Dream Build

Shane Hendriks is a builder and designer who came up with a unique idea for building his family home while mucking around with his son's building blocks. His house consists of five cubes arranged in an ark to maximise the northerly aspect of the sun, with a sense of the cubes rolling and tumbling. There is even a 'floating cube' seemingly suspended between the second and third more prominent cubes on the ground. Shane didn't want to install solar panels on the tiled exterior so he developed unique solar 'trees' to the sun to maximise energy efficiency. Inside is a range of technological innovations, from fingerprint entry, a tracking power point system, and a natural wall ventilation system. From the outside the house resembles an adventure playground, but inside it is compact and liveable. "I had an opportunity to do things with this house that I couldn't do with a client - push the limits and extremities of the design itself as well as how the house works and functions," says Shane. Shane's wife Caroline says, "People who visit for the first time marvel at what it must be like to live here. But for us, it was always going to be our family home, where our sons could grow up with plenty of space to run around in."

What do you do with a heritage listed church, where the heritage requirements dictate that nothing of the new structure can touch the walls of the heritage listed building? Undeterred, Mark Carnegie employed architect Simon Swaney and they used these limitations to drive the design and convert a church into a modern home for him and his daughters. A new structure was designed for inside the church - an inner house. This is freestanding, lightweight, and designed for off-site fabrication, and eventual disassembly. This 'house' is erected on a platform built over the raking floor of the church with a pair of two storey cubes flanking the central space. These cubes contain sleeping accommodation and ancillary facilities whilst the central space provides living and dining areas. It allows the church's dimensions to be experienced while still providing wonderful liveable spaces. Three rows of pews have been retained to permit occasional public performances on the renowned church organ. The walls of the new building emit a soft glow at night. The floor of the space is heated and an ethanol fire provides glowing warmth avoiding penetrations through the roof. This is a contemporary installation designed around the formality and symmetry of the original space. The project was completed in 14 weeks and restoration work to the original fabric continues.

Nestled in the suburbs of Perth Marimekko House is a home designed by Ariane Prevost for her own family of five adults (including her three adult children). While essentially quite modest in budget and size the house features bold and innovative design incorporating landscaping, courtyards and a rooftop garden to create multiple light-filled living spaces. The house is entered through an oversize pivot door which is hidden behind a weathered steel facade designed to be an intriguing departure from the traditional streetscape. Intended to surprise and intrigue the house features a number of movable glass walls which blur the difference between outside and inside and allows the building to be opened up to create a ‘pavilion’, taking advantage of Perth’s abundant sunshine. The house itself is across two levels with the lower level incorporating three bedrooms, a kitchen/lounge area and a living room. Upstairs is the parents’ bedroom and study plus a substantial passive thermal roof garden which is large enough to grow vegetables and entertain in. Ariane’s approach of combining architecture, interior design and landscaping together along with an innovative use of industrial materials and finishes combine to make this a home which is easy to maintain, light and airy and has a flexibility perfectly suited to a family of five busy adults.

Why would you name a house "Flipped"? Felicity Jansen is the owner and has the nickname Flip. Plus her new home 'flips' the layout of the original 60's house on the site. The new house takes its style from the 1960's design which Felicity originally fell in love with. But this house was impractical for their family life and was demolished to make way for the "Flipped House". Felicity and architect Steve Koolloos have not only drawn inspiration from the 60's but also from the work of Felicity’s architect father. Her father’s interest in Mid-Century Modernism, with its love of natural products, is reflected in the use of stone, glass, wood and concrete. Features like the carved wooden front door are a replica of the one her father designed and made for Felicity’s childhood family home. Having grown up surrounded by gardens, a garden was important to Felicity. This has been created with circles of concrete garden rooms which contrast with the hard-edged lines of the house itself. Flipped House is a home which draws on the joy of 60's designs and the Mid 20th Century Modernism focus on natural products.

Imagine a house perched amongst the gum trees looking like a giant silkworm cocoon. This is Cocoon House, a marriage of art and architecture. Its creators describe it as a “sculpture in the round” that can be appreciated from all angles. But what’s it like to live in? Find out when Dream Build returns to ABC1 on Sunday 9th June. The home is a wonderful and whimsical weekender created by Cat Macleod and Michael Bellemo – a husband and wife team who are architects as well as sculptors. Located in the Otway Ranges on the Great Ocean Road, the home appears to float between the hills and the ocean. On Dream Build you’ll discover how the couple overcame the challenges posed by designing & building this uniquely-shaped home in the Australian bush.

