Fernberg Residence

The concept of the Fernberg Residence developed from the client’s primary desire for a contemporary family home. The site’s character location necessitated that stringent design guidelines were adhered to as per Local Planning Codes. These codes, driven by traditional notions of aesthetic and form conflicted with the client’s brief. This was an opportunity to extract the qualities and values inherent to traditional Queensland housing and apply them in a contemporary context whereby notions of both domestic and sub-tropical architecture could be explored. The plan, mass and volume take inspiration from the traditional four square floor plan of the surrounding timber and tin houses. Similarly, a central corridor has been adopted from traditional designs and is used to visually and physically separate public and private volumes. The arrangement and activation of each volume enable the house to maximise its aspect. The northern, social spaces are flexible and operable allowing internal and external boundaries to be blurred. Large cantilevers allow the floor planes to appear suspended as they address the adjoining north-eastern valley. This visual lightness stands in contrast to the physical mass and volume of the house. The Fernberg Residence has been designed as a flexible family home, which acknowledges its cultural and contextual heritage, and stands as a landmark and contemporary reinterpretation of the traditional Queensland home.