The Osbornes prefer the style and quality only available at Futurebuild
Don Osborne and his family wanted a comfortable, liveable house. A house that expressed his philosophy on architecture, that
demonstrated the ideals of passive solar design, that was contemporary and not reliant on heritage for its character and one that utilised all
the benefits of sustainable timbers. A very experienced architect of many years, Don Osborne was the owner-builder of 'Oz House' and achieved
all of these aims, with the help of 'The A Team' and Hyspan Structural LVL by futurebuild.
Oz House is built on a slope in the heritage village of Bangalow about 12 km west of Byron Bay. Don Osborne has an architecture business in the
local area, sometimes extending to projects in Sydney and Brisbane. His practice covers commercial, industrial, heritage and residential
projects. Having been in the business as both a designer and project administrator and now as a registered architect, Don had a clear idea of
what he wanted in a home. Summing up his architectural design philosophy:
"The most important aspect of construction is getting the design right. Everything else that follows falls into place much more readily when
the design works properly. As architects, we have the responsibility of being able to affect how people live. If our design can enhance their
lives, they will live a more fulfilling life."
Given the centrality of design for Don, he finds the reliance on "modern" heritage styles inappropriate for our contemporary lives. Living in
the heritage village of Bangalow, where the features of the old properties are preserved and complemented where possible by new buildings,
Don's challenge was to overcome the mistaken perception that any new home had to copy the old. "Houses built today should reflect the type of
lifestyle we lead today," says Don, "and in doing that we create our own unique heritage which will be recognised in the future."
To this end, his main specification for Oz House was that the builders not use timber from either rainforest or old growth forests and that
overall they create a comfortable living environment using passive solar design principles. The site gently slopes away from the road and the
house has been oriented to gain the maximum amount of passive solar benefit. Also, this orientation allowed for a lower floor area under the
main floor of the house. Although the house features weatherboard to help it blend with the houses in the immediate area, the house has an
unmistakably contemporary ethos.
The western end of the house is protected from the intense afternoon summer sun by a garage featuring a curved roof. The roof for this
structure was formed using curved steel beams supported on poles. Hyspan purlins were used to clear span the 6 metres between supports and
achieve a significant overhang for sun and rain protection. The purlin tails were shaped back to a reduced depth at their visible ends for
aesthetics.
Don has used Hyspan products before over his career and was aware that they are capable of being very cost effective, providing large clear
spans with minimal supports. However, the main advantage for him is that Hyspan is an efficient use of timber. The waste usually found when
cutting large section timber members is greatly reduced. Radiata pine logs are peeled in a rotary lathe and the veneer then glued back
together. This process reduces the strength reducing characteristics of timber, such as knots, providing a product with predictable and
reliable structural properties far in excess of the raw material. "It allows what would usually be waste timber to be used effectively in a
structural situation in buildings and will help reduce the demand made on our forests," says Don.
Quality is high on Don's mind and Hyspan provides peace in this regard with its independent third party auditing by the JAS-ANZ accredited
Plywood Association of Australasia. Though cost was not a high priority on this job, Don was still pleasantly surprised at how economical
Hyspan was in this instance.
'The A Team' found them easy to use; two people could comfortably lift and hold the 7 metre lengths of 300 mm x 45 mm Hyspan while they were
bolted into place. 'The A Team' are Craig, Adam and Donny, a group of highly trained and skilled carpenters who work with Don whenever he has
a residential project that requires really high quality craftsmanship. Oz House was one of these and according to Don, 'The A Team' are very
proud of the results.
The Osbornes are now living comfortably. The neighbours love Oz House too and Don's clients want the same features in their designs. And Don
himself? The house has allowed him to express some different ideas in housing that he may not have otherwise had the opportunity to do and
to achieve this while still designing a house suited to Bangalow. As he says of Oz House:
"I believe the character and style of the house integrate well into the immediate surroundings so it maintains an harmonious feel." But the
biggest benefit he says is the comfortable living environment that needs to be experienced to be appreciated.
For further information contact:
Futurebuild
phone: +61 3 9258 7600
fax: +61 3 9258 7629
web: www.chhfuturebuild.com
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