Americans Mickey and Lanie Clark have built a remarkable bushland home after a two-year work trip turned into a 20 year love affair with the Australian landscape. Beside towering eucalypts and a tranquil billabong, their uniquely long and narrow home opens almost completely to the countryside they value so highly. Before building, architect Fergus Scott camped and fished at the site with the American owners and eventually they decided to create a home resembling a campsite in the bushland. The bathroom opens completely to the outdoors and features a luxurious tub that is a key part of the house. “My favourite part of the house is the bathroom and specifically the bathtub because I am a bathtub person,” says owner Lanie Clark. “I believe you can divide the world into shower people and bathtub people. Every opportunity I get, I take a bath!” The property houses the couple’s art collection as well as animals including goats, dogs, horses and chickens. And this strong and stylish residence is up to the job of being a very practical country house. “We didn’t want a prissy home,” says Lanie. “It needed to be a house that could take a bit of battering!”

The owner of The Black Box is a self-confessed "boy from the 'burbs" who wanted to make his architectural mark - in the suburbs. Wayne Timms’ home prompts passionate debate about privacy because its front consists of 4 see-through tilt-up doors covered in a perforated black mesh. The architect wanted the house to open fully to the street so the home and its owners would engage with their neighbourhood. And the concept works! Beyond the front screens, the house opens up even further. The core of the home has no roof: a courtyard that’s part of all living areas. Wayne’s wife, Leisa, speaks of only one area (the bathroom) having 4 solid walls. External curtains are used to control space and privacy. There’s also a one-of-a-kind attic. The home’s exposed timber, steel and brickwork highlights the desire of architect James Russell to make the building structure part of the home’s aesthetic. In many homes it’s rendered, plastered or painted out. In the episode, the architect & owners talk about the need for good design in the ‘burbs, notions of privacy and connection to the outdoors, and their desire to avoid having a sprawling home with multiple rooms that fracture family life.

Richard Cole is an architect with over twenty years experience and he seems to specialize in building magnificent homes in impossible locations! Richard was presented with the ultimate challenge when his retired but very energetic parents, Terry & Tina, asked him if he could build them their ‘forever’ home. The site chosen in North Sydney has sweeping views, large Angophora trees and a sandstone rock-face running through it! Richard says: “The word ‘Angophora’ comes from the Greek word which means ‘vessel’ and I do like to think of the house as a vessel that contains the everyday life of people. In this instance, it contains the lives of my parents”. Richard has created a masterpiece over three levels, incorporating the sandstone escarpment as a feature throughout the bottom floor bedroom, bathroom and study that has wonderful thermal properties for the house. On the top floor, extensive use of wood has created a compact but spacious living area incorporating the master bedroom & en suite, dining area, kitchen, living room and outdoor deck. When the weather is right, the panelled walls slide back to create an open air canopy that takes in the city views as well as the beautiful trees and garden that adorn the property. Future proofing for the ageing process, all doors are double hinged and wide enough to accommodate the use of a wheel chair if the need arises, as is the purpose built lift that runs from the drive-in garage at street level to each floor of the house. Richard sums up: “Undertaking a project for your parents is a wonderful thing to go through. It was very humbling and gratifying to see how much trust they put in me, both personally and professionally. And you deliver on that trust”.

Owners and husband/wife team Justin Lindsell and Helen McBeth wanted to fulfil a lifelong dream of owning a glass pavilion pole home in the picturesque town of Crafers in the Adelaide Hills. Little did they know that this would be the start of a 10 year journey and not only would their dream design dramatically change, but there would also be 2 new additions to the family, son Rex and daughter Mae. Helen and Justin first approached architect Max Pritchard because they loved his philosophy of 'touching the earth lightly'. But it took 2 designs rejected by the council due to fire safety regulations before Max's concrete 'fire proof bunker' was finally approved. "Instead of touching the earth lightly, we carved a massive hole in the side of the hill!" says owner Helen. But she states, "She's still a sexy beast!" referring to the lines of the fire proof bunker home curved out of concrete to follow the contours of the land. This modest house has been designed with fire safety at the forefront including; a concrete roof with pebbles for insulation, fire proof metal roller screens that cover all windows and rainwater tanks for accessing water. The neighbours have already mentioned, "If there was a fire they will be a party at our house", Helen says. Internally, this is definitely a robust family home with exposed brick walls, concrete ceiling and floors which allow the children to play and ride around on their scooters without risk of damage to the surfaces. Even though Helen and Justin wouldn't want to go through the long 10 year process again, they both agreed that it is the best family home for the life they are now living.

