Houzz Tour: Australian Home a Gold Mine of Unconventional Ideas
Sawmill House, a collaboration between 2 brothers, combines the precision of architecture with the expressiveness of sculpture
Sawmill House, a collaboration between two creative brothers who love a good challenge, is like an architectural artwork. Sculptor Ben Gilbert and architect Chris Gilbert designed and built Sawmill House together, albeit with the aid of others. As maker and architect joined to work on the design, the home became, according to Chris, an “experimental exploration reconnecting drawing with making.” Indeed, their small-budget, big-thinking prototype combines the brothers’ expertise, and the result — Ben’s house — has deservedly won a bevy of national and state awards in Australia.
Sawmill House is on a site that was once a gold mine and later repurposed to be a sawmill — hence the name. It has been designed with raw and refined materials that reference those found in or derived from a sawmill, such as wood planks. Ben’s sculpture studio is housed in the sawmill that still exists on the property.
Collaborating on the design and build presented new opportunities for both brothers. For architect Chris, it was the chance to experiment (and on his first large architectural project too), while for sculptor Ben, it was an opportunity to “make” his own house. Working from a rough plan, Chris says, “we slowly developed the design while physically working on-site for the duration of the build.”
The result is a house that offers unconventional solutions for unconventional living. It is one continuous and adaptable space that pays homage to its site, as well as being imbued with a handcrafted aesthetic befitting a sculptor. “This design-build approach allowed us to move away from conventional solutions and investigate highly bespoke yet cost-effective alternatives,” Chris says. “It’s all one space with sliding and pivoting doors, working to divide or open it as a whole. Large sections of the roof and facade are mechanized, entire walls of glass can pivot, and courtyards can be added.”
“Sawmill House is a calm, reflective and adaptive space using locally sourced materials, with a focus on natural materials that improve with age,” Chris says. Certainly from the outside, Sawmill House appears anchored to the landscape, while from the inside, it seems to almost float above the valley.
The exterior is constructed with concrete blocks and faced with untreated, rough-sawn mottlecah (Eucalyptus macrocarpa) wood screens. The screens are fashioned into a moveable facade that references the old sawmill. “Over time they pale to gray and will settle the building into its perch on the quarry’s edge,” Chris says.
For the walls, the brothers used 270 massive concrete blocks that would have otherwise gone to waste, being a byproduct of other construction projects in the region. “They create a patchwork of color and texture across the facades,” Chris says. “This texture grounds the building, while the colors mimic the sedimentary layers of earth still exposed in the site’s former life as a gold mine.”
The bricks are left rough and exposed both outside and inside, highlighting their imperfections, particularly in contrast to other more refined materials in the construction.
The floors and ceiling are lined with planks of wood that run longitudinally to accent the length of the space. The wood, red stringybark (Eucalyptus macrorhyncha), was reclaimed from fallen trees in a forest seen from the house.
Custom-made brass sheeting covers some of the interior walls, recalling the brass used in sawmills for shimming and machine elements. Supplied by George White, Chris and Ben made the cabinetry on-site. It is designed to be touched and used. “The brass patinates, showing its use and age, as well as reflecting the northern light,” Chris says.
Countertops are made of carbon steel, and Archier’s thin and elegant Highline pendant hangs over the dining table. It is designed for both task lighting and subtle illumination.
Countertops are made of carbon steel, and Archier’s thin and elegant Highline pendant hangs over the dining table. It is designed for both task lighting and subtle illumination.
Being designers and makers, Ben and Chris built more than just the structure of the house. With the on-site development of the design and build, “the custom furniture, [cabinetry] and hardware could be designed and manufactured on-site in real time,” Chris says. This includes the wood-framed sofas, picnic bench-style dining table, lighting and hardware. It also includes the copper sink and toilet paper holder in the bathroom, which is on a deck that runs along the rear of the bedroom.
The bedroom has been designed and positioned so Ben and Simic can “wake with morning light,” Chris says. From the inside, pivoting doors reveal and conceal the space at the end of the house plan. The exterior wall, or window in this case, opens out like an enormous door.
A sand pit-cum-garden in the courtyard sits alongside the bedroom. It was “spontaneously curated by a friend who specializes in Japanese sand gardens,” Chris says.
With the house’s simple structure comes complex ideas: Sawmill House has a highly operable plan that has been configured to adapt to seasonal and climatic conditions. It has a 30-foot-wide double-glazed wall that moves, bifold doors that stack and a roof that retracts. In this way, Sawmill House opens to the environment, and the deck becomes a living space, playing to Ben and Simic’s love of the outdoors.
Sawmill House embodies modernism and clarity, tactility and craftsmanship. These characteristics have stemmed from the intuitive relationship between two brothers, who both had the opportunity and freedom to explore the role of being designer and maker. And as Chris takes the skills he learned into his own practice of Archier, he says, “the knowledge gained through a hands-on approach has been incredibly valuable to the development of our young practice.”
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Read more about Sawmill House and other award-winning Australian homes
Browse more homes by style:
Apartments | Barn Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Floating Homes | Guesthouses | Homes Around the World | Lofts | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Small Homes | Townhouses | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | Vacation Homes
Who lives here: Ben Gilbert and Tijana Simic, their young son and their two dogs, Pedro and Missy
Location: Yackandandah, Victoria, Australia
Size: 968.8 square feet (90 square meters); 1,615 square feet (150 square meters) with deck; one bedroom, one bathroom
Architect: Chris Gilbert of Archier