Magney House
New South Wales, Australia · 1984
Photo · Photo by Anthony Browell
A seminal precedent for lightweight, climate-responsive residential architecture, demonstrating how corrugated metal, external louvers, and a sculpted roof form can respond directly to wind, sun, and water collection.
- What we like about this project
- The central valley of the double-curved roof acts as a giant gutter, terminating in a dramatic downpipe system.
Materials
- corrugated-metal
- steel
- glass
- aluminum-louvers
Visual identifiers
- corrugated-metal-cladding
- curved-roof
- external-louvers
- steel-purlins
- linear-pavilion
Style tags
- regional-modernism
- high-tech
- sustainable
- lightweight
Visual tags
- australian-modernism
- lightweight-structure
- climate-responsive
- rural-residential
- rainwater-harvesting
- Geometry
- An asymmetrical, low-slung linear pavilion with a distinctive wave-like, double-curved roofline that dips in the center to collect rainwater.
- Facade system
- Glazed curtain wall protected by adjustable external horizontal aluminum louvers.
- Structural guess
- Lightweight steel frame with tubular steel struts and purlins.
- Spatial scale
- Single-story residential scale, elongated horizontally to stretch across the ridge.
- Lighting
- Warm, low-angle late afternoon sunlight casting soft shadows across the corrugated metal and louvers, set against a clear blue sky.
- Atmosphere
- Crisp, sun-drenched, and highly integrated with the dry coastal landscape.
- Environmental context
- Sited on an open, grassy ridge with native dry grasses in the foreground, typical of rural coastal New South Wales.
- Spatial experience
- The building sits lightly on the crest of a grassy hill, opening its glazed and louvered northern facade to the landscape while maintaining a low, protective profile against the elements.
- Composition rhythm
- A rhythmic series of exposed steel structural bays supporting the overhanging curved roof.
- Style reading
- Australian regional modernism / high-tech functionalism
- Program
- Single-family rural residence
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- corrugated-metal, steel, glass, aluminum-louvers
- Visual identifiers
- corrugated-metal-cladding, curved-roof, external-louvers, steel-purlins, linear-pavilion
- Style tags
- regional-modernism, high-tech, sustainable, lightweight
- Visual tags
- australian-modernism, lightweight-structure, climate-responsive, rural-residential, rainwater-harvesting
- Geometry
- An asymmetrical, low-slung linear pavilion with a distinctive wave-like, double-curved roofline that dips in the center to collect rainwater.
- Facade system
- Glazed curtain wall protected by adjustable external horizontal aluminum louvers.
- Structural guess
- Lightweight steel frame with tubular steel struts and purlins.
- Spatial scale
- Single-story residential scale, elongated horizontally to stretch across the ridge.
- Lighting
- Warm, low-angle late afternoon sunlight casting soft shadows across the corrugated metal and louvers, set against a clear blue sky.
- Atmosphere
- Crisp, sun-drenched, and highly integrated with the dry coastal landscape.
- Environmental context
- Sited on an open, grassy ridge with native dry grasses in the foreground, typical of rural coastal New South Wales.
- Spatial experience
- The building sits lightly on the crest of a grassy hill, opening its glazed and louvered northern facade to the landscape while maintaining a low, protective profile against the elements.
- Composition rhythm
- A rhythmic series of exposed steel structural bays supporting the overhanging curved roof.
- Style reading
- Australian regional modernism / high-tech functionalism
- Program
- Single-family rural residence
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture