City Escape, Kangaroo Valley

This is a simple weekend retreat that responds to the local climate, the immediate site and the surrounding landscape. The site is 65 hectares and is surrounded by steep sandstone escarpments to the south and views down the valley to the North. There were no existing services on the site.

The decision to make the house entirely self-sufficient, was made early in the project as a means of controlling the budget. This then drove the design process, toward a well considered environmental response in terms of form, structure and materials.

The house stretches along the contours of the site, and enables every room to have a view.  Internal finishes have been deliberately selected for durability and to give the spaces a pared back, almost industrial quality, that compliments the exposed steel structure of the building.

 PHOTOGRAPHY Ben Wrigley

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