West Bend House被设想为一条有人居住的小路，这是一种穿越狭长场地的方式，从街道到广阔的后花园，可以看到Merri溪的河岸。我们希望给这个五口之家以独立的能力，让他们有时间分开，但也要创造不同的空间，让他们在一起时不一定受限于生活或用餐空间。给予家庭所有成员分开的空间和在一起的空间。

West Bend House was conceived as an inhabited pathway, a means to traverse the long narrow site from the street to the expansive rear garden with views over the banks of Merri Creek. We wanted to give this family of five, with children quickly becoming young adults, the ability to be independent and have time apart but also create varied spaces to come together that were not necessarily constrained as living or dining spaces. Giving all members of the family spaces to be apart and spaces to be together.

因此，房子被开发成一个由明确定义的部分组成的小村庄，沿着内部和外部的路径从前面到后面排列。该计划的一个核心元素是庭院，它接受北方的阳光，遮挡住邻居的视线，并成为内部、外部、入口和家庭工作室之间的连接空间。从街道上看，房子的大部分是不可见的，北面宽阔的后退空间允许一个蜿蜒的花园小路和视觉走廊，通往梅里溪岸边的成熟树木。从花园里看，房子是有意隐性的，让花园成为主要的体验。

Therefore, the house was developed as a small village of clearly defined sections that are arranged along internal and external pathways from front to back. A central element of the plan is the courtyard, it receives the northern sun, screens views to the neighbor, and becomes a linking space between inside, outside, the entry, and a family studio. From the street, the majority of the house is not visible and a generous setback to the north allows for a meandering garden path and visual corridor to the mature trees on the banks of the Merri Creek. From the garden, the house is intentionally recessive and allows the garden to be the dominant experience.

该地块是Northcote第一栋住宅的所在地，它面向北方而不是后来的街道。我们参考了向北的家园立面的档案照片，并将住宅的规模缩小到街道和后花园。位于梅里溪岸边的一个南北长的场地上，我们希望创造出室内和室外的通道，通过场地走向花园和沿溪树木的中远景。我们还认为创造一个从街道到小河的公共视觉走廊是很重要的。

The site was the location of the first home in Northcote, which faced the north rather than the later street. We referenced archival photos of the homestead façade to the north and diminished the scale of the home to both the street and the rear garden. Located on the banks of the Merri Creek on a long north-south site we wanted to create indoor and outdoor pathways through the site towards the garden and mid distant view of trees along the creek. We also considered it important to create a public visual corridor from the street to the creek.

一个住宅需要拥有两个几乎截然相反的特征。它们需要成为居住在其中的家庭的庇护所和舞台。这是West Bend House的主要关注点，即如何培养住在这里的个人的非常独立的生活，但同时也提供各种方式和方法，使他们能够彼此和朋友聚在一起。这一点是通过大量的社会空间来实现的，这些空间的规模和与其他社会空间的联系各不相同，或者与房子里更多的私人区域相联系。

A home needs to possess two almost diametrically opposite traits. They need to be the Shelter and the Stage for the families that live in them. This was the key concern of West Bend House, how to nurture the very independent lives of the individuals that live there but also provide a variety of ways and means that they could come together with each other and friends. This was achieved by a large range of social spaces that vary in scale and connections to each other social spaces or with more private zones of the house.

由于长期熟悉这个家庭，我们为他们设计了另一套房子，再加上详细全面的前期设计和简报阶段，意味着我们对所需的东西有了详细的了解。父母大部分时间在家工作，但希望与孩子们分享工作空间，而不是被关在门外，有组织的和即兴的艺术乐队排练，一个比生命更重要的十几岁的儿子和两个年龄相近的姐妹的需求，需要一个活跃的乡村生活，积极鼓励朋友和邻居无缘无故地来这里。

Long-term familiarity with the family, we have designed another house for them, combined with a detailed and comprehensive predesign and briefing phase meant we had a detailed understanding of what was required. The complexities of both parents mostly working from home but wanting to share workspaces with the kids rather than being shuttered off, the organized and impromptu art-band rehearsals, the needs of a larger-than-life teenage son and those of two close-in-age sisters, the need for an active village life with friends and neighbors actively encouraged to drop around for no reason at all.

这座房子没有连接到主燃气，完全由可持续的电力驱动。在主卧室的屋顶上有一个9千瓦的光伏阵列，与家庭入口处的电池相连。所产生的电力用于家庭和电动车的充电。所有用于供暖和家庭使用的水加热都是通过热泵进行的。所有的电器都是高效的低功率低用水量的类型。性能非常好的木制门窗。滑动门装有升降密封装置。用于被动通风的窗户是倾斜和旋转的。

The house is not connected to mains gas and is run entirely from sustainably generated electricity. There is a 9kw PV array on the roof of the main bedroom connected to a battery on the family entry. The power generated is used in the home and also for charging the EV. All water heating for heating and domestic use is via heat pumps. All appliances are high-efficiency low power low water use types. Very high-performing timber windows and doors. Sliding door fitted with a lift and slide sealing. Windows for passive ventilation are tilt and turn.

所有用于屋顶的水都被收集起来，用于冲厕所、洗衣房和景观灌溉。所有的砖都是回收的，是不太流行的奶油色系列，而不是红色的。所有的外部木材都是可持续采伐和磨制的银顶灰。内部木材和单板都经过FSC认证。朝向、悬垂和热质都经过了优化，以便在冬季获得被动热量。热量被进一步用于夏季的温度调节。

All water for the roof is collected and used variously for flushing toilets, in the laundry, and landscape irrigation. All bricks are reclaimed, in the less popular cream range rather than the reds. All external timber is sustainably harvested and milled Silvertop Ash. Internal timber and veneers are FSC certified. Orientation, overhangs, and thermal mass are optimized for passive heat gain in winter. Thermal mass is further utilized for summertime temperature moderation.

Architects: MRTN Architects
Year : 2021
Photographs :Peter Bennetts
Builder : Lew Building
Interior Design : Brave New Eco
Country : Australia