competition entry for flood resilient timber house
shortlisted
in collaboration with Edmund Limadinata & Amanda Lau
2024, RESILIENT TIMBER HOMES DESIGN COMPETITION
Timber Stilt House
The Timber Stilt House attempts to re-establish residential timber homes as a significant architectural identity in Queensland and
provide opportunity to bolster the local timber industry, serving as a testament to the effectiveness of timber-based construction and stilt design to Queensland in creating environmentally responsible buildings
that consider budgetary constraints and site context.
In comfort and sustainability, the project harnesses light from north and incorporating cross-ventilation, stack effect from clerestory windows, the design optimises natural airflow with ceiling fans and reduces the full reliance on excessive heating and cooling systems.
In line with the Flood Resilient Building Guidance provided by the
Queensland Government agency and the Reducing Vulnerability of Building to Flood Damage published by the NSW Government, the construction of the house utilises water-resilient timber hardwood for floor and stilt construction at flood line.
Additionally, the facade cladding employs charred hardwood timber;
where the sealing and charring maximises the resilience of hardwood
against already water-resistant hardwood. Floor insulation incorporates rigid foam expanded polystyrene, which is waterproof compared to standard batt insulation.
Situated in Brisbane’s high-risk flood and cyclone zone, this project
embraces the distinct vernacular design of Queensland and elevating the entire structure on hardwood stilts, the Timber Stilt House offers an elegant, memorable and beautiful and a spatially functional solution for families seeking a resilient dwelling.
competition entry for flood resilient timber house
awarded Special Commendation
in collaboration with Edmund Limadinata & Amanda Lau
2023, RESILIENT TIMBER HOMES DESIGN COMPETITION
Hardwood Residence
Can a home located in a flood-prone locality be both practical and beautiful, built primarily with timber while ensuring unparalleled comfort, functionality, and desirability?
Situated in South Australia, the design of the house prioritises passive heating and cooling strategies, by harnessing north light from the street front and bringing light towards southern backyard and bringing comfort to the occupants.
Following the Flood Resilient Building Guidance and the Reducing Vulnerability of Building to Flood Damage documents, the construction of the house utilises water resilient timber hardwood for stud framework. The facade cladding employs charred-hardwood timber; where the sealing and charring maximises the resilience of hardwood against already water resistant hardwood.
Additionally, the wall insulation is rigid foam insulation, which is water-resistant compared to standard batt insulation. To ensure quick drainage, the windows feature integrated louvers strategically positioned for efficient water runoff. Moreover, the internal wall lining and cabinetry utilises sealed marine plywood, commonly used in maritime and naval construction, offering additional flood-resistant properties.
At its very core, the project is crafted to provide a beautiful, biophilic, comfortable, functional, resilient and lasting home for the family, through utilising hardwood timber as material both as finishing material with charred hardwood cladding, marine plywood internally and studwork structural construction with spotted gum or blackbutt stands in resilience against flood and with biophilic qualities for this project, thus aptly bears the name Hardwood Residence.
The year past is the year of being locked down, distanced from the natural and the wilderness. A glimpse to the outside, we feel the need to escape, to an oasis. The site harbours a secret garden, one designed for the public but towering above, inward facing and perhaps exclusive. We seek to foreshadow this boundary in accentuating this threshold.
Hovering above the street, the continuous billowing veil of the curtain signals the edge between the city and the rooftop garden behind, invoking curiosity from street passersby. In the discovery of the garden, the veil twists into a long gallery suspended above the existing landscape, immersing participants in heightened experiences, of tree canopies, the sky and the planted ground.
We know we are not alone, yonder past the memory of the curtain, the facet of the domestic interior, the threshold between the isolated apartment and the wider city as we gaze beyond – that veil on the edge.
in collaboration with Nicholas Putrasia
2021, LIVING VILLAGE DESIGN COMPETITION
Unley, South Australia
organised by SA Housing Authority, Citylab and the Australian Institute of Architects
Mornington House, Soldier’s Memorial Gardens and Mornington Court prefaces the history of the site. For us, the fragments of these architecture and setting seeds the collective memory of the Mornington residents. Large expanse of garden, deep red corrugated roof and painted timber doors, peach toned stonemasonry, cream coloured walls and the wrought iron. A village loses its soul when the places of memory are lost.
Rather than demolishing Mornington Court apartments, we propose to preserve the street elevation, with its charms on the corner . Rather than ending the Memorial Gardens we propose to elongate the axis of the garden deep into the site. Rather than leaving Mornington House on its own, we propose to enrich the historic elevation by extending upwards – carefully weaving existing facade with the new.
The red veranda, the avenue gardens, subtle pilasters, steel balustrades are introduced elements that subtly recalls the past Mornington. New, but kind of strangely familiar.
