Letterbox House | McBride Charles Ryan
A new version of the good old Aussie verandah Blairgowrie / Australia / 2009
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It’s like a half space, half enclosed, half open. Neither in nor out – a new version of the good old Aussie
verandah.
Its like a giant multi-sensory organ, the sun, the sky, the breeze and the sound and smell of the sea –
When you arrive here of an evening and stand here and see the stars, no matter how still it is, you smell
the sea – suck it in, it transforms you, reminds you (of what matters), it’s a kind of tonic.
We like the buildings that make you smile (not laugh).It makes people smile, a building with the
smallest façade on the peninsula – the building begins as the letterbox and unfurls to become this
healthy scaled verandah, to some it is an upturned boat, to others it a wave a cliff. We like it being
many things – people stop and ask us, we just say it is what it is to you.
We wanted to show respect – the peninsula needs it, and the scale here was modest beach suburban –
we wanted to respect that scale – and yet as you walk along the deck the scale sneaks up on you –
before you know it your immersed and surrounded by the scale of the house – a bit like life really.
The peninsula is the place where you suspend formality and convention for a while – we wanted the
building to do this and to remind you of that – it moves too far from architectural convention towards
the other disciplines - that was the intention. It becomes ambiguous – What is it? Where is the front
door? You don’t need a ‘front door’ in a holiday house – you just find your way in.
Late on a sunny afternoon, when you are all salty, it is a great place to sit; the afternoon sun gives the
wall a golden glow, which is echoed by the golden beer in your hand. You sit and watch the kids do
what kids do – the things they forget to do when you are in the city.
The inside of this golden wall is vivid red; the support structure and the support shelves which in time
will become deposits of beach memories, the much leafed book, the photos, the bric-a-brac of beach
holidays and markers of the quintessential Australian family life – when that happens maybe that will
then become ‘my space’ also.
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It’s like a half space, half enclosed, half open. Neither in nor out – a new version of the good old Aussie verandah. Its like a giant multi-sensory organ, the sun, the sky, the breeze and the sound and smell of the sea – When you arrive here of an evening and stand here and see the stars, no matter how still it is, you smell the sea – suck it in, it transforms you, reminds you (of what matters), it’s a kind of tonic. We like the buildings that make you smile (not laugh).It makes people smile,...
- Year 2009
- Main structure Mixed structure
- Status Completed works
- Type Single-family residence / Interior Design
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