Project: Tanderra House
Architects: Sean Godsell Architects
Location: Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia
Area: 3,067 sq ft
Photographs by: Courtesy of Sean Godsell Architects
The Tanderra House by Sean Godsell Architects is tucked into a hillside on an enormous property on the Mornington Peninsula, outside of Victoria, Australia. The site is known for its warm summers and hot winds which is why the home is partially dug into the ground. The basic design of the building is a standard L-shape. There is also ample outdoor space that is shaded to prevent overheating.
A nearby shed holds in place a solar system that harvests energy from the sun but this low impact home also makes use of rainwater collection.
From the architects: “The fluid nature of verandah space has been integral to my research into houses for some time now. From this research two distinct elements have emerged in my work – the (anti-tectonic) outer skin and the ambiguous plan where use, function, inside and outside are organised in accordance with the non dogmatic nature of verandah space rather than along any formal lines. On one level this is an argument for a regional architecture where local conditions inform a design element culturally embedded in both Asian and Colonial histories. On another it has provided me with an argument for the removal of the corridor as an organising device and in doing so a supporting argument for the divided plan or connected spaces prevalent in Asian architecture. The kinetic nature of the divided plan assisted me in removing dependence on the section as a spatial device from my architecture and in doing so mounting an attack on European modernism as a formulaic means of generating architecture (ie making interesting space by changing ceiling heights or floor levels)”
“These ideas are at work in this house which is sited on top of a hill on a 40ha site. The house has beautiful views to the distant ocean but the views are to the west and the house is exposed to a powerful prevailing wind. In the summer hot northerlies blow across the site and it is as a counterpoint to this exposure that the house forms a ‘L’ shape and digs itself into the ground to provide sheltered outdoor space for the occupants. Key functional spaces are located discretely along the length of the plan and connected by covered outdoor terraces rather than corridors. Although delivered some years later this house was designed at the same time as the Glenburn house and is referred to in office as a sister to Glenburn.”
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