22
Vision Magazine
How about technical assistance from Viridian?
Our criteria was that the glass had to meet comfort
issues so we used double glazing and LowE to
reduce heat gain and glare. Weather conditions
are often severe so windows were treated as an
ensemble. The visual performance was equally
important to our clients. They didn’t want tint to
alter the colours and light so that our choice of glass
should appear as natural and as clear as possible. In
other words ‘disappear’ as much as possible. Some
glass appears green, or pink, or blue and it detracts
from how a building sits in the landscape and how
the landscape appears from the building. Standard
glass doesn’t have the performance we needed but
Viridian provided us with that exceptionally clear
rendering of the view inside and out.
Are there other qualities glass contributes?
In such a harsh environment glass is a relatively low
maintenance material. Both houses have also been
designed so that all of the windows to both houses
are easily accessible for cleaning. The hillside, larger
house has identical glazing specifications so again
it offers excellent visibility. The pole house offers the
freedom and escape of a classic weekender while
the main house is somewhere to retreat. In effect
one is the ultimate tree-house, the other a little more
cave-like, but still with those wonderful windows that
remind you of why you live in this part of the world.
What about the bushfire risk?
The pole house sits above the flame zone and so
the glazing didn’t require shutters. The glass sits
well back from the edge balustrade to protect the
box while any up-draught will carry embers straight
past. The previous house used timber cladding
so we won approval without too much drama.
Concealed metal shutters can close off all exposed
glazed areas of the main residence.
Do you have a standout project moment?
It sounds like the cliché but it was the owners’ faces
when they laid eyes on the completed project. It
was a six-year process from brief to completion.
When you work through all of the regulations,
bushfire and building issues, that moment of
completion and overjoyed client is hard to go past.
Prima Donna
Below
Iconic by day and night.
The pole-house silhouette as
unofficial marker of a dramatic
connection between land,
sea and sky.