly ways.
00:00 – Introduction to the Sustainable Home
00:30 – The Architect and The Home Owner
01:00 – The Location
01:19 – A Walkthrough of the Sustainable Home
01:40 – Expanding Spaces Through Shapes
02:27 – A Seamless Connection of Inside and Outside
02:47 – A Home that Sits Quietly and Calmly
03:00 – Using Local Manufacturers
03:21 – Maximising the Benefits of the Natural Elements
04:01 – An Entirely Electric Home
04:13 – Climate Change Impacts and Planning for the Future
04:48 – Minimising Footprints
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Photography by Paul Hermes.
Architecture and Interior Design by Topology Studio.
Build by Cave Constructions.
Styling by Belle Bright and Lynda Gardener.
Landscape by Playstreet.
Structural, Hydraulic and Geotechnical Engineering by Gandy and Roberts.
Quality Surveying by Matrix Management Group.
Environmentally Sustainable Development by Building eValuate.
Building Surveying by Pitt & Sherry.
Filmed and Edited by The Local Project.
Production by The Local Project.
The Local Project acknowledges the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Owners of the land in Australia. We recognise the importance of Indigenous peoples in the identity of our country and continuing connections to Country and community. We pay our respect to Elders, past and present and extend that respect to all Indigenous people of these lands.
#Home #Architecture #TheLocalProject
36 Comments
Exactly how is a concrete block , concrete floors sustainable and environmentally friendly – are we now into fooling ourselves?
I am beginning to thing the “ Local Project “ should be called the “ Concrete Project “ – you have a forum to promote the “ Environment and Sustainability “ through wonderful design and your missing it on almost every build !
I'm surprised that there is no mention of the cement used in the brick. It's a major source of greenhouse gases and many designers are specifying alternatives, like fly ash or blast furnace slag.
The verbal commentary for this project was was very distracting. Wanted to hear more about the actual design of the house and less about the “sustainability” narrative. FIne, we get it. Focus more on the spaces.
Am I the only one who finds it funny it's always about sustainability in these videos but they only cater to the rich who probably pollute more than anyone else? You had people on here in the banking, investment and fuel industry but their mansion is made of concrete so that's their part settled :p
Not saying they shouldn't work this way, I just find the contrast funny
Make sure to reuse the toilet water for showering too
красиво!
the views are so stunning and the simple yet cozy layout of that living space makes it a perfect pairing, absolutely loved this property
Genuinely nice project! In my opinion, however, focusing on the design rather than an environmental agenda would do it more justice.
That's an awful lot of bricks, made from raw materials extracted from the ground and transported to the brick factory using machines powered by cheap abundant, flexible, reliable hydrocarbon energy. The same sort of energy used to power the brick furnace and transport them to this location before craning the pallets of bricks into place, before they were in turn finally positioned atop the hydrocarbon power excavated foundations, carved into the hydrocarbon power levelled ground. All atop the hydrocarbon powered water purification, supply and waste treatment systems, and the many sanitary plastic hydrocarbon based fittings that they utilise.
I give you points for using the thermal mass of bricks and orientation of the building to passively heat and cool your building; such efficiency should be complemented. What a shame those photovoltaic cells and the toxic materials used to make them will have to go to landfill in about 25 years though?
What a shame it would be to give up the great hydrocarbon generated societal wealth that made this elaborate structure possible because of a fake climate crisis? A fake climate crisis much like the 'global cooling crisis' predicted in the 1970s that we're supposed to be suffering now, and all the other crises predicted by the officially designated 'experts' (very often not actual climate researchers), over the last 50 years, which also have not come to pass.
Another amazing home. I loved the architect talking about the home, materials and site planning. 🔥
This costs more and totally nullifies the sustainability aspect of it. if it's expensive then it's not sustainable.
it's about as sustainable as a coal-fired power station.
the music is kinda too much in this one….
Really beautifully curated.
Beautiful angles, finishes and simplicity… well done!
do you have any videos that also tap into equability?
Love it…Question: How much?
Marketing marketing marketing
❤️it
A shstainable made of concrete blocks and with huge glass panes… Hmmm….
Absolutely stunning design and so thoughtful ❤
Beautiful design! I would have liked more explanation regarding the sustainability aspects, though. I appreciate the longevity aspect, but we also need to reduce emissions in the short term. Are we sure concrete blocks were the best choice?
this is stunning design .. not sure how i feel about the schpiel about sustainable materials but its built almost entirely out of concrete : which im sure we all know contributes to over 4 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide pollution annually .. so thats a bit odd. is it a beautiful house ? absolutely.
"sustainability" my ar$
Metallic frame, aluminium windows, Large ceramic island, ceramic tiles and the list goes on and on and on and on
They just used solar panels to save on electricity bills, I did these 10 years ago
I don't give a cr5p about these hippie garbage either, but at least I am not a hypocrite
What would be cool is to kill the music and instead let us hear the sounds of the environment in which a house is situated. Much more immersive and authentic for the viewer. It's a beautiful house by the way, although I couldn't give a stuff about all it's supposed "green" credentials. And I suspect the cost is far beyond the reach of most people, like most architecture. $6000 per sqm might be environmentally sustainable, but it's not financially sustainable….
Stunning execution on so many levels. Bravo.
another great house but these videos (particularly the choice of music) make everything seem so monumentally pretentious that it undermines the architecture
Love the concept and thought that went through this design.
the views are great, the house is ugly.sustainable is just a buzzword for virtue signalers
How does the use of concrete blocks reduce carbon footprint? How is such a large property reducing your footprint? How does it minimise impact, its concrete throughout with signifcant groundworks
Sustainability as a term is used too frequently for marketing purposes. Most houses built over the past 100 years are sustainable, as they are constructed with the intention of a long lifecycle from concrete in some form, that doesnt mean they reduce carbon footprint quiet the opposite. This properties materiality is orientated to high carbon footprint material through the input and output processing operation involved
Architect needs to reevaluate her supplychain
The house is spectacular. But that horrible sofa??? 😂
Fantastic visuals….
4:51 ‘..one way in which we do that is to minimise footprints of buildings and build buildings as large as they need to be and no larger’ (while walking to a balcony outside a ridiculous oversized house for two people with pretentiously high ceilings. Nice try at sounding conscious or not being ‘larger than you need’. Being smaller than a 5 hectare 8000 square metre mansion, doesn’t mean you are not larger than you need to be.