jesse bennett studio builds australian house with brick archways + concrete roof cap

jesse bennett studio has completed ‘tjuringa house’, a new adaptable family home in toowoomba, australia, complete with tall skinny brick archways and a sculptural concrete roof cap that appears to float above it. located on the site of an existing home, the new house is built with as many recycled materials from the previous structure as possible, while it also retains the same two storey brick wall perimeter plan. this brick structure becomes a place of refuge, housing many private and secret spaces to the west.

all images by kristoffer paulsen

‘tjuringa is a cue taken onboard from the client’s suggestion that the home or site is similar to an aboriginal tjuringa artefact,’ explains jesse bennett studio. ‘either a timber or stone carved long oblong shaped stick, where the carvings communicate mythological dreaming, stories of man and great mythic beings. asserting a continuity of life and human mortality, the stories can be passed on through generations and naturally become adapted and or embellished each time they are retold. the sweeping shapes and rounding ends of the sticks/stones were adopted early in the design development phase and easily became a suitable design motif for many elements throughout the building details.’

originally, the australian studio was planning to retain the existing brick perimeter walls from the previous construction, redesign internal layouts, and float a new concrete sail over the top, which would allow much natural light and ultimate flexibility to the plan. however, as the original walls were not structurally sound to perform, the architects decided to build the house anew, recycling as many materials from the existing building as possible. the new program bunkers down into the hillside, utilizing the brick structure as a place of many private and secret spaces to the west. at the same time, it opens out to the eastern view side to embrace the morning sun and entertain guests.

additional new concrete and glass structures pop out of the old brick perimeter on the eastern side to take advantage of the expansive valley views and survey well established garden acres. suspended between five monumental scale columns, the concrete roof cap appears to float over the structure, sweeping and stretching as a fluid canvas. this heavy element serves to set the home down low into the hillside and shield from notorious toowoomba westerly winds that roar through. secondly, it functions as a means to alleviate overlooking into the home from the trafficked road above.

‘there is a definite exploration of scale and blurring of building classification, applying monumental relic scaled column elements to suspend the roof while also reducing down to human residential scale at ground level with the tall skinny brick archways,’ adds the studio. ‘the building will play with time and we hope for it not to be from any distinguishable period / style of architecture.’ the project is complete with a series of roof gardens and plantings, which help soften the hard edges, and, in time, become overgrown to create intrigue and delight, ‘a relic to be discovered, explored and reinterpreted.’