00:03this particular location we flooded in October this building was sitting atop
00:08this concrete structure with floodwaters surrounding the building yeah it looked
00:12like a houseboat yeah so it was a pretty breathtaking sort of image
00:25the house is located in Rosebrook on the outskirts of Port Ferry it's in a beautiful floodway that was
00:32Gunditjmara land and it sits in the ruins of an old flour mill this house is nine meters by roughly
00:413.3 meters which gives it a total floor area of just under 30 square meters with the mezzanine
00:49level you get a total floor area of 40 square meters it's designed with a fully off-grid solar
00:56system with batteries and a backup generator and it's designed largely to be a passive house
01:06the road restrictions mean you can't transport anything on a freeway that's
01:10over five meters tall so that does restrict these buildings somewhat to a certain ceiling
01:17height which can make the spaces feel a bit more cramped that's why we designed this building to
01:22have an expandable roof section the way that this telescopic frame works is the wall panels fold in
01:28on themselves and then the roof can be expanded by operating a wheel which winds a cog system that
01:34pushes the whole roof structure up by 1200 millimeters then the panels fold back down
01:39to complete your wall sections the cypress that we clad the building in a felled old cypress wind
01:48breaks from local farmlands they're normally pushed into a pile and burnt we decided to mill the timber
01:54and clad our building in it it created both a beautiful aesthetic but also meant capturing a lot
01:59of carbon which we thought was pretty important we found the concrete slabbed in a paddock its original
02:06purpose was to hold up cow troughs but they seemed perfect as a floating staircase we also scrounged
02:12metal mesh from an abandoned pig shed and the beauty of that is that you can scrape your dirty boots
02:18off
02:18before entering the house the design was intended to feel like a New York style apartment that appropriate
02:28for a regional setting the design also explores the use of materials that have been recycled or restored
02:35the double height of the lounge room gives it an additional sense of space the lower section is
02:42encased by steel glass windows the glass section of the living area juts out from the rest of the building
02:49slightly when you're sitting on the couch you're sitting more in nature pushes you out into the environment
02:56of the building copper and ply louvers run horizontally along those windows giving the opportunity for
03:02ventilation to come out through the building we have pivot doors on the south and western sides of
03:09the lounge room so in summertime you can open all the doors and have maximum airflow the western side
03:16you can actually just sit on the ground and dangle your legs over the edge
03:23the raised mezzanine gave us an opportunity to capitalize on some extra storage as well as
03:29separating the living area from the kitchen area and it gives you ample storage under the floor for
03:35the things you don't use on a daily basis
03:42so the kitchen's got a two burner gas cooktop an extra sized sink because the sink has to perform a
03:48number of functions in a small area it's got a relatively small fridge and ample storage
03:54covers the above sink drying rack means you're not wasting valuable bench space you can put the
04:00dishes straight up out of the way as soon as you've washed them the sliding door operates as the
04:05bathroom door but it reveals this hidden storage component we chose to use a glass splashback so you
04:13can still see the beautiful texture of the spotted gum and again the pig mesh was used for some shelving
04:20to bring in that rustic feel
04:25the kitchen table has piano hinges that run along both sides for easy access and just to alleviate some
04:33space while you're working away at the kitchen
04:43the ladder which runs to the mezzanine area can be wound up using the same mechanism that winds the
04:49roof up so once you wind that ladder out of your way the dining space becomes much more ample
04:55and the advantage of having a raised living area is you can sit on that surface at the dining table
05:03we felt that the home office was a very important aspect of any house moving into the future that's
05:10why nick designed this really clever home office space in the mezzanine that utilizes the space perfectly
05:16because you can sit on the floor with your feet dangling on this beautiful plinth and get amazing views
05:22out of the windows at the same time
05:26and then we decided to put a bit of a bookcase easily accessible to your right there and chose to
05:33have a wall and a bookcase and a storage case that broke up the office from the bedroom
05:39the ridge line of the roof is shunted off center so that you could get this walkable space through the
05:46mezzanine area
05:48the bedroom has everything you'd expect a wardrobe a cupboard and drawers underneath the bed we've got
05:58a mixture of fixed glazing and louvers in the bedroom the fixed glazing gives you an amazing view and the
06:05louvers create excellent cross flow ventilation the colors are still dark to create that sense of the
06:13outside is more important while also making you feel very cozy yeah
06:20in the bathroom we chose to go with the bluestone cobble these cobbles they're basically off cuts
06:26from the factory that they tumble and get these beautiful rounded edges they make the bathroom
06:31feel quite luxurious but also very earthy and understated it creates a very nice experience when
06:36complemented with the slats of spotted gum on the ceiling
06:40the windows are pretty large so it makes you feel as if you're showering in the outdoors for the shy
06:47we've got these beautiful louvers that you can then close and feel as if you're less exposed
06:53we also used brass elements that have been recycled for the handrail toilet holders and in the vanity area
07:00every surface you touched and felt really made you feel like you're connecting to an earthy
07:06sort of experience the plumbing has a composting toilet and a grey water retention system
07:13the design philosophy of small is that we just want to shift the attitude towards living within your
07:21means as we evolve as a community we are going to understand that bigger is not better in a small
07:29space
07:30not only is it better for the environment but it's also better for human interaction and your
07:34interaction with the outdoors
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