Blue Mountains NSW Australia – Peter Stutchbury Architecture
Australia is the oldest and driest continent. It’s a land of contrasts with awesome deserts, verdant rainforests and the iconic Blue Mountains. The latter are a series of impassable valleys and peaks edged with magnificent sandstone cliffs. It took the early white settlers more than 30 years to find a pass to the Western Plains and inland Australia. This home overlooks that history…
From the architect:
The design of this residence could not ignore the elements. Site selection was a process of elimination; such a parcel of land (75 hectares) demands an exhaustive review of place for ‘best’ occupation. We considered four different and unique sites over a three day period. Ultimately selecting a place the ‘farmer’ of the land had chosen two decades earlier.
The building is below the brow of the hill; thus protected – it sits comfortably within the contour; thus inoffensive – it is constructed of materials sympathetic to the area; thus coordinated – it emphasises qualities of horizon and direct light, thus connected.
In designing for this site we did not direct our thoughts to a gesture but rather studied the surrounds both immediate and distant. It was from these studies we found a mathematical; sculptural form, that although foreign was not of a different order to this place.
This building represents an interpretation of all the factors that accumulate to form a story of belonging – in this instance we have translated materials and form but it is only a marginal shift to discover references all around.
Invisible House can be there or cannot; architecture represents values, both current and beyond. If the roof, with water, reflects the sky this building will never be found – until it is discovered.
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