Country living in a modern age does not necessarily have to mean living in a cottage or a country homestead. A rural lifestyle can be a haven of relaxation and a conscious choice. In today’s hectic society with our busy lives it can offer an alternative way of living. When building a new home in a rural area, we do not have to compromise the modernity of urban living. It is fully possible to enjoy the best of both worlds when escaping to the country.
This Modern Country House is situated on an acreage rural property in Brandy Creek, Country Victoria. The brief was to create a small house for a young couple with busy lifestyles that respected the rural landscape and allowed for Blueberry farming on the property. The small house is blending in harmoniously with the green land by the creek and the somewhat small footprint is minimising any disturbance to the landscape.
The house location is on the highest point of the land, allowing it to follow the natural fall and to capture the pastoral views. The living areas that are north facing have glass sliders to allow indoor outdoor feel and to further enhance that very feel, the house has four outdoor areas with timber decking.
The Clients were inspired by the architecture they encountered on their trip to Germany and were particularly fond of the roof style that was prominent in for some of the German designers.
We created an interesting feature with broken roof lines with a gentle fall and glass to allow for sunlight. The highest part of the roof continues down wrapping around the entry of the house with timber beam/ louvres .
The building materials have been selected to keep the country feel, blend with the natural environment, provide resistance to bushfires and achieve urban and crisp aesthetics. The façade materials are a blend of concrete, rendered brick, metal cladding and timber. The Clients were strong about building a sustainable home and therefore a lot of Environmental Sustainable Design (ESD) solutions were implemented in this project.
The concrete walls’ thermal mass balances the change in temperature that occurs in country living and improves the building energy efficiency performance. The property has a few old decommissioned power poles that the Client was eager to salvage. The poles will form part of the interior as internal beams.
For your own Modern Country ESD home contact Architeria Architects.