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Boasting Panoramic Designer Views
The picturesque Kangaroo Valley in New South Wales is nestled between Cambewarra and Barrengarry Mountains. Its magical expanse of rolling, lush pasturelands, lured interior designer Alexander Michael and his partner Tony, high into the mountains, where their sanctuary away from the city allows them to escape the hustle and bustle.
"As this is a weekender, I wanted it to feel like one, and so the walk outside to get to the bedrooms gives it a kind of resort atmosphere that comprises natural materials like timber"
This amazing home was constructed using materials such as concrete, galvanised steel, glass and timber. The weekender is comprised of two parts, one being the main living area, the other being the two individual bedrooms separated from the main building by a semi-covered walkway.
"The thing I love most about design, is to see how the job is put together and what will make it work. The building materials are left in a raw state for the effect of the desired design of the home" said Alexander.
The living area is basically a simple rectangular space with a polished concrete floor, eighty percent enclosed by retractable glass walls, and single-span composite timber Hyne I-Beams supporting the sub-roof ceiling. The area is a length of twenty meters and seven meters wide. The rectangular space is well short of the ceiling to allow for visual flow-through. The supporting Hyne I-Beams are stained black with practicalities in mind, from the weather to maintenance and country living.
Alexander says "As this was a weekender, I wanted it to feel like one, and so the walk outside to get to the bedrooms gives it a kind of resort atmosphere that comprises natural materials like timber".
Covering all of this like a giant sun-shade, is a primary roof structure of galvanised steel supported by twelve massive timber columns, four of which stand in the twenty-seven meter long reflection pond. It is this roof that supports the sub-roof by four fine steel rods, allowing three sides of the living area to be opened to the landscape.
The sun too is scooped up by twenty panels of photo-voltaic cells, and channelled into twelve massive batteries located behind glass in the sitting room. You can sit for hours being mesmerised by the light on the reflection pond during the day, and the same while sitting by the fire at night.
