Perched above rugged rock, this Alexandra home is full of drama. But if you’re in need of more of a wow factor, you only need to pause on the glass floor in the entry.
"You’ve got no choice.
"You have to go across it," says architect Anna-Marie Chin with a laugh.
"There’s the odd person who really struggles because obviously you’re standing on glass, hanging in the air.
"But it’s quite amazing to see the rock [below] and it actually makes you connect with the ground a lot more."
Initially, the section seemed to have only a few rocks, Chin says.
But when contractors Ussher Green Building started on site, they realised there was much more schist than anyone had anticipated so it effectively became the landscaping.
Designing the house as a series of elevated "boxes" on steel poles was an attempt to tread lightly, she says. This allows the rock to both
"breathe and dominate".
It also broke up the scale of the building from the exterior and meant any cuts in the rock were minimised. Where the poles met the schist, the builders simply cut square holes in the rock to show the connection between the man-made and the natural.
In fact, care was taken right from the start to avoid the schist being scraped and damaged. Machinery was used to remove dirt but when it came to exposing the rock, the builders switched to brooms, shovels and wheelbarrows.
With difficult site access, the house was designed so the floor could be erected quickly. This meant using mostly pre-fabricated elements, including steel portals and columns with precast flat slabs.
The insulated double slab concrete floors work as a diaphragm suspended over the columns. Where the "boxes" sit on the ground, the floor is tied into a block bracing wall keyed into the solid rock.
The entry links the main bedroom pod, which is out to the east, with the kitchen-dining-living space. Guest bedrooms are located downstairs while the garage is a more solid element, attached to the hill.
Aluminium cladding was chosen because it was durable and being up in the air, gaining access for maintenance would be difficult, Chin explains.
A heat recovery ventilation system helps regulate temperatures. Concealed blinds reduce glare on hot summer days and all the glass has a self-cleaning coating.
A winner in the recent Southern Architecture Awards, the property was designed by Chin, Jono Hay, Cory Clark and Ngaio Hart.
The awards jury said the house was as stunning and unforgiving as the site itself.
"The entire site has been stripped back to bare rock, revealing a backdrop akin to Palm Springs and its modernist architecture, yet this is contemporary Alexandra."
