TOM AND TESS - SEllicks beach - south australia
Long and Low
Long and Low
Long and Low
Tom and Tess/s new home nestles into the hill overlooking the southern Adelaide beaches.
Aerial View
Long and Low
Long and Low
Notice how relatively little actual site excavation is required - just the house and a metre or so around the sides and rear . . . it gets filled back in after the house is completed - leaving only the front exposed.
Light and Ventilation Courts
Light and Ventilation Courts
Light and Ventilation Courts
This shot shows the three court roofs at the rear of the house - a vital element in every ShelterSpace design - they provide light to the rear rooms and cross ventilation through the entire home - healthy design.
Site Excavation
Light and Ventilation Courts
Light and Ventilation Courts
Every site is obviously different, and occasionally the excavation reveals some harder material that needed some heavier equipment.
Penny and Hilary - Newham Vic
Site Slope
Court Roofs
Court Roofs
The most cost-effective site slope is 1:4.
This allows for a two-room deep floor plan with the rear of the house fully earth covered
Court Roofs
Court Roofs
Court Roofs
Natural light and airflow through out houses is a fundamental part of all our designs - the location and size of the internal courts and their roofs is of major importance.
Roof Cover Vegetation
Roof Cover Vegetation
Roof Cover Vegetation
The roof cover vegetation can take any form you like - Penny and Hilary's native grasses blend perfectly with the surrounding paddock.
Outdoor Living Area
Roof Cover Vegetation
Roof Cover Vegetation
Outdoor entertainment/living areas are another integral part of our design philosophy - accessed from the front rooms via sliding doors.
Stefan and Emrys - Brownhill Creek SA
History:
The clients came to us with a 'difficult' site . . . mainly due to limited access and therefore understandable issues with the CFS, but also with waste management location, builder delivery roadwork issues and land use overlays that triggered special attention from the planners.
Dale discussed the various issues with the authorities, and together they came up with a design that satisfied all concerned . . . which always takes time!
Projects like this require patience and understanding from both clients and designers, but the end result and the view from the house will be worth the wait.
Stefan and Emrys were keen to have some rammed earth walls incorporated into the design, so Dale introduced some non-load-bearing walls at the entry and lounge areas.
Project Outline:
North East facing 1:4 slope
Area of house - 205 sqM
Area of courts - 13 sqM
Total floor area - 218 sqM
Footings and floor slab ready to pour
Floor slab pour under way
Rammed earth walls were completed before roof could be formed and poured.
Lounge/dining area with access to outdoor living area
Kitchen with light & ventilation court
Interior of light & ventilation court
Peter and Francine - Biggs Flat. SA
History:
Dale collaborated with the clients to design a house with an open-planned living area and a separate study at the front, and three bedrooms at the rear. There are two light/ventilation courts and the double garage is under the main earth sheltered roof.
Peter's brief was that he wanted to do as much of the physical work as possible . . . and as an owner-builder, that's just what he did.
He constructed the access road and dug the main site excavation himself with a backhoe type farm machine. Peter employed professional brickies and concretors to build the man structure; plumbers and electricians to installed the services systems, and then he assisted a carpenter to erect the internal timber stud walls and ceilings.. Then he and Francine finished off everything else: skirtings, architraves, flooring, tiling, painting kitchen, robes . . .etc etc.
Peter's attention to detail can be seen in his amazing stonework - a feature of the front walls of the house. He hand-picked each stone during the site excavation and laid them individually over the concrete block front walls - the window quoins he rendered and painted to compliment the stonework.
The project design began in early 2017 and they have been working away diligently since then - this level of detail and physical input takes time . . .and it definitely shows.
If there was ever a 'labour of love' . . . this has to be it.
Project Outline:
North-West facing 1:4 slope.
Open-planned dining/kitchen with separate offoce.
Entry ember/air lock.
Two light and ventilation courts.
PV power supply on adjacent garage/shed.
Septic waste-management system.
Two 22K litre rain water tanks.
Full-length outdoor entertainment area with adjustable solar-pergola over.
Area of house - 161 sqM
Area of courts - 11sqM
Area of garage - 62sqM
Total floor area - 234 sqM
open-planned living / dining / kitchen
View from kitchen - entry air lock at far end.
Rendered parapet and wall - note discreet bushfire rated roller shutters above windows.
Peter with his steel window screen for small entry window - applied over opening in bushfire season.
View to house paddock dam from kitchen.
Guest bedroom - light and ventilation from court
Jane and Jason - Singleton NSW
History:
Jane and Jason were looking for a modern house to accomodate their growing family with the parent's bedroom separated from the children's area to allow for their first-responders shift-work lifestyle.
They had built a large implement shed on site to provide for drinking water collection and a suitable location for the solar panels.
The site gradient is gentle and this allowed for an almost square floor plan.
The basic concept design was roughed-out via and phone and internet, and then Paul flew up to see the site and finalise the floor plan with Jane and Jason in person.
The council planners fully appreciated the bushfire resistant qualities of the earth sheltered design and approved the Development Application without delay.
Local structural engineers were engaged and drawings prepared by them and ShelterSpace for the Construction Certificate, which again was quickly approved.
Jane and Jason are owner-builders with the assistance of a qualified builder as project-manager.
