2023 Houses Awards: New House over 200m² – joint winner

Jury comment

Connection to landscape is an often-cited aim for clients and architects alike, but rarely is it achieved so completely and successfully as it is at Merricks Farmhouse. On an extraordinary site, this abstraction of the Australian farmhouse is an equally remarkable building, carefully considered and beautifully resolved.

Located on a prominent hilltop site with sweeping vistas and corresponding exposure to the coastal climate, the house skilfully balances prospect and refuge. Under a large roof, thick block walls project out to anchor the structure while managing privacy and framing views. At the home’s centre is a generous, protected garden courtyard that provides the perfect backdrop to domestic life.

The organization of the house ensures a level of intimacy that is difficult to achieve at this scale. Large sections can be made dormant until needed, ensuring the house is comfortable for few or for many. Interiors are spatially rich, with the belly of the roof carved out to create light-filled volumes of varying scales specific to program. The materiality reinforces a sense of ease: warm finishes and fine detailing complement the robust and direct structure.

This house is a rare and important example of architecture truly at one with its landscape.

The Award for New House over 200 m² is supported by Brickworks. See full image galleries of all the winning and shortlisted projects here.

For more coverage, read the project review by Cameron Bruhn.

Merricks Farmhouse is built on the land of the Boonwurrung people.

Project team: Michael Lumby, Morgan Jenkins, Lachlan Nielsen Builder: Atma Builders Engineer: Westera Partners Landscape designers: Franchesca Watson with Robyn Barlow Design