Location
Norwood, Tasmania
Client
private
Year
2015
Images
Nina Hamilton
+
VOS Construction & joinery
Holdfast Building Surveyors
Sackett Services
Allans Garden Centre
Queechy House
A courtyard home, nestled along the bend of a meandering river, within the semi-rural periphery of Launceston, Tasmania.
Located in the city’s eastern fringe, where farmland meets suburbia, Queechy House weaves together a subtle design, a subdued exterior palette, and robust materials to seamlessly blend the house into the surroundings. Our clients, drawn to the site’s striking beauty, approached us to design a home intimately connected to its natural context, one that would provide calm spaces protected from the region’s unpredictable weather, but have unimpeded vistas of the landscape that bounds the property — the rolling farmlands, the nearby North Esk River, and the mountain reserve beyond.
Framing the landscape
Embracing the site’s natural qualities, we perched the home on the northern edge of the property, an embankment that allows the owners open views of a nearby lake and the river.
The house’s north, west, and southern façades wrap around an east-facing courtyard, creating a secluded space protected from the prevailing westerly winds of northern Tasmania. The open courtyard invites ample natural light throughout the home and provides unrestricted views of the surrounding landscape from the living area.
Tasmanian Oak features, which continue the natural tones of the landscape, create a warm contrast to the interior’s concrete floor while also softening the dark, steely veneer that wraps the house’s exterior.
Continuing a natural rhythm
Viewed from the surrounding farmland, Queechy House’s subtle form gives the appearance of an ancillary building receding into its surroundings, designed to add to the natural landscape rather than disrupt it.
QUEECHY
HOUSE
Stripped-back Georgian heritage and specialist stonemasonry.
A sympathetic restoration shaped by modern tastes.
Contrast and balance, tradition and modernity. Just what a family home needs. We responded to Symmons Plains’ significance in Tasmania’s history while curating a contemporary home for the new custodians - a family of seven.
We aimed to reveal the richness of the stories that came before. Colonist John Arndell Youl built Symmons Plains in 1839 with a structure crafted using early Australian settlement techniques. Youl famously introduced the brown trout to Australia. His family lived at Symmons for seven generations until it was bought in 2011. When we demolished the building’s original concrete, it revealed an eclectic mix of bed springs and old fencing added for reinforcement; a history of its own. It felt exciting to arrive at an answer for open, contemporary living within a building essentially the antithesis of that.
2020
Tasmanian Architecture Awards
Colorbond Steel Architecture - Commendation
2020
Tasmanian Architecture Awards
Residential Architecture
Location
Norwood, Tasmania
Client
private
Year
2015
Images
Nina Hamilton
VOS Construction & joinery
Holdfast Building Surveyors
Sackett Services
Allans Garden Centre
+
Framing the landscape
Embracing the site’s natural qualities, we perched the home on the northern edge of the property, an embankment that allows the owners open views of a nearby lake and the river.
The house’s north, west, and southern façades wrap around an east-facing courtyard, creating a secluded space protected from the prevailing westerly winds of northern Tasmania. The open courtyard invites ample natural light throughout the home and provides unrestricted views of the surrounding landscape from the living area.
Tasmanian Oak features, which continue the natural tones of the landscape, create a warm contrast to the interior’s concrete floor while also softening the dark, steely veneer that wraps the house’s exterior.
Continuing a natural rhythm
Viewed from the surrounding farmland, Queechy House’s subtle form gives the appearance of an ancillary building receding into its surroundings, designed to add to the natural landscape rather than disrupt it.