“‘Tis in my memory lock’d, – and you yourself shall keep the key of it.”
Like Shakespeare we believe these architectural fragments are not just key to the past memory locked, but also future retelling of memories – in Mornington Hamlet.
–
Brief of 75 – 100 residential units, achieved 88 units onsite, with majority of the units double aspect and north facing. Proposed structure; cross-laminated timber with incombustible magnesium oxide cladding eliminating cement in fibre cement cladding.
2021, NATIONAL GALLERY OF VICTORIA ARCHITECTURE COMMISSION
As the year 2020 ends, the world looks upon itself and calls for a proper retrospection. Global warming and the bushfire crisis, global pandemic and societal lockdown. As we head home and shut ourselves in, we question our role as individuals to the world, we question what is important to our well-being.
Meandering through the bluestone maze, that seemingly appears out of the ground, one retires to a small bench, set away, physically distanced from the other benches. The sculptures are perhaps noticed, subtly framed by the slender posts and the positioning of the bench amidst the nearby planters, like one’s cared pot plants at home.
One’s own mirror, potted plants on the sill, the view out the window – mundane but elemental memories of the pandemic lockdown that keeps us sane.
Looking up the pavilion, one sees their own reflection, not by itself but now amongst the landscape and others around the pavilion. Like the countless windows of virtual conferencing, this underlines the notion that we are not alone, but part of a bigger collective.
Our role as individuals are now visible to the landscape, pertinent to the collective resilience and action to the world. Like the glimpse of light amongst the moving mirrors, we need to persevere past our retrospection to change the fragile world as contemplated in this pavilion of reflection.
in collaboration with Light Application Pty Ltd 2020, PUBLIC ART LIGHTING – BELLEVUE DEPOT
The idea
Passing Light takes cue from numerous contextual influences of the site. First,
the history of previous grain silo building that is demolished prior in
anticipation of the upcoming assembly building. The new building shares a few
similarities to the old building, one the really long elongated elevation of
the building, two both having a striking curvilinear form of the roof and three
the regular intermediates of the previous buttresses and the new intermediates
of the translucent roof.
The broader site
also marks the rich history of the railway assembly in Midland, and the
symbolic terminus of the Midland line. The Midland Railway Workshops nearby and
the new assembly building undoubtedly demonstrate this.
On the other
hand, the junction of Roe Highway and the railway reserve offers a unique
vantage point of the rail terminus towards west, setting a romantic scene of
the setting sun. It should also be noted that the yellow themed artworks that
comes about the interchange of the Roe Highway.
With these
aspects, it is logical that the southern façade of the roof presents the
biggest visual opportunity, highlighting the elongation of the building, the
terminus of the railway from both the reserve as well as Roe Highway.
Repetitive
light strips are proposed to be installed across the whole projected southern
elevation of the roof, parallel to the roof sheet on every intermediate
corrugation of the roof, highlighting the same orientation of the roof of the
new assembly building and the demolished grain silo. At every translucent roof
sheet, the brightness is amplified by doubling the light strips, pointing to
the bays of the warehouse structure and reminding one of the buttresses of the
previous building. Whilst also highlight both the curvilinear nature of both
the old and new roof, the brightness of each strip peaks at the tangent of the
roof, almost like a crescent.
The animating light is intended to be gradual
across each strips, suggesting the gracious changing wave of the light
spectrum, rather than rapid moving images. The colour tones are suggested to be
of yellow, orange and red gradient, referencing the red Midland, the yellow
wildflowers and of Roe Highway Interchange, the sandy soil, and last but not
least, the setting of the western sun.
Hereby, like a
melancholic scene, the light phases through the setting sun, celebrating the
old good days, the rail terminus of Midland, the passing of the grain silo
building for the future, hence the name Passing Light.
in collaboration with Louise Allen 2020, BRING BACK BROOKES JETTY ST KILDA COMPETITION
There is a strong sense of nostalgia in regards to the demolished Brookes Jetty, St Kilda. The old jetty was a narrowly intimate 1.2 meters wide beautiful timber structure, characterised by its thick timber boards and rhythm of timber piling; aging with time, extended over the existing concrete stormwater drain. Many memories are made here; walk out to the sea, reconnect with nature, picnic and swim, propose or get married, scatter ashes, meditate and daydream. Hereby the intention of this proposal is to somehow bring back the beloved jetty, building upon the characteristics of the old jetty whilst also acknowledging that this will be a new jetty over the old. The new jetty is meant to rekindle those memories made, and also allowing the making of new memories.
