Text by Jose Do
This project was to build two houses and two guest cabins for an extended family of artists in the East Kimberley. We worked closely with the client to prepare low-cost designs which help the family live more permanently on their land. While already living on site in caravans and under shed roofs, the new buildings provide more comfort and shelter from the weather, and large verandah spaces for living, sitting, and painting. The landscape changes dramatically between the dry and wet seasons, from red earth to long green grass. A nearby hill, Jalin, is an important dreaming site and significant feature in the landscape which the family loves to paint. A large painting verandah was built on one dwelling facing Jalin to the east, and also looking over the landscape to the north and south. The houses were conceived in the L-shape layout with interior rooms for sleeping and retreating from the summer heat, and a large open-walled living area with camp-style kitchen, which provides shade and allows breezes through, and has wide visual connection to the landscape. The cabins have an interior room, and a large verandah facing east and north, with camp-style kitchen on the verandah. The dwellings and cabins are decentralised with some space between them for privacy. The buildings are fully off-grid on solar power with battery storage, and on-site sewerage. Water is supplied from an existing bore.
completed with jose do architect
project architect : jose do
design team : jose do + scott christensen
builder: MGC building and maintenance
