10 Questions with Architect Jo Craddock

What was important for you in the design?

Since I was a young child, I have always been aware of how the built environment and its relationship to surroundings can affect mood. One of my earliest childhood memories was attending a kindergarten (that I am sure my parents thought was very respectable) and feeling complete gloom. I hated going. In fact, I used to purposely forget my shoes in the hope that my mother would turn around and return home and perhaps forget about kindy for the day. It was a dark sunken space with only a small clerestory window to provide light and the outside play area was an asphalt court surrounded by high mesh fencing. There was no vegetation, no green space. Conversely, I recall the feelings that I had when visiting spaces that made me feel instantly happy. There were several architecturally designed homes that I spent time in as a child that inspired me to decide to become an architect by the age of 10.

I wanted to create an oasis for my family, a house deeply connected to nature, a place that lifted the spirit and provided a sense of comfort and calm, a light-filled home that integrated harmoniously into the surrounding landscape. It was important to me that the house brought connection and provided a backdrop for happy memories as my children grew. Careful planning in relation to site, materiality, sun, shelter and scale has worked together to create an environment that is enhancing our lives.

The site was a rolling 10 acre run down sheep farm and chestnut orchard with many large established trees and a pond. We remodelled the farm into an equestrian property with the house at the heart. It is a working farm and the house had to be robust enough to cope with that. We bought the property and lived on site in a damp little dark Lockwood, and I designed the house from there whilst wrangling three pre-schoolers. During the early stages I built a conceptual model which I took down onto the site at different times of day and through the seasons for a whole year before being sure that I had reached the right resolution.

The house is designed as split level to follow the natural contours of the land. A continuous ceiling height creates increased volume and scale as you descend into the living areas which expand to allow full view of the natural environment and large trees beyond. Strong axial lines draw the eye out into the landscape whist a lineal hallway dissects the house into two parts- protective precast concrete on the south and cedar weatherboards on the north. A lap pool further stretches the house towards surrounding bush.

It was important to me that the house perform efficiently and tread lightly on the environment. I gave careful consideration to orientation and sun angles which optimise thermal performance at different times of the year. Direct sunlight enters the house during the winter and in summer a canopy provides shade. Large sliding glazed doors open to provide ventilation and an uninhibited connection to the outdoors. The precast concrete panels anchor the house to the ground and provide thermal mass that store heat during the winter and keep spaces cool during the summer. Solar panels collect energy for hot water supply. Rainwater is collected from the roof. Septic is dealt with on site. Timber joinery and plywood wall linings act in juxtaposition to the concrete creating a softness and warmth.