Dharug and Gundungurra
NSW
This low-maintenance, bushfire resilient and energy-efficient home caters to the daily lives of its architect-owners, including a satellite office.
Adaptable and flexible spaces can be easily and quickly reconfigured in multiple ways responding to seasonal changes; hosting large gatherings; accommodating long-term guests, or facilitating life-stage changes as the owners age.
The house is comfortable all year-round and enjoys low operational energy and maintenance costs, thanks to careful passive solar design, high-quality construction and a compact footprint that makes the most of every space.
It also promotes connections with nature 鈥� with curated views or expansive vistas from every room 鈥� and nurtures connections between people. Strangers often stop to comment on how well the house fits into the environment, prompting new friendships.
This respectful piece of architecture, combining beauty with resilience, communicates directly to people, inspiring them to reframe their relationship with nature.
COLORBOND庐 Award for Steel Architecture Citation:
Eco-House by Marra + Yeh Architects exemplifies a holistic and deeply thoughtful approach to sustainable architecture. Designed to repair and regenerate rather than just preserve, the project enhances the ecological health of a sensitive Blue Mountains site, particularly its rare hanging swamp.鈥�听
Use of steel screw piles and a prefabricated steel floor system is fundamental to the project鈥檚 success, minimising ground disturbance, reducing waste, accelerating construction, and allowing overland water to flow undisturbed below the building.鈥�听
The house nestles into its context. The considered roof form and building geometry drawn from the landscape鈥�deflect prevailing winds and capture water for re-use in bushfire defence and irrigation systems. Spatial configuration is compact yet adaptable, allowing for seasonal reconfiguration while ensuring comfort and minimal energy use year-round through passive design principles. Innovative use of proprietary steel products externally combines with lovingly crafted and curated timber elements within, giving the building its unique personality. An elemental,鈥�elegant鈥�use of materials and a celebration of its surrounds creates a sense of luxury in the everyday.鈥�听
The value of Marra + Yeh鈥檚 work extends beyond this project, acting as a model for the design of low impact, high amenity, and climate resilient housing. Eco-House blends beauty, functionality, and environmental responsibility.鈥�听
Residential Architecture – Houses (New) Citation:
Eco House Leura is a compact, sustainable home that presents as modest and familiar. Yet within this apparent restraint lies a richly personal and complex architecture. Drawing from the lives of its occupants, the interior offers warmth and intimacy, while outwardly the home connects itself to its regenerated bushland setting. It is a deft example of doing more with less, an exercise in precise spatial planning, quiet generosity, and finely tuned passive design. Both open and private, simple and sophisticated, this is architecture that quietly inspires. A calming, beautiful, and resilient home that models a more connected way of living with each other and with the land.鈥�听
鈥淭he house performs on so many levels 鈥� it鈥檚 warm and cozy in winter; cool and breezy in summer; bright on a cloudy day; high and dry during big storms. It accommodates 2 or 20 people with ease. It鈥檚 small, easy to care for and affordable to run, but also expansive and every room is connected to nature, it is very open but also private. Best of all, it is beautiful and calming.鈥�
The 蜜桃影像 acknowledges First Nations peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the lands, waters, and skies of the continent now called Australia.
We express our gratitude to their Elders and Knowledge Holders whose wisdom, actions and knowