“The Fredericks house is one of very few buleings by Murcutt where an upper I veriooks the man hattable spaces the ‘Muston house in Seaforth of 1988-92 ‘This isnot something that he sets out to {he overcoking upper lvel here results ‘a modification set by the cents when t ‘docided to live in the house themselves ‘and needed mere volume. Murat ‘he necessary addtional space, but one. ee Consrucon asso oat Ais evden inthe way he dota is bangs. Inccmoraaton he cbeevs tal the evel Ch caperty nthe house a0 fw andthe ng dels So exist resived tat he Solenanshp = stnon close fotmber boat” fees an element of reutance on his ‘building than house construction. With the Vase eect ‘hceptona’ level ot precision crateanship Tho uppr lvl oveockng habitable inthe Rowse nels abet erect is aesthete_voduees a cyname spatial concn cr tnber conan. {Tauro the serenity Mercut pay {ound this time ho caluatos tat he can Bulkings. He sas that serenty achieve such fine precision in timber construction only rarely, since it isa very expensive form Of eraeanship and there ae fow let who can stil produce ft Timber by its nature isnot a procise materia. moves constantly ts iffout {o cut precisely: tolerances of many milmetres ‘are generaly accepted in tmbor faring. But Murcutt knows that he can go to any smal stoo! fabricator and attain precision wih tolerances ‘down to about a millmetre, and itis a much ‘cheaper sysiom than imber. Consequently he shits across into the devetopment of steet framing asthe stuctural system or most of his buleings since the Fredericks house. This move fowards steel is devon a8 much by economies as aesthetics. Most of his houses do not have lury budgets but ae built a price. at work hee, The serenity of Murcut's Tesultstundamentally trom a sates ‘model, tha of the eave or cel which ‘sonee of refuge and prospect to be atthe same timo, and wich he dove ‘enable both convivialty and withdrawal place, even within the seme volume, ‘Uppe* level that locks down onto he space, his duality (communal activity ‘on the tatchen, ding and neath contrasted with the ability ofthe tofind isolation and coment in the oa “The space sin a constant stale of or ‘communal’ mode owing tothe Ialwaye to be overlooked. Murcutt works fundamentally in plan ‘secton. In planning his buldngs hei ‘awa botween the tension of to ‘on one hand i the universalicing qu ‘9n6, and onthe other the partic place as bay within the ori. The {hese two spatial conltons ~ the (Grospect) and the refuge ~ is basi Interests Murcut in spatial tems. He desire forthe dynamic veical di Inthe work of Le Corcusier or Chi FD Beumeny THIS, | WeULO. NEED 2-3 weeRs- ITS wentHMMe | FEELrout is bull araund an eating fireplace fet standing “om an 06 farenouse in the 1940s. The north-facing ste Is Sysh an escarpment behind and good e's aremavalelecaon, y New South Wales south coast “The outlook tothe roth has lng oy vows ecpondec to the Kempsey farmhouse Mount ivire houses. They vey fhe idea of a ber house. The bene are ciferent om both Mount vine. In sumer fhe ste orvaling noth -eesely Sea breezes; 20. 0 was designed for he farm manager Circumstances 12 was purchased fre farm tho Frecoricks pureued the design for tnomsetes. Iwas well down ee esign wen ther new requirements ichanges such as extra space, the secord beckon, and also psoas, These changes aflacted house because of he need or Whe lot and space fora sta. ‘Aliaphragm oth syn the neth-acing rook pane ofthe replace area begs wire sunstine 0 a arg pat ofthe room. On a eld day you ‘stinfrontot abig fe onthe southern ae, wit the aun lor the prin pourng onto your back and also ighirg up the trepace breast. The same sunshacing principles 2s used in Kempasy are poled bu he blades iit 10 provide ‘an asdiicnal cntel mechanism, The blinds a= ‘on the ouside. The window sunshaing system ‘consis of external