Home Design Find

The Outback Legacy of the Hinterland House in Queensland, Australia

Shaun Lockyer Architects have designed a house in rural Queensland, Australia that feels as if it was part of the outback.

The Hinterland House perfectly recreates the Australian colonial idyll.

A deep porch extends the full length, past living, dining, bathing and sleeping rooms.

Simultaneously fragile and monumental, the home truly captures the spirit of the place.

The plan is as simple and clear as an isolated Australian railway station.

At the far end is the master bedroom.

At the center of the line of rooms, a serene bathroom juts out into the porch but is surrounded by plantings for privacy.

The house is set on a slight slope with parking above.

A two step stair extends the entire length of the porch and wraps around on both ends.

The house also has suggestions of a farm shed in the outback.

Its high roof of corrugated metal is exposed underneath like a utilitarian sheep shearing shed.

The elegant contemporary reinterpretation is charmingly utilitarian.

A lonely colonial outpost with a certain retro charm.

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Gorgeous Eco Beach Cottage in Madagascar

Here is an amazing and highly original beach house on coastal Madagascar by SCEG architects.

The house is superbly designed to maximize coastal breezes.

The roof is flipped up to catch and direct a flow of air through the structure.

Under the shelter of the straw roof, only four rooms at each corner are enclosed.

Only two enclosed spaces are on a second ‘floor’ that is otherwise completely open.

Between these stucco rooms, the heart of the home is entirely open to the cross breeze.

The enclosed spaces on the second floor are connected by wooden paths under the roof.

A modular rhythm is established by the persistent use of open air trelliswork to separate the spaces.

The four enclosed stucco-clad spaces are at the four edges of the house.

In the enclosed rooms, the modular rhythm is continued in the window muntins.

A platform of cooling concrete keeps the bedrooms cool.

Wooden French doors attractively frame the cool grey concrete.

The straw roof is loosely suspended above the entire structure.

A lovely earth toned stucco is combined with a warm red wood to create a simple but sensuous texture palette.

The overall effect is simultaneously sultry and cool.

The wood detailing throughout has a beguiling charm.

The uniqueness of the design is all the more astonishing for being on such an isolated island.

The design, combining architectural woodworking with colored stucco and concrete is reminiscent of the work of Studio Mumbai.

Wood is even used to frame tiny square windows that poke out from the bedrooms upstairs.

Each day’s end brings the warm glow of the sunset behind the island of Sakatia.

This is a very unique home that is warmly welcoming and civilized, while being completely open.

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A Beautiful and Cutting Edge Eco-Tech Prefab

Along with beauty, architect Philippe Stark injects a little fun into this eco-tech design.

One charming and novel idea is a shallow water feature that does not require the water use of a full pool.

The shallow water has the same cooling effect on a hot day.

Starck and Riko have collaborated on energy efficient and self-powering prefabricated home designs in the P.A.T.H. project.

Its state-of-the-art eco tech roof is part cooling greenroof and part solar panels.

The solar array is raised up off the roof allowing air to flow under the panels to cool them making them more efficient.

Riko is one of the leading European manufacturers of wooden sustainable prefab buildings and the homes are built using state of the art prefab techniques.