Customized accessibility: Night Sky

A true collaboration between architect and client, this Blue Mountains house goes beyond the prescriptive nature of the Australian Standard for access and mobility, providing a much more personalized outcome and offering a view of the stars.

The client’s brief for this new residential project high in the Blue Mountains was unique: a sustainable house that lets him travel to the stars, while also being accessible and adaptable for life with a disability. An astronomer and engineer, Basil Borun had investigated the option of a project home but soon realized that any kind of customization would increase the cost significantly, making an architect-designed house much more desirable. After a detailed selection process, he finally chose Peter Stutchbury and his team to undertake the work. The result is as far from a project home as could be.

Glimpses of the house’s parabolic vaulted roof can be caught between the trees on the approach. Located on a flat block with neighbours to the sides and a golf course to the back, the dwelling – though small at 130 square metres – elicits a sense of awe upon arrival.

The design concept has two particular inspirations: Borun’s favourite building, England’s Salisbury Cathedral, and a memory from the 1970s of an evening spent in a restaurant in Romania that was a converted ammunition storage bunker, built of raw bricks and buried in the earth.

The main living space is generous in size to enable easy wheelchair movement between kitchen, dining table and sitting area.

The main living space is generous in size to enable easy wheelchair movement between kitchen, dining table and sitting area.

Image: Michael Nicholson

The dramatic vaulted ceiling dominates the main living space, which is generous in size to enable easy wheelchair movement between kitchen, dining table and sitting area. Punched high into the vault, a huge, elliptical skylight is undeniably the hero piece of the house. Its thin edge dematerializes the junction between sky and brick, connecting the residence, as Peter Stutchbury says, to nature and place. Unglazed, it opens and closes via a steel shutter on the roof and is positioned to capture views of Borun’s favourite constellations. It is also central to the dwelling’s passive heating and cooling system, enabling two-way ventilation.

Peter Stutchbury, who was an early adopter of sustainable design, has found efficient ways to reduce energy consumption in the house, which exists entirely off the grid. Recycled double-brick and insulated walls provide thermal mass and work in tandem with the skylight to absorb and release heat. The house generates and stores all required electricity and runs on tank water. Evacuated tubes for solar hot water confidently adorn its main wall, and 48 photovoltaic panels are mounted on the roof. The residence has won several awards since its completion, including the Australian Institute of Architects’ Robin Boyd Award for Residential Architecture and the sustainability category in the Houses Awards (both 2021).

The huge, elliptical skylight – the undeniable hero piece of Night Sky – is unglazed and opens via a steel shutter on the roof.

The huge, elliptical skylight – the undeniable hero piece of Night Sky – is unglazed and opens via a steel shutter on the roof.

Image: Michael Nicholson

Many things make Night Sky special but, above all, it represents a true collaboration between the client, the architectural team and the builder to create a residence that is at once accessible, adaptable to the resident’s changing needs, functional and beautiful. Fernanda Cabral, the project architect, says that all-day meetings were conducted in Borun’s previous house, documenting how spaces were being used and working out what was required for spaces such as the kitchen and bathroom. These observations informed the detailed design of rooms and customization of various fittings – for example, the joinery needed to be adjusted to facilitate the use of a wheelchair. The project goes beyond the prescriptive nature of the Australian Standard for access and mobility, providing a much more personalized outcome and allowing for future adaptation. Borun, whose mobility is declining, intends to spend the rest of his life in the house, making the design process an ongoing one. The project poses the question of how a collaborative process, and a level of future-proofing, could be made part of a standard.

A restrained material palette of recycled bricks, timber, concrete and steel gives a sense of timelessness to the house. Borun clearly appreciates the many opportunities it affords to sit quietly and enjoy the surrounds: “I discover contentment and fulfilment in my mountain cabin,” he says. Despite the height of the roof, the main space has a relaxed atmosphere and feels inviting – a perfect spot to enjoy a roaring fire on a cold winter’s night, complete with a view of the stars. During the day, the outlook is calming; an ocean of grasses sways softly in the wind, with the golf course beyond bestowing a generous green prospect. The low-water garden perfectly complements the architecture, with a lack of fences making the modest-sized block appear larger, permitting the neighbours to borrow views and encouraging social interaction. Neighbourhood cats sunbathe on the terrace and golfers, stopping for a drink at the eighteenth tee, often call in for a chat.

Large north-facing windows flood the bedroom and study/workshop with natural light.

Large north-facing windows flood the bedroom and study/workshop with natural light.

Image: Michael Nicholson

Future accessibility and independent living were significant drivers during the design phase. The central space is flanked by two lower side wings – a bedroom wing and a study and workshop wing, both with large windows to the north. The rooms interconnect, with a series of sliding doors making the space feel open and spacious. The passageways provide generous access without the need for long hallways. Mobility aids are skilfully integrated, with full-height brass grabrails, flush thresholds throughout and work surfaces without storage beneath. The floor plan is set up to allow for future live-in help and flexible use of space. Borun describes his hierarchy of spaces in terms of mobility aids and budget, with bathrooms having the highest requirements and the living space the lowest.

Night Sky pushes the boundaries of what defines a home while contributing to a wider conversation around housing accessibility. The “rare and beautifully effortless result” (2021 National Architecture Awards jury) of its design process demonstrates how a collaborative approach can deliver a more personalized and liveable outcome – one that indulges the senses, a curious mind and a changing body.

Credits

Project
Night Sky
Architect
Peter Stutchbury Architecture
Sydney, NSW, Australia
Project Team
Peter Stutchbury, Fernanda Cabral, Sobi Slingsby
Consultants
Hydraulic consultant JCL Development Solutions
Hydronic systems consultant Progressive Energy Systems
Landscape consultant Sophie Zaccone
Skylight Simple Motion
Solar consultant Sun-Kissed Solar
Structural engineer ROC Engineering Design
Windows and doors Bakers Joinery
Aboriginal Nation
Built on the land of the Dharug, Gundungurra, Wanaruah, Wiradjuri, Darkinjung and Tharawal peoples
Site Details
Project Details
Status Built
Category Residential

Source

Project

Published online: 14 Mar 2022
Words: Manuela Doebelin
Images: Michael Nicholson

Issue

Architecture Australia, March 2022

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