Contour House, Victoria
ARCHITECT: Zen Architects BUILDER: Basis Builders
FABRICATOR: Advanced Windows and Doors
PRODUCTS:
– Series 852 ThermalHEART™ Thermally Broken Sliding Doors
– Series 804 Thermally Broken 100mm CentreGLAZE™ Fixed Windows
– Black Anodised Finish
BACKGROUND
Softened by an earthy palette and a welcoming cascade of greenery and natural stone leading up to the entryway, Contour House’s fluidity relates to its streetscape with polite defiance. The 1950s dwelling that once marked the centre of this steep block has been reimagined by Zen Architects as a timeless home emerging from within the suburban slope, its rudimentary, single-level legacy inconspicuously retained within the evolved structure born of its owners’ desire for a garden house.
“We really liked the simplicity of the original house,” explains Architect Luke Rhodes of Zen Architects. “It was an elevated residence sitting within a garden setting with a small, single-car garage and crossover at the front. We took many cues from that.”
In opposition to neighbouring developments, which often create an architectural disconnect by prioritising extensive concrete driveways over landscape, the dwelling balances a sense of generosity with considered restraint. Earning the home its name, the contours of the land were stretched out to form an essential part of the building through a series of curvilinear, landscaped roofs. This architectural fluidity is given a unique voice through a locally sourced material palette that subtly references the owners’ beloved family destination in Asia.
Defined by sweeping gestures of brick and spotted gum, this multifaceted expression offers a preamble to the serene interiors within. On the lower levels, the fusion of exposed concrete floors and rendered walls deliberately reinforces the sense that the dwelling had been carved out of a hill. This grounding palette gives way to a lighter, timber-clad upper level that sits above as a gentle nod to the original structure, while the journey through the home is guided by stretches of transparency designed to intertwine the indoor and outdoor realms.
CHALLENGE
The vision for Contour House as a dwelling that is at once an extension of the earth and a porous membrane to the landscape hinged on the integration of bespoke glazing. Realising the design’s inherent fluidity and the client’s desire for a genuine connection to the garden necessitated apertures of robust scale, while the plot’s steep context demanded intricate composition for every opening. “Because we were essentially below ground, we had to carve courtyards into the structure,” Luke explains. “We were very strategic about where we placed windows.”
The challenge, then, was to leverage glazing as an essential architectural tool – to sculpt with light, frame lush vistas and compose moments of stillness, while veiling the dwelling from its suburban surrounds. At the same time, these vast thresholds had to be realised without sacrificing comfort and energy efficiency. It was crucial for the glazing system to help balance the structure’s deliberate transparency with uncompromising technical pragmatism and deliver the superior thermal performance required to make this garden-immersed family living a year-round reality in Melbourne’s unforgiving climate.
SOLUTION
To address this intricate equation, the architects specified a suite of AWS ThermalHEART™ thermally broken aluminium systems, expertly fabricated by Advanced Windows and Doors. Meticulously customised to meet the dwelling’s unique needs, the openings were thoughtfully integrated across all levels, facilitating the structure’s dialogue with its setting.
In the home’s earth-bound levels, strategically placed oversized Series 804 ThermalHEART™ Thermally
Broken CentreGLAZE™ (100mm) Fixed Windows draw daylight deep into the interior, transforming what could be enclosed spaces into immersive sanctuaries. Integrated across the other levels, these pockets of transparency curate a myriad of unique perspectives on the surrounding gardens.
This same principle finds a striking expression in the main living area, where the confident geometry of the Series 852 ThermalHEART™ Sliding Doors frames the threshold to the garden. The glazed expanse dissolves any perceived barrier, while seamless operability ensures that the physical transition between them is as fluid as the visual one.
The frames’ black anodised finish harmonises with the calm, rich palette; however, rather than a purely stylistic choice, the shade further deepens the connection to the landscape. “We find that darker colours on openings provide a lot more visual transparency,” Luke explains. “When framing a lush, verdant backdrop, the darker shades actually enhance the vibrancy of the greenery.”
Crucially, this visual clarity is underpinned by bespoke functionality, ensuring the home is as comfortable as it is beautiful. The large sliding door unit was customised as a complex arrangement, featuring a double stacker at one end, a single slider at the other, with a fixed panel in between. Advanced Windows and Doors also created a custom mullion to integrate a folding fly screen that recesses entirely into the wall cavity, allowing the occupants – Luke explains – to embrace the elements without compromise. “That flexibility was critical to the final outcome,” he notes.
This adaptability is also matched by the suite’s invisible, yet vital, polyamide core. Delivering up to 33% greater energy efficiency than standard double-glazed alternatives, the specified Series804 windows are essential to retaining winter warmth while keeping summer heat at bay, making the elusive vision of comfort a tangible reality. “If we determine aluminium to be best choice for a project, we wouldn’t use anything less than thermally broken because in our practice we don’t simply aim for minimum standards – we aim for high levels of comfort and indoor air quality, year round,” Luke states, explaining that while the regulatory baseline at the time of design indicated a 6-star energy rating, his team aimed for 7.5 stars instead.
Through this fusion of engineering prowess and visual geometry that dissolves into the dwelling’s layered expression with such harmony, the AWS system emerges as an essential contributor to the project’s ethos: creating a garden home where the boundaries between inside and out are mindfully erased.
