Cubo House by PHOOEY Architects
31/07/2015.
[Melbourne] Australia
metalocus, CELIA RODRÍGUEZ
metalocus, CELIA RODRÍGUEZ
PHOOEY Architects, based in Melbourne, presents their project "Cube House", a sustainable house that replaces the rear elements a new habitable basement and restores some of the most significant parts of the house. The idea is to expose those old elements that have been replaced in a way not to disguise their original purpose but giving it a vision of adaptation & re-use.
Descrption of the project by PHOOEY Architecs
Located in Fitzroy North, this project comprises alterations and additions to an existing double storey heritage-listed dwelling.
The small & dysfunctional rear portion of the existing house has been demolished & replaced with a new contemporary and sustainable three storey house (including basement). The front double storey Victorian section has been entirely retained & upgraded. Many existing features, such as structural & flooring timbers, windows, doors, security grilles & the stair case were salvaged prior to demolition. Slate roof tiles salvaged from the old roof now form part of the new façades & the old security screens have been assembled to form a dual purpose sun-shading & privacy screen over the new rear window.
The project applies the surrealist technique of “Cubomania” to catalogue, re-use & re-invent the demolished building materials. Embodied energy was minimised by balancing the quantity of demolished materials against the quantity of materials brought in to replace them. This technique is evident in the external brickwork & corresponding adjacent landscape and is followed through within the various carefully detailed internal spaces.
The existing house suffered from limited solar access as it was the southern component of a semi-detached pair. The responding design includes a central light-well which delivers natural light & air to the new basement & all adjacent spaces via a window wall made of windows salvaged from demolished portions of the old house.
The old stair which presented safety concerns has been removed. Some of its salvaged elements have been fashioned into a chandelier, and some into a loft bed to provide bedtime fun for the smaller occupants. The new bespoke stair spirals above & below to create a voluminous entry foyer & connect all levels. It is the new heart of the house & is the mixing pot between the restored old front parts of the house & the new (deliberately modern) rear. It is a place to comfortably get where you’re going or just to hang out.
Cubo House is an energy & water efficient home with many sustainable features cleverly hidden away. The re-purposed old materials (which might otherwise have been discarded) are presented so as not to disguise their original purpose & therefore provide an accessible display of adaptation & re-use.
CREDITS. TECHNICAL SHEET.-
Architecs.- PHOOEY Architects
Design team.- Emma Young, Peter Ho , Adam Gordon, Jessie Cook, Rob Chittleborough, Helen Duong, Anne-Claire Deville & Lucinda Arundel.
Collaborators. Ingeniero Estructural.- Perrett Simpson Stantin. Paisajismo.- Simon Ellis.
Builder.- Conterno Group
Surface.- 410.0 m²
Project date.- 2013.
PHOOEY Architects is an office specialized in sustainable architecture & interior design. Many PHOOEY projects have received prestigious awards and world-wide publication. They place great emphasis on working closely with their clients to achieve their project aims.
The Directors, Peter Ho and Emma Young each have more than twenty years of design and project management experience acquired in some of the world’s leading architecture practices and development agencies.
Peter has more than twenty years of architectural experience on major building projects ranging from high-rise towers in Ho Chi Minh City & New York; opera houses in Cardiff Bay; multi-residential apartments in Melbourne and Spittelau; houses & beach houses in Melbourne and London. He was also working in international offices including Zaha Hadid in London, Denton Corker Marshall in Hong Kong & Gregory Burgess, Peter Corrigan & Nonda Katsalidis in Melbourne.
Emma, with Peter, leads the PHOOEY team. She has more than twenty years of design & project architectural experience on major building projects, not only in her current role, but also while previously employed by renowned design practices including Lyons, Max May & Rijavec Architects. She has been responsible for all aspects of the design, development, project management & delivery of multi-million dollar works with different character.