adjustable minum owes soi pullup.tit, crop, tur: its very feb The sunsharing panels are 3 metres wce an 2 mates high Behind tnem | used dovte-nung ‘wedous rane than lowes | thought ours ‘would leak to much ar Tha windows have eels ‘an stand ll-an insect seen. Ts house has avery erin plan, ts aone-sded corer, ke a ralay cariage The plan is S metres ‘vee, 2 mse wider than many of my flans ‘Making the house 4 metres wide takes @ conan courage. nots only by developing soaces ‘which are pushed cut beyond tha meted space and taming system, such as bay wincows and sieeong alcoves (Compare i wih the Matka-Algeton house) The god thing about ‘8. atthe arcs of a dscplad, paral fang syst thal ths tums tre comex stead of beng chopped at wal can be read as an almost ata por The purrs whic aper athe oa, and the eaves overhang, al hap the tmination, The same feathering oocus vith the BalHEastaway hous; Ir expresses tis iste end often spack about being ko a human at in he landscape anc e giant inte burt eneronment Te ebsonve to know about place, we have to sland agar fem it. Abuliing removes Us sight rom ce, yet locas us wii it ris an exstontait {6a of sharpening awareness, exposing people to Wings Poy hach' pereeved before The proporicring gystom in my ouldings resus ‘rom several factors: human scale the Scale ofthe andscape, avalabie and appropri use (of materials, orospect and retuge, working with ho ste conious, the Sun, wind, water, and more use the post and beam sts ram for ne ‘cng ses of is house as formal erderng device, CCombinod wh a patorm, bo eystem dens the framing of he landscape. To mai's a wondertl ssi which reay simple. I defines Ie edoes. [establishes scale tothe space one occupies. "ove bulings with order tind enact oulcings $20 cose o my fea nature, lam an untidy bumen; without a rame of relrence im ke a bagperson, get grat ploaeur in hang « Kame of roferonce ‘fat establishes wnat Lean and cannot co. The zones deveope by Faring alow an ease of oer ot can provide grea Hexbtiy I ke structure ‘muse, an ore” which the composer wil develop as layers of corey Ina cel nchness within ‘he estasned order The southom side ofthe Fredericks houses ‘almost al imber. Tare ate few windows, oy st ‘windons serving the hitchen and battvoor, There {16 windows to the escer vew, and foorso- Celing wircows along the whole ofthe nocthern facade. Consrscton is timber fame wn boarding bath sides, wel Insulated, The stuce is ironbare and the cladding wesiem red coda “The insioe ring is pn. “The maximum span fora timber beam carving for loade is oly ile more than 3 mis. Beare start Io llc! Under th wn ie ght ‘when spans exceed ths. ‘The fisors cork on ibe Hoorn ined, an ‘beards 07 the verandahs. The cork foes exoetert insulstion. These Gay | use tung ol and wax on Imberfoos. | am moving aay fom pojurethanes ‘88 much ao possible Tung ol gives a geod sea ‘and allowe he fll gain ofthe ber be ‘rested Wax hes fo be applied about every Shc months whereas the pelrethane leis cat two yoars in a lchen area bolor i recures sanding and refinishing, Tung ol and wax an ld syster: i's whal we used to co. “This house tke boat: every ie necossary Ir North Alaska th Eskimos use citwood n mmasing er extaorcnaty ine kaye. By sre animal skins ove the frames and nsioring be thins they have developed a supremely beaut minimal stcture. This pushing of efments fo tho imts the urate ocean grat, bare, reeds, ees, spiders weds and te the. The immense cantovers ofthe Moreton Bay fg a= remarkable. Tho jos ae flexbie to absore vaya wind pressures, on the same amnaple thal ect wings need to be flexible This house kes my timber houses fo ancther love of nasee. Te worimenship¢ exracranany itwon a natal anard or he oulcer Assistant on tis house: Wendy Lenin Enginear: James Tor anc AssociatesFredericks house Jlamberco Nev South Waloe “ae 101982