For one, the plungeboard is designed specifically for friends to leap into the water, with a metal ladder on the side to climb back to the jetty. A series of ledges, for akin fishing mates to sit on, with their feet dangled in the air. Swimming below the jetty, the gaps between the timber boards allow playful light to glimpse through. This proposal also acknowledges that the concrete stormwater drain will need to be rebuilt. If budget permits, an ecological solution to stormwater is presented. Rather than a straightforward drain to divert stormwater as quick as possible, the drain is allowed to spill through the sides, akin to a river, bringing back native planting and land formation around and beneath the jetty.
The first part of the jetty is intended to be built with concrete, reminiscing the engineering history of the drain; but formed with timber boards – alluding to the next structure. The main part of the jetty is then built with treated timber similar to the old jetty, as timber weathers characteristically with the passing of time. Nevertheless, the timber posts are accentuated on the sides of the jetty, a nod to timber carpentry. The rhythm of timber posts is foreshadowed as poles wrapping around the initial concrete structure as well as bollards leading from the Burley Griffin pillars. Knowing that the timber would need to be replaced in the future, a masterplan is envisioned. Replaced timber poles can perhaps be reinstated as bollards further back towards Shakespeare Grove, reinforcing the axis of the jetty and also renewing the material memory of the jetty. These reclaimed timber can also be constructed as solid timber benches along the axis – like the one at the end of the jetty; as a place to sit and daydream.
In a deliberate manner, the timber posts continues rhytmically past the jetty and slowly descending in height, evoking an image of the previously demolished jetty towards the ocean, a melancholy of an unattainable past. The series of timber posts lowers itself towards the ocean, a gesture to the horizon and the sunset. Then, a series of recessed solar lights atop the posts, illuminating the jetty and the ocean beyond. Here at the end of jetty, the strongest memories are made; a couple proposing in matrimony, or the scattering of ashes, expressions of love – with the ocean, the sunset and the horizon as witness. Hence, the name Memory Jetty.
Our proposal is born from the question of safety in cities in our era of Trumpian xenophobia, the overreaction of the city installing anti terror bollards in response to car attacks and the perception of building walls and fences are necessary for safety at the sacrifice of sense of welcoming and openness in public spaces. While the discussion of urban security remains an issue of complex dimensions, with this pavilion we have intended to hark back to the humble garden bollards, simple and low natural timber poles that lines our parks that while also preventing car access to parks, they lies within our psyche of public parks, defining a malleable and soft territory within parks and the playful juvenile imaginations of garden bollards as stepping stones and zig zag runs.
The garden bollards dotted in a serial and linear manner, forming an invisible line that only exists in the mind. Bounding in response to the geometry of the surrounding buildings, regions of open air garden rooms defined within the park. The diagonal transverses the paved and the lawn seemingly joining and inviting passers-by to walk across the lawn. Then the bollards connects park paraphernalias, the sculptures, trees, playground not unlike a walking trail, reacting, marking and carving spaces around such objects in the landscape.
At one moment the bollards are arranged in a grid-like manner, marking a region of a space rather than an imaginary line, in the hopeful intention of being a gathering space, where the bollards present themselves as seats. And the other, tall bollards or rightfully poles in a grid, evocations of tree trunks in a forest setting. Childlike imaginations of playful running among the trunks, or of aimless meandering. The third structure, a culmination of bollards slowly merging into a mass structure, a stepped hill. A prompt for climbing experiences and standing on the top of the plinth.
The densities of the bollards change, denser and intensifies the enclosement of boundaries. And serendipitously the height of the bounding bollards grows taller and slowly morphs into a fence. Impeding movement and visual transparency, objects beyond the fence becomes landmarks of curiosity and hopeful pedestrians trail along the bollards to eventually breach into the forbidden territory.
in association with PO WORKSHOP
2018, DUKUH ATAS, JAKARTA TRANSPORTATION HUB COMPETITION
Tropical Foyer
The transport hub will be a significant meeting place for locals and foreigners to Jakarta. A place where one greets welcome or goodbye, an impression of the city of Jakarta and to Indonesia. It is this significance that we felt it is important to express the tropical city of Jakarta, its lush greenery amongst the bustling modern metropolis. A holistic integrated landscape masterplan that connects the multiple modes of public transport. The street that connects to airport link will be paved for shared pedestrian & car use to define the entry to the transport hub and slowing traffic speed. A covered walkway and accessible lift connecting both the commuter rail and rapid bus transit. The transport hub itself is composed of two components; the office tower and the podium. The podium is naturally ventilated with tall ceiling space, surrounded by retail cafe spaces and greenery, amidst the arrival area of cars, taxis and ridesharing – an atrium, a gathering space. On top of this podium is a rooftop garden – shared by the public and the office workers alike. The tower block, defined by steel cladded awnings remniscent of Indonesian roof pitches and the modernist brise-soleil providing sun shading for office workers. Lined with climbing plants – softening the facade of the glass curtain walls. Our proposal the Tropical Foyer hopes to define Jakarta with its lush greenery over raw concrete along the astute black steel cladding – welcoming the locals to home and foreigners to the tropics.
