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Background
The clients required a permanent home/office on their small property, located one hour’s drive from Adelaide. A bend in the winter creek that divides the property, creates a billabong (a deep waterhole) bounded by a high rocky bank. A house was required that would allow appreciation of the site without spoiling its beauty, but at a budget comparable with a “prefabricated” dwelling or an “off the plan” developers design (approximately A$220,000/US$175,000).

The Design
A narrow house form, spans over the creek. Glazing each side opens the house to views in both directions, giving the feeling of living amongst the trees.


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Bridge House (Photo: Sam Noonan)

Structure and Materials
Two steel trusses forming the primary structure, were fabricated off site and erected by two men and a crane in two days. They were anchored by four small concrete piers, poured each side of the creek. Spanning between the trusses is a concrete floor slab on steel decking with a layer of rigid insulation. The “box” walling and roofing is plantation pine.


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Bridge House (Photo: Sam Noonan)

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Bridge House (Photo: Sam Noonan)

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Bridge House (Photo: Sam Noonan)

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Bridge House (Photo: Sam Noonan)

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Bridge House (Photo: Sam Noonan)

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Bridge House (Photo: Sam Noonan)

Sustainability and Environment
House Size - A floor area of 110m2 has proved quite adequate for the couple‘s permanent home and office. An efficient plan is a simple and effective method of limiting the environmental “footprint” of the building.

Thermal Comfort - This house avoids any air conditioning by the following design techniques:

• Winter Heating The long sides of the house face north and south. The low winter sun from the north heats the black insulated concrete floor, storing heat for reradiating at night. Insulation to the underside of the slab, wall and roof combined with double glazed curtained windows aid the retention of heat. A small wood combustion heater provides additional heat when required, fueled from timber grown sustainably on the site.
• Summer Cooling Pressed steel screens shade the north facing windows in summer. A combination of ceiling fans and openable windows allow for efficient and effective cooling from cross ventilation. By closing the house during hot summer days and opening it during the cool evenings, comfortable conditions can be maintained without air conditioning.

Materials - Where possible Materials were selected that were:

• produced locally in a sustainable manner
• recyclable or reusable
• easily installed with little machinery
• created little waste

Steel and aluminum are used in recyclable sections, whilst satisfying the design requirements for bushfire prone areas. Secondary framing is plantation pine grown in the state. Roofing and wall cladding is recyclable sheet steel.

Services

• Water Roof water is collected for use within the house.
• Waste Water Is pumped 100 meters from the creek to avoid pollution and dispersed underground following treatment.
• Electricity Photovoltaic cells are located on the adjacent shed, to power the house, with excess power fed back into the grid.
• Hot Water Solar hot water panels on the house roof provide hot water at minimal cost.

Environmental Impact The design represents the classic “Touch the Earth Lightly” approach, both visually and environmentally.

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Bridge House (Photo: Sam Noonan)

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Bridge House (Photo: Sam Noonan)

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Bridge House (Photo: Sam Noonan)

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Bridge House (Photo: Sam Noonan)

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Bridge House (Photo: Sam Noonan)

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Bridge House - Site Plan

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Bridge House - Floor Plan

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Bridge House - Isometry


Max Pritchard Architect
President's Medal // Maxwell Robert Pritchard

Extracts from citation by Francesco Bonato, President SA Chapter Royal Australian Institute of Architects - on awarding of the President's Medal 2004:

The work of Max Pritchard speaks eloquently of its unassuming creator: deft, grounded and genuine. It is appropriate in a time when the profession is going through a period of self-examination of its role and relevance in South Australia that we recognise a person who has quietly built a reputation and following as an architect of people and place, unaffected by the transient trends and fashions swirling around him.

Max Pritchard's work has been consistently recognised by his peers, having received many RAIA Merit and Commendation awards, and by interstate and overseas architecture critics and commentators.

The essence of his work is that it is as much about the pursuit of good outcomes as the pursuit of good architecture. His houses can be the best examples of architectural excellence as well as affordable solutions for clients simply seeking more than the mainstream offerings of the housing industry. His approach embodies an empathy and humility which in the eyes of the wider community is seen as lacking in our profession.

He grew up on Kangaroo Island where the requirements of the practical led to his discovery of the joy of creation through materials and construction.

After studying at the University of Adelaide in the 1960s he travelled overseas and discovered a world of indigenous housing and construction forms that so suited their physical environment that they influenced the approach to design and respect for climate that characterises his work today.

After a long apprenticeship spent on building sites in various trades and then in a small architectural office, Max stepped out on his own in 1986. The first home he designed received an Award of Merit. Eighteen years and countless awards later, he is the recipient of the Sir James Irwin RAIA SA Chapter President's Medal.

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