Skip To Main Content
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

The Exploding! Shed House: An Experiment in Small Footprint Living
HomesEditorial Team

The Exploding! Shed House: An Experiment in Small Footprint Living

Australia

Designed by David Weir Architects, “The Exploding! Shed House” is a successful experiment in small footprint living for modern Perth.


This one-bed, one-bath home fulfils the goal of a joyful and simple suburban residence while respecting its place and location. Built in the backyard of a sub-divided bungalow property, the dwelling has been designed to fulfil the home owners simple brief – a small, affordable home with a yard and a ‘messy space’ for a studio.

“Greater urban density shouldn’t need to translate to boundary-to-boundary development while ignoring its site and neighbours,” explain the architects. With this in mind, the design eschews unnecessary floor area for a backyard, and limits internal walls to allow for open space, natural light, breezes and views beyond the limits of the house.

ExplodingShed-35_LR

The mature jacaranda tree anchors the site, and its branches spread over the house to give shade throughout summer. Sliding doors and windows and fans cool the house, and orientation to the North and thermal mass help to heat the house in the winter.

The materials used inside and out split the building into weatherboard cottage and corrugated studio (a reference to the shed at the bottom of the garden). The clean white walls and ceiling of the residence give way to the more hand-crafted wood linings of the workshop.

The house is tied together with the simple yet durable concrete floor running throughout the home. The yard is paved with concrete council pavers rescued from a local renovation.

David Weir Architects
davidweirarchitects.com

ExplodingShed-98-125_LR
ExplodingShed-95-124_LR
ExplodingShed-91-123_LR
ExplodingShed-88_LR
ExplodingShed-82-122_LR
ExplodingShed-78-121_LR
ExplodingShed-75_LR
ExplodingShed-72-120_LR
ExplodingShed-69_LR
ExplodingShed-68_LR
ExplodingShed-67_LR
ExplodingShed-65_LR
ExplodingShed-62_LR
ExplodingShed-60_LR
ExplodingShed-59_LR
ExplodingShed-58-119_LR
ExplodingShed-49_LR
ExplodingShed-47_LR
ExplodingShed-45_LR
ExplodingShed-43-118_LR
ExplodingShed-42-117_LR
ExplodingShed-39_LR
ExplodingShed-33_LR
ExplodingShed-29_LR
ExplodingShed-26_LR
ExplodingShed-25_LR
ExplodingShed-19_LR
ExplodingShed-15-116_LR
ExplodingShed-13_LR
ExplodingShed-8-115_LR
ExplodingShed-7-114_LR
ExplodingShed-4_LR
ExplodingShed-1-113_LR


About the Author

Editorial Team

Tags

Home ArchitectureHouse ArchitectureResidential Architecture


Related Projects
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.

Order Issue