It’s not uncommon to crave a home-as-a-sanctuary in today’s fast-paced world, and Edition Office Federal House embodies exactly that. While such tranquility isn’t always possible in big cities, many regional areas across the country offer the chance to embrace a slower, more grounded pace of life.
The Melbourne-based owners of this delightful abode — a family consisting of two professionals and their three university-aged children — kept this in mind when choosing the location of their holiday home. They eventually settled on Federal, a charming Northern Rivers village just 20km from the bustling seaside town of Byron Bay. Federal House, which is what they affectionately call the dwelling you see here, will function as a holiday escape for about 10 years or so. After that, there’s a chance it may become the house this family calls home.
“The design for the Federal House is progressive as it takes the basic premise of a home as a shelter and pushes the boundaries of all its relationships,” shares Kim Bridgland, director of Edition Office. “Its approach is to take the vessel of habitation and create honest relationships unique to how it allows one to experience place and time — its colonial past and the traditional ownership of the landscape, its responsibility to its environmental context and its tactile intimacy.”
From a distance, Federal House’s structure may seem recessive, a mere shadow within the vast landscape. On arrival, however, the roof brings the home’s gravitas into perspective. “The roof is a precise object that is consciously aware of its embedded semiotics and its foreignness to the Bundjalung country landscape and its indigenous heritage,” Kim elaborates. The home’s primary exterior material — black-stained rough-sawn timber — facilitates a perfect juxtaposition of light and dark, while also contrasting the sense of singularity the exterior exudes when viewed from afar.
“The darker, textural palette gives way to the soft and immersive interior, where the living and sleeping spaces are wrapped in warm blackbutt timber lining boards,” Kim explains. The home’s modest living spaces and three bedrooms all expand into a covered verandah-style outdoor living zone that envelops the home. The verandah provides for the enjoyment of the stunning unfolding landscape to the north, while enhancing the sense of sanctuary from Mother Nature’s extremities. It allows the family to be outside in torrential rain or avoid the burning midday sun, depending on what the weather holds in store — something they likely won’t take for granted, given their Melbournian roots.
Many elements that appear in this unique holiday home were custom-made to align with Edition Office’s architectural vision and the family’s taste. “Custom-designed recessed downlights, door pulls and super-heavy-weight gates all required intimate working relationships with the makers and fabricators of the project. Their workmanship, dedication and care all came together to bring the home to life,” Kim says.
Federal House’s central courtyard functions as the living heart of the home. It was brought to life through a close working relationship between Edition Office and the project’s landscape architect.
The home is grounded by its subterranean pool, located close to the planted void. On entry, the still body of water can be glimpsed through the lush void’s ferns. Designed to facilitate the experience of a freshwater swimming hole within the comfort of one’s home, this area also acts as a functional device for passive cooling. “Warm air flowing through the sheltered pool is cooled through heat transfer across the shaded body of water. This cooled air then flows up through the cloistered fern garden and naturally ventilates and cools the living spaces,” Kim explains.
Thanks to this clever inclusion, the home does not need to rely on high-energy-consumption cooling systems such as air conditioning. All spaces further benefit from natural cooling thanks to cross-flow ventilation through the large bays of the louvre windows. While ceiling fans are installed throughout the home, they’re barely ever used as the house is shielded from the hot western sun by the deep 200mm battened screen to the western terrace. The house remains just as energy-efficient during the winter months. It is highly insulated and features thermally broken windows with high-performance glass, so no heating is required apart from a small open fireplace. There’s one other impressive fact about Federal House that we can’t help but highlight — the home is reliant on its own water supply. It contains a large roof catchment, which harvests water supply in a sizable 60,000L tank.
While Federal House will remain a holiday home for the time being, we imagine it’s not an easy place to leave to return to the hustle and bustle of city life. Thankfully, it has been designed with the future clearly in mind. We would not be surprised if this atypical holiday house one day becomes the family’s forever home.
