Killcare House

KILLCARE HOUSE The Killcare House is a sustainable building originally constructed 50 years ago, on the edge of the Bouddi National Park, about 1 hour north of Sydney on the East Coast of Australia. The house sits in a flame zone, the highest classification for bushfire threat. The two new attached pavilions facing the sea are concrete. On a blue-sky day, Manly can be seen through the framed concrete openings directed towards the south. New concrete interventions distinguish the new space from the old. The original concrete block is wrapped in insulation, and cladding, with double glazing to seal tight against the southerly busters. This is an old house, a sustainable house, evolving to become electric. Conservation is no longer optional – it is essential. Solar panels (10 KW) feed the heat pump and fuel the heating, cooling, cooking, power and car charging. The Killcare House is playful in its architectural expression. The BAL bushfire zonings decrease across the site. These gradients are painted externally: concrete BALZ next to Black BALZ next to Dark Grey BAL40 next to Light Grey BAL19. Internally two red steel portal frames must be passed through at the threshold of the BALZ Flame Zone. The ocean side of the house rather literally has blue tones while the street side has green. Light is able to penetrate deep into the centre with the use of translucent polycarbonate on the balustrade and ensuite bathroom walls. There are no wardrobes here. It’s a holiday house. A place where belongings can be casually thrown on the timber hooks and custom benches made with sustainable engineered timber. The dining table structure mimics the other joinery. When beach life becomes too hectic, there is escape to a dark calm space with obligatory ‘panelling’, a ‘library’ soon to be filled. The native filled garden attracts biodiverse native species: wallabies, a goanna, a python, bush turkeys and native birds. The ocean is 500 metres removed but the sound of the ocean is ever-present and loud. Killcare House is restorative, for the mind, the body and the environment.