McCrae Bush House

Located on a long and sloping site along the Mornington Peninsula, the McCrae Bush house is a dwelling that was inspired by the colours and textures of its unique surrounding context of native bushland.
Project Name
McCrae Bush House / Chan Architecture
Case Study Type
Residential
Location

McCrae VIC
Australia

Consultants
Wright Design
Builders
Croft Wootton Construction
Architects
Chan Architecture
Photographer Details
Tatjana Plitt
a woman sitting in a room with a fan and a chair in the background
a house with a car parked in front of it
a house with trees around it
a wooden building with a triangular roof
a woman standing in a room with a glass wall and a table

Overview

The clients of McCrae Bush House were believers of Zen Buddhism, which teaches the importance of rebirth and reincarnation. The use of recycled materials became an important reference to this principle, embedded within the building. Recycled timbers were also chosen to avoid felling new trees, and to provide a new home for demolished building materials that often end up in landfill.

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Exterior

Recycled red ironbark was chosen as the external wall cladding for both its strength and durability. The natural character of the dense Australian hardwood will transition to a natural silver finish, blending in with the colours of the native bushland.

To add to its environmental credentials, the red ironbark cladding used on this project was recycled from the roof purlins of a demolished factory warehouse. These purlins were de-nailed, re-sawn, precision profiled and re-graded, all done using a combination of on-site solar generation and green power. The finished board was 130x19mm vertical VJ cladding board, left uncoated.

Interior

Solid red ironbark flooring was chosen for the internal floors for its hardness, natural character, and deep, rich colours. The rich timber provided warmth and texture to the clean and modern spaces.

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