Dusty Miller House is designed for a retired couple that will eventually move to Anglesea permanently. The clients have four children and grandchildren that can occupy the lower level. In consideration of the steep fall at the front of the property the entry to the site is designed with a ramp and carport that comes directly off the street into the upper level. The house is designed for accessibly and the option to live on the upper level if needed as the clients get older.

The aspect is into the Anglesea heathland and long-distance views into the bush landscape, this is captured with design strategies using three different geometries in plan. The design has two diagonal wings in junction and a curved outdoor area connecting the two wings on the upper level. The master bedroom is projected out into the view whilst having privacy from
the main living areas. All rooms are orientated to the north to maximise solar passive design creating a comfortable interior bathed in sun in winter and the curved eave structure providing protection from hot summer sun.

Tectonics of the building, materials and scale are a culmination of references of the local
typologies of modest beach houses. The lower level is of simple and economical detail intentionally in shadow with a darkly painted surface of cement sheet. Only to be used when family are visiting. The upper level is to read as a more singular elevated ‘house on stilts’ volume like many of the surrounding houses.

Geometries are driven by process of patterning information and site conditions. The diagonal form of the main living spaces orients to true north, and the curved veranda and eave controls seasonal light to the upper and lower levels.

Materials and construction methods are based on the local builders’ skills in carpentry and craftmanship with timber. The client’s son-in-law’s timber sourcing business provided most of the Australian hardwood; the ironbark cladding, Ironback decking and Tasmanian Oak Flooring from Kosny Timber. With joinery timber of Blackbutt Plywood and Blackbutt Timber Window Frames. The intended use of timber also provides an accessible bio based low embodied energy construction material for the project. A simple proportional grid of 1200 - 2400mm was used for windows and cement sheet cladding to reduce wastage where possible. The site is regenerated with Indigenous flora.