The location of Holocene House is one of unique beauty and tranquility. At the rear, it gives onto a national park, with a delightful outlook over coastal heath.

At the ocean-facing frontage, it boasts million-dollar views toward Shelly Beach. The existing house harvested these views from the front upper levels.

Architecture & Design: Can you describe the initial vision for this project and how it evolved over time?

CplusC Architects + Builders: The initial vision for the project was highly ambitious, inspiring our team the way the clients described the lifestyle they wanted for their children. It’s always an indication of a very special relationship, and project, when the first discussions aren’t about spaces but legacy and performance.

The clients wanted a natural pool at the heart of their family home, inviting all the beauty and joys of living beside shimmering water with dappled light through swaying canopies above inspired by their recent journey through Eli Creek at K’Gari, Fraser Island.

All the initial concepts marked the natural pool as the centrepiece, with spaces flanking both sides. As the design developed it made more sense to stack the spaces to the south to establish a setback from the neighbour to the north, and harness the pools ability as a reflective pond to bring light and warmth into all corners of the home that the family sprawl across throughout the day.

Although the spatial arrangement evolved over time, the goals for a highly sustainable home within a natural environment remained at the core. A place where the family could grow their own food, raise productive chickens, harness energy and harvest water.

What were the biggest challenges you faced during the design and construction phases, and how did you overcome them?

On top of the challenges that everyone in the industry faced with COVID, the site also experienced the brunt of two one in 100 year floods from the upslope national park. The first flood washed the contents of the empty site (luckily) down the street.

By the time the second flood came, we had already coordinated extensive roundtable workshops with the structural and hydraulic engineers, landscape architect, earthworks, and plumbing subcontractor to make sure the house would not just resist the flood but address the stormwater flow more cohesively in the context of the landscape and hydrology.

What resulted was essentially civic-scale drainage solutions with multiple lines of defence dispersing all stormwater to councils existing services.

How did you ensure that the project met the client’s needs and expectations?

The way we work is incredibly immersive with thanks to a robust digital design and project management system, underpinned by regular communication with 3D modelling to ensure everyone is talking about the same thing.

Our unique end to end architecture and construction services ensured that the clients intimate needs discussed from the very first conversations were captured, carried through, and delivered without any dilution. Challenges that arose were able to be managed collaboratively with the clients and CplusC as both Architect and Builder, always working towards a shared vision.

Were there any unique or innovative techniques or materials used in this project?

Low embodied carbon, low maintenance, and low to zero VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) compatible materials directed the overall palette.

The Shou Sugi Ban charred timber cladding was used for several reasons; as a contextual response to bushfire risk, to ensure low VOC and non-petroleum-based oils were required in the finishing coatings, and to achieve a low embodied carbon skin whilst ensuring maintenance related carbon emissions were minimised.

The house emerges from the bushland, revealing moments of new growth within a charred timber clad exterior. Warm, local recycled hardwood spaces are carved from the charred and raw volumes of the home.

The innovative of the canopy required detailed resolution with the plumber, landscape architect, landscape contractor & natural pool ecologist, and structural engineer, ensuring intricate irrigation feeds connecting each of the 23 floating steel planter trays to ensure the coastal heath vegetation would thrive.

How does this project fit into your broader portfolio and design philosophy?

The Holocene House is a project that embraces our philosophy that architecture must be regenerative, human-centered, and deeply connected to nature.

The house is named after the Holocene Epoch, the last 11,700 years where temperatures were stable, where humans thrived in harmony with its ecosystems. Some believe we have recently entered the Anthropocene period, where humans are asserting an irreversible dominance over the planet and coexistence with nature is diminishing.

The project celebrates the regenerative capacity of nature and aspires for greater coexistence with the larger ecology. Unlike typical coastal homes, it turns inward to embrace native bushland and a living water system that supports biodiversity.

We believe regenerative principles should be reflected in every aspect of design and construction; from integrating the underlying nature of the sites challenges into its core concept to expressing its constraints and opportunities using materials as its language.

Holocene House was the winner of Single Dwelling (New) category at the Sustainability Awards 2024. Entries have been extended for the 2025 edition, enter here and now.

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