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Issue 59 - The Life Outside Issue

Issue 59

The Life Outside Issue

Introducing the Life Outside issue of Habitus magazine. With life increasingly being absorbed into a digital space, there is never a more important moment to hold something tangible. In this context, the power of nature to have a physiological impact on our sense of wellbeing has never been more important. So how can we cultivate the benefits of the our natural environment in the most intimate of places – our homes? This was the question that helped to bring this issue of Habitus to life.

A Product of

Designing solutions
DecorHabitusliving Editor

Designing solutions

Designing and building a house these days isn’t as simple as dreaming up your ideal home and making it. Rules and regulations, heritage conditions and existing site constraints can be highly restrictive but often the best designs are those that turn these restrictions into design opportunities.


 
 
 
Something as simple as a building product can inspire a solution that not only meets the practical criteria, but adds to the aesthetic as well.

The brief for this coastal family home in Sydney’s Northern Beaches was “a contemporary, energy- and water-efficient home that has the elusive ‘wow’ factor and utilises the expansive sea views”. 

 
 
 
 
But along with the potential vistas of the site came potential view-sharing issues with neighbours that needed to be addressed. Council policies also included a restriction of 40 per cent maximum allowable site coverage (which included the building, balconies and driveway), an 8.5m height limit, setbacks on all sides and a building envelope. 
 
The sloping site provided part of the answer to the neighbours’ sight line concerns; and COLORBOND® Ultra steel did the rest. From the street level, the roof level was kept low – as if on a single storey dwelling – which meant looking for an alternative roofing material. 
 
 
Architect Peter Downes of Peter Downes Designs says, “I personally like the iconic informality of COLORBOND® Ultra steel, it suits the beach house design and coastal lifestyle. There’s simplicity in installation and no joints or gaps for leaks to get through.”

Combining long-term durability, high formability and exceptional corrosion resistance, the COLORBOND® Ultra steel in the colour Woodland Grey® was the perfect choice for this site. 

 
With its bold sweeping forms, it becomes both a solution and a feature.

This house won the 2010 Building Designer Association NSW award for best new residential building over 450 square metres. 

 
COLORBOND® Steel 
1800 022 999


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Issue 59 - The Life Outside Issue

Issue 59

The Life Outside Issue

Introducing the Life Outside issue of Habitus magazine. With life increasingly being absorbed into a digital space, there is never a more important moment to hold something tangible. In this context, the power of nature to have a physiological impact on our sense of wellbeing has never been more important. So how can we cultivate the benefits of the our natural environment in the most intimate of places – our homes? This was the question that helped to bring this issue of Habitus to life.

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