Red Soil House

2014

Red Soil House revisits a modest 1960’s build, preparing it for a North Queensland couple, looking to graft the family home to the coastal mountain climes of Buderim, a green sea-change. Beyond addressing the existing house and managing additional brief, this project offered opportunities to acknowledge the broader landscape/ cultural context [Badderam], subtly introducing references to place within the fabric and re-imaging the idea of frame within the project. The outdoor living has been gathered into a lynchpin loggia. The new master suite operates as a promontory, walking pier-like off the hillside, the internal edge guiding a long-view north to the solemn figure of Mt Coolum. Placement of this wing edits the neighbours to the west, however it’s principle function is the creation of a large courtyard or more aptly ‘amphitheatre’ which frames the country of the Kabi Kabi people and is scaled by the Maroochy River corridor. The colour of the new extension references the rich ferrosol for which Buderim is famed, a deep, red, acidic soil formed from volcanic parent material, a stark contrast to the alluvial sods of the Burdekin. The colour reference is a conscience effort to transpose the terroir into the fabric of the building.

Photography: Christopher Frederick Jones