Architect Jesse Judd designed this beautiful and engaging holiday lodge for his own family. The first impression is of caravan style building, with a glowing red/orange radiance, achieved by lining the internal living area with meticulously stained plywood. "During design, I thought of the house as being like a caravan or one of those fluorescent tents people go camping in," he says. Given the remote location, Jesse decided to keep construction as simple as possible. In order to reduce the number of tradespeople needed on site, he had eight steel portal frames prefabricated - skilfully curved to the desired degree - then trucked through the bush to the clearing. Once these "bones" were erected, the builder filled in the gaps using plywood sheeting, metal decking, corrugated steel and insulation. In planning the house, Jesse dug deep into Australia's cultural memory of lean-to tin sheds and lazy verandas. A rolled plane of corrugated iron encloses the main living space with its face of windows which look out to the surrounding forest of messmate gums. The living area is an open space with the kitchen and its big square stainless steel bench at one end. A smaller curve, one room wide, encloses the sleeping and washing wing and it just slips into the larger one forming a moulded bulkhead above the kitchen wall. The bedroom wing is an efficient, Japanese-like set of rooms that share a corridor, fully glazed to the north, with repeating black aluminium framed sliding doors. The sliding doors are also to the bathroom and in the main living area and allow cross ventilation when the doors are open. Ply wood is used to clad the interior and is also used for key joinery surfaces, but other than the red/orange of the living room area walls, it is stained a grey brown, more akin to the surrounding forest. Safety precautions also had a bearing on the design. The area is prone to bush fires - the blackened trunks of nearby trees are a constant reminder - a

The Stone Age collides with the Space Age in this Dream Build home at Runaway Bay on the Gold Coast. The house combines two contrasting styles representing the differing personalities of its husband and wife owners, Tom and VV Quinn. Architect Tim Guymer says the home’s once-bare waterfront site provided little inspiration for the design of the house, so instead he took inspiration from the personalities of Tom & VV. The combination of the elements is unique; the result, extraordinary. The base of the home uses rough-cut limestone and massive timber beams from an old Qld sugar mill. The architect felt these earthy elements would mirror the “earth mother” nature of owner ‘VV’ Quinn. In contrast, the high-tech roof represents the edgier, business-focussed nature of ‘VV’s husband, Tom. The roof & ceiling are an inverted pyramid made from an aluminium composite material which appears to “float” above the limestone like a futuristic spacecraft. The roof is held in place by half-tonne cast bronze brackets set against a plate glass wall. Like a good marriage, the home’s contrasting elements have combined to produce a courageous, inspiring, and stimulating design.

Sitting in a streetscape of Victorian style cottages typical of Melbourne, Model House doesn't stand out - and that's the point of the design for this new modern home. Architect, Jeremy McLeod says, "The house really is like a stage, the facade of the house is the set which faces the audience while 'backstage', in the house itself, all of the living and working gets done." Designed for a theatre designer and a drama teacher, the essentially open plan ground floor is dominated by a huge red velvet curtain that can be drawn through the entire floor to thermally insulate and create rooms. The upper floor has two bedrooms, each with their own balconies and a bathroom while the ground floor has a lounge/study space plus the kitchen/dining area and a small TV room with a courtyard. Model House is not a 'showy house' but it has an imagination about it with a great attention paid to detail; all of the windows are different sizes and all carefully placed to frame views, the mild steel towel and toilet roll holders were specifically designed. The house features robust materials with extensive use of concrete, mild steel and recycled timber. All of these materials give the house a feeling of simplicity and understated elegance.

Built on the site of the owner's childhood home, 'Link House' is house designed to last. Sited on a bay in Sydney's inner west, the house is designed to maximize the spectacular views of the bay, and is built as two forms with the living quarters separated from the sleeping quarters. This was an important part of the brief for this young and busy family who prioritise entertaining. These two main areas are joined by a glass link, spanning a central fish pond. The public space of the living area is housed in a glass pavilion using minimal structure and large glass folding doors which can be opened to bring the outside in. The pavilion is designed in the true sense of the word: surrounded by gardens, terraces and breezeways emphasising the bay environment, the sun, the air and the views. The design attempts to blur the boundary between the inside and the outside whilst maintaining a strong sense of distinction between privacy and openness. The sleeping quarters building is spread across 3 floors and includes bedrooms, a lounge for the kids and a media room. Construction methods and material selection were influenced not only by the architect, Renato D'Ettore but also its owners, who expressed a preference for low maintenance materials. The owners had seen one of Renato's earlier concrete houses and loved it. "We considered that concrete's extreme resilience, excellent thermal properties and its textural qualities were ideal for the design of the house," Renato D'Ettore says. Further, concrete allowed for a ready-made finish, largely eliminating the use of renders and paint, as well as giving the surface finishes an instant patina. Wall and floor finishes, such as polished concrete floors and unfilled honed travertine were selected for their durability and tactile qualities.

When one family bought two neighbouring houses with both houses in need of repair and update, a novel solution to their restoration was found; to create a single building but with separate living spaces wrapped around a central spine and with a rear fence that slides away to create one large backyard out of two. Two houses in one, two families or one. HOUSE House is a design that defies the fact that Australian houses are now the biggest in the world, for here is a house that reduced its footprint as it was renovated. Melbourne is flat, with low density. There are few topographical or spatial constraints to force houses to have a small footprint and to stack rooms and spaces above. In cities like Tokyo, London and Amsterdam living vertically is a way of life that generates unique housing while also making the most of a densely packed urban condition. In greater Melbourne space is readily available which has led to predominately wide flat single storey homes. But, says architect Andrew Maynard, what if we introduce a footprint restriction? What if we build a tall thin structure that maximizes the small back yard? We will produce spaces that, though familiar in many parts of the world, are unfamiliar in Australia; tall, tight cavernous spaces with light cascading from above. With its unique and imaginary design, this inner city house points the way to a new approach to 21st century urban Australian home design. With its timber walls and light well, its functional but small bedroom spaces, this is a house that challenges us to think about the way we live.

It would usually be a TV disaster: on the day before filming began, spray-paint vandals “tagged” a home being profiled by Dream Build in Fitzroy. But this was The Graffiti House – so the damage was quickly painted over by a professional street artist whose graffiti stretches from one end of this unique home to the other. Fitzroy is known for its extraordinary street art; prestigious architect John Wardle is not. Owners Pearly & Trevor appreciated the area’s artwork and vibrant street culture – and wanted to incorporate it in the house design, so John Wardle embraced the chance to include graffiti in this inner-city Melbourne home. It was a remarkable chance encounter which paved the way to take this further. Artist Paul Round was caught by the owners painting graffiti on their wall before the main construction work began. Instead of painting over his graffiti, John, Pearly and Trevor commissioned Paul to undertake additional painting at the home, adding to the actual design elements of the house. In the finished design, the graffiti flows inside the home, is on the walls of the covered court yard and in some respects IS the walls with the front of the house having raised bricks representing the photographic “pixels” of an enlarged picture of the graffiti itself. The graffiti is, however, only one part of this beautifully conceived, understated design. The home consists of two well designed pavilions facing each other across the courtyard; an oasis in busy Fitzroy.

The Wolf House is designed by an architect who loves his family, his Star Wars collection and his classic cars – and it certainly shows in the design of his new dream home. Architect & owner Taras Wolf moved around a lot as a child and he wanted to create a house that would provide deep roots for his three young children. He is also an avid Star Wars fan who wanted the building to incorporate the sci-fi figurines of his childhood. And he wanted a house he could drive his collection of cars into. Taras is so sentimental he kept 20% of his old house and incorporated it into the new house. He kept this old bedroom wing because it was where he came up with so many ideas for the new house he built on the site. The new home subtly reflects the South East Asian roots of Taras and his wife Rebecca. As in Asia, the home features smaller bricks & large eaves, and can open up to the outside weather. This is a family home with a big heart, blending unique design with the owner’s unique collections.