2018, SUBMISSION FOR LAND ART GENERATOR INITIATIVE COMPETITION
ST KILDA, MELBOURNE
HISTORY OF ST KILDA – A CATALYST
The starting point of the scheme is framing the question of how energy generation infrastructure can be embedded into the unique locality of St Kilda, its history, culture and place. To start the research about history of St Kilda beginning with the traditional owners of the Bunurong people and in particular the St Kilda Corroboree Tree or ‘Ngargee’ red gum tree that predates the European settlement. The tree is one of the oldest living things in Melbourne, though to be between 300 – 500 years old and serves as an important cultural meeting location for the Bunurong people and for the annual corroboree dreamtime ceremony.
Subsequently the name St Kilda for the neighbourhood is named in 1841 after a ship that moored on the beach on the same year. Even in the early maritime history the sight of the St Kilda beach is a view to be reckoned prior to the arrival to Port Melbourne. Very quickly the location became a favoured location for the wealthy to move in for the proximity to the beach and soon the delta wetlands landscape is developed into a neighbourhood of exquisite Victorian and Edwardian mansions including the Esplanade Hotel overlooking the beach. This is expedited with the construction of tramlines along the bay that stops at the triangle site nominated.
It was not until the Great Depression that St Kilda began to decline with the seashore becoming the popular entertainment and red light district for the working classes. The wealthy moved out and thus began the bohemian culture for St Kilda. This is vividly denoted by the construction of Luna Park and Palais Theatre by Carlo Catani. It should also be worth mentioning that St Kilda became a focus of Melbourne’s social issues including prostitution and drug abuse during this era while the bohemian arts and culture grew. Compared to Brighton Beach, the bohemian St Kilda is rather known for its calmer seas – hence the mooring point for sailing boats at the pier that sits in front of the skyline of Melbourne today.
WIND ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Compared to other states in Australia, Victoria is less known for its sunny days but rather the gusting winds. With the maritime history of St Kilda from the marooned schonner to the landscape of the sails over the skyline, it felt appropriate to harness the energy of the wind and to store them into battery packs to increase reliability. Rather than being individual turbines dotting over the landscape, a long veil-like structure echoing the linear nature of the bay and the tramline is carefully placed along the site avoiding trees and other suspended infrastructures. The veil is envisioned as a semi-transparent tapestry that gradually becomes less solid closer to eye level to preserve visibility of the horizon from the esplanade. The bottom part of the veil is composed of loose strings, thus minimizing entanglement and obstruction to traffic and public. The energy is harnessed by a simple four bar linkage mechanism not dissimilar to a scalable version of Theo Jansen’s Strandbeest. The rotating turbine themselves are located underground perhaps visible and easy to access with removable steel grating. With St Kilda’s average wind speed of 20km/h the 25 rotors of 40kwh each are estimated to generate the amount of 1 mwh.
The battery packs rather than being laid across the site is minimally stacked into a form of tower echoing the heights and length of the Palais Theatre and is arranged in a herringbone manner to become a visible infrastructure almost like an archival library setting with a public thoroughfare. The battery tower is also possibly proposed to store even external capacity of power generated elsewhere.
ST KILDA’S VEIL – BOHEMIAN WIND CURTAIN
The St Kilda’s veil is the manifestation of diverse history, culture and place of St Kilda. Arranged in a linear manner the veil draws upon the maritime image of St Kilda prior to arriving in Port Melbourne – elongates in the landscape like the tracks of the tramline leading to the city. The twenty five 30 meter poles, like the numerous sail poles of the yachts anchored in St Kilda Pier holds up the continuous veil. The colours, the red and orange reflecting the colours of the traditional land – the red gum of the St Kilda Corroboree Tree, the bright colours of the red-light entertainment district of the St Kilda history. The deep purple – the bohemian and LGBT culture of St Kilda. The tapestry of the veil long drawn and visibly composed of strings perhaps alluding to the unashamingly unconventional Bohemian tapestry. The bottom of the veil – composed loosely of strings evokes akin to a Bohemian doorway of beaded curtains. Wavering slowly against the winds these strings billows slowly and invites the passersby to walk across and touch the soft tapestry, inviting playfulness evocated by Luna Park. At night, different brightness of animating lights elucidates the waving speed of the curtain against the wind. From the compositing identities of the indigenous, maritime and Bohemian, St Kilda’s Veil – the wind curtain foretells St Kilda as a visual prelude to Melbourne and Victoria’s energy overlaying initiative.