Project Outline:
North facing 1:25 slope
Master bedroom and flexible space for children's bedrooms/play room/study areas
Walk-through robe from master bedroom to en-suite bathroom
Open-planned dining/kitchen with separate formal lounge/tv area
Entry ember/air lock
Four light and ventilation courts
Solar HWS and PV power supply on adjacent garage/shed
Septic waste-management system
Two 22K litre rain water tanks - connected to existing storage tank
Area of house - 234 sqM
Area of courts - 16 sqM
Total floor area - 250 sqM
Heather and Mike - Conondale Qld Completed in 2019
History:
Heather and Mike are owner-builders who put their hearts and souls into their new ShelterSpace home . . . . I use the word home, because this is exactly what they have produced . . . a place to call home. Like most owner-builders, there are many things in the house that show their personal touches . . . and many hours of work.
In 2016 Paul flew up and stayed with Mike and Heather for a few days while the concept design was finalised and sketch plans prepared for client sign-off. The planning Application and Construction Certificate drawings were done back in Paul's studio in Adelaide and the Council approvals granted without fuss.
During the design process Mike and Heather emphasised that the final design should allow for Mike's horticultural skills (and Heather's green fingers) to play a big part in the final form - with landscaping and roof garden to be a big part of the visual imagery.
Project Outline:
North facing 1:5 slope
Vehicle access from below via ridge
Three bedrooms
Walk-in robe and en-suite to main bedroom
Open-planned lounge/dining/kitchen
Outdoor living area directly off lounge - with overhead protection
Three rear light and ventilation courts
Solar HWS and PV power supply (on shed nearby)
Septic waste-management system
Two 22K litre rain water tanks
2 car carport adjacent house
Area of house - 248sqM
The completed house nestles gently in the natural slope of the site. Mike and Heather's amazing gardening skills were a big part of the design brief.
The owner-builder's personal touch is very evident in the interior.
Winter view from lounge windows - pergola will control summer sun when completed.
Yes . . . there's a house in there somewhere! - "house meets garden".
This really is a photo of the roof - garden and lawn flow seamlessly over the house
Couldn't resist another roof garden photo. From the sides and rear the house virtually disappears.
Don and Cheryl - Caparra NSW
History:
Don and Cheryl sadly lost their lovely home in the November 2019 bushfires in northern NSW. ShelterSpace reacted quickly to their request for assistance, flew up to meet them, see their site and get things going as fast as possible. We met with the council planners, local structural engineers and certifiers who all went out of their way to help the project.
After receiving a very detailed brief from our clients, ShelterSpace developed a modern house design that fitted their budget, the site and their needs.
Terry the selected builder made himself available during the visit which made later discussions far easier - putting a face to a name always helps.
On returning to Adelaide with the basic concept in place and a lot of additional information prioritised, the Planning Application drawings were produced in our studio and submitted to council for approval. This was received in only a few day (yes days!) and we were quickly into producing the working drawings for submission to the certifier and council for Construction Certificate . . . this only took a few weeks after submission.
It was gratifying to see how well the local authorities responded , how quickly they reacted to the difficulties people had found themselves in after the devastating bushfires.
Here's a link to the council's bushfire recovery videos - featuring Don and Cheryl's project.
https://www.midcoast.nsw.gov.au/Council/Emergencies-on-the-MidCoast/Recovery-from-bushfire-events
Project Outline:
North facing 1:4 slope
Minimal vegetation within 50 metres of house site
Vehicle access from below via ridge
Two bedrooms
Walk-in robe to main bedroom
Open-planned lounge/dining/kitchen
Kitchen at rear with view-line through dining/lounge to view
Outdoor living area directly off lounge - with overhead protection
main bathroom serving as en-suite to main bedroom
Three car garage
Entry ember/air lock from garage and porch
Two rear light and ventilation courts
Solar HWS and PV power supply
Septic waste-management system
Two 22K litre rain water tanks - connected to existing storage tank
Area of house - 127 sqM
Area of courts - 7 sqM
Area of garages - 92 sqM
Total floor area - 226 sqM
Nicholas and Penny - Ashton SA
History:
Dale collaborated with the clients to produce a modern house plan that reflects the vision they brought to the design process.
Nicholas and Penny are experienced owner-builders with several previous builds to their credit. They have done most of the physical work on the build themselves, with the assistance of registered plumbers and electricians where required. They left the concrete floor and roof to the experts, but Nicholas did the block walls himself . . . and all that face brickwork too.
The build incorporates a lot of 'pre-loved' materials . . . . used in imaginative ways.
This is not going to be one of those 'cookie cutter' houses . . . it'll be very individual and unique.
They live on site in the sheds above the house site, so they can devote as much time to the construction as they can.
Project Outline:
East facing 1:4 slope
Two light and ventilation courts
Septic waste-management system
Area of house - 200 sqM
The main living area - Nicholas laid the face brick walls and timber floor boards - repurposed materials abound throughout the house
Kitchen at rear of living room - lit from main rear court
Dale checks out their amazing pantry
The wash-room handbasin with purpose made steel screen - frosted glass to come soon - space is lit from internal court.
Nicholas shows us the electrically operated blind over the circular window in the bathroom