Dream house stays afloat with Futurebuild's LVL and a little imagination
Bird watchers and water lovers, this couple from Largs imagined their house literally on the waterway edging their property.
Along came Schreiber Hamilton Architecture with some imaginative designs and with futurebuild Hyspan and Hybeam. The engineered building
products and creative design were ideally suited to building over this unique fluid site.
Brian Burton has owned the property for over fifteen years. Inland from Newcastle in the Hunter Valley, in a small village called Largs, the
site contains an area which was once part of the banks of the Hunter River and now remains a remnant pond. Brian and wife Judith's dream was
to build a home that would be suspended over the water. They wanted to get as close to the waterway as possible because living on the pond
are flocks of migratory birds that Brian has studied for years. To achieve this, part of the property will be flooded to bring the wetlands
to the new building.
Brian, head of a local approval authority in his area, had regularly reviewed plans of Schreiber Hamilton Architecture. This along with other
recommendations gave Brian the confidence to approach them with the project.
Schreiber Hamilton Architecture, a Newcastle architectural firm, is committed to exciting innovation. Keeping the firm small, 'boutique'
style, the Directors, Justin Hamilton and Kevin Schreiber are able to really pay close attention to the details of a project and communicate
with their clients. In this case, Justin needed to consider the many unusual aspects of this project and the specific requirements of the
Burtons. As Justin said of Brian:
"He wished to get up close and personal with this unique water feature. He also wanted to have a new home that responded to the environment,
took advantage of the views of the Hunter River Valley and gave maximum passive heating and cooling as well as privacy from the pending
suburban subdivision immediately adjacent to the land."
Justin and his team took up the challenge. They conceived of the site as being in two parts, water and land. Part of the building comes out
over the water, designed to reflect the fluid nature of that water and birds in flight using a mix of light steel, timber and curved glass
construction. Seen from one side, the roof has a distinctive wave through it going from one end to the other. The concept of the fluid curve
of the water pavilion was enabled using continuous lengths of Hyspan LVL as rafters cantilevering over steel beams. The timber has a changing
pitch line to form a subtle curve in two directions. This unusual curved roof structure was also designed to achieve maximum light, heat and
shade, depending on which time of year it is.
By contrast, the buildings on the land have solid walls with a grounded connection to the earth. H2 treated Hybeam was used for the main floor
areas including cantilevered areas. Both Architect and owner/builder had to keep the threat of the flooding wetlands in mind at all times.
The lower floor was designed to be above the one in a 100-year flood level. Using H3 treated Hyspan joists the underside of the lower floor
over the water was detailed to be well sealed.
The LVL products were recommended by the engineers as in keeping with the overall 'eco' feel of the home and habitat and for their length and
dimensional stability. The products were easily available too, sourced by Brian from the Newcastle Timber Trading Company via Trussted Frame
and Truss.
Owner Brian, also builder on this project, was impressed by the LVL. Having worked in approvals he is well acquainted with the building
industry and could immediately see the advantages of such materials being available. "The Hyspan were the only suitable timbers available
in the required 9.6 metres lengths. There was no other suitable product," says Brian, "Also it was easy to work with because it's
dimensionally stable and was relatively light. We just couldn't have built that roof without something like that. We thought steel but it
wouldn't work..." According to Brian, the Hybeam H2 was also excellent for the support of the main floor areas as it was light, stable and
easy to cut. "I wouldn't build anything without that sort of material," he adds, "So easy to work with and you know what you're getting,
you know what the properties are. If I'm building again I'll be using them." The manufacturing processes for Hyspan and Hybeam H2 remove
inherent defects of the solid timber providing a product that has predictable properties with little variation.
The house is nearing completion but Brian and Judith's completion date is not fixed. The aim is a very high quality end product and so far
Schreiber Hamilton Architecture and the Burtons are thrilled with the outcome.
For further information contact:
Futurebuild
phone: +61 3 9258 7600
fax: +61 3 9258 7629
web: www.chhfuturebuild.com
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