Fredericks House
New South Wales, Australia · 1982
Photo · Photo by Max Dupain
A seminal precedent by Glenn Murcutt demonstrating how a linear pavilion can integrate with its landscape through a corrugated metal roof and adjustable timber louvers.
- What we like about this project
- The way the building's linear form is anchored visually by a large, natural sandstone boulder in the foreground.
Materials
- corrugated-metal
- timber
- glass
- steel
Visual identifiers
- corrugated-metal-roof
- linear-pavilion
- timber-louvers
- gabled-roof
- rural-landscape
Style tags
- critical-regionalism
- modernist
- vernacular-influence
Visual tags
- touch-the-earth-lightly
- regionalism
- australian-architecture
- passive-design
- linear-plan
- Geometry
- A long, low-slung linear pavilion with a simple gabled roofline that runs parallel to the natural contours of the landscape.
- Facade system
- Operable timber louver screens and sliding glass doors set behind a lightweight steel frame.
- Structural guess
- Lightweight steel portal frame with timber infill.
- Spatial scale
- Single-story residential scale with a low profile that respects the height of the surrounding trees.
- Lighting
- Bright, direct Australian sunlight casting sharp shadows under the eaves and highlighting the texture of the corrugated roof.
- Atmosphere
- Crisp, sun-drenched rural tranquility with a structure that feels both lightweight and protective.
- Environmental context
- Set in a grassy clearing surrounded by mature eucalyptus trees and natural rock outcrops in a rural landscape.
- Spatial experience
- The building sits lightly on the land, presenting a highly adjustable, screened facade that mediates between a sheltered interior and the expansive grassy clearing.
- Composition rhythm
- A repeating bay structure defined by vertical steel posts and horizontal timber louver panels.
- Style reading
- Australian Critical Regionalism
- Program
- Single-family rural residence
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- corrugated-metal, timber, glass, steel
- Visual identifiers
- corrugated-metal-roof, linear-pavilion, timber-louvers, gabled-roof, rural-landscape
- Style tags
- critical-regionalism, modernist, vernacular-influence
- Visual tags
- touch-the-earth-lightly, regionalism, australian-architecture, passive-design, linear-plan
- Geometry
- A long, low-slung linear pavilion with a simple gabled roofline that runs parallel to the natural contours of the landscape.
- Facade system
- Operable timber louver screens and sliding glass doors set behind a lightweight steel frame.
- Structural guess
- Lightweight steel portal frame with timber infill.
- Spatial scale
- Single-story residential scale with a low profile that respects the height of the surrounding trees.
- Lighting
- Bright, direct Australian sunlight casting sharp shadows under the eaves and highlighting the texture of the corrugated roof.
- Atmosphere
- Crisp, sun-drenched rural tranquility with a structure that feels both lightweight and protective.
- Environmental context
- Set in a grassy clearing surrounded by mature eucalyptus trees and natural rock outcrops in a rural landscape.
- Spatial experience
- The building sits lightly on the land, presenting a highly adjustable, screened facade that mediates between a sheltered interior and the expansive grassy clearing.
- Composition rhythm
- A repeating bay structure defined by vertical steel posts and horizontal timber louver panels.
- Style reading
- Australian Critical Regionalism
- Program
- Single-family rural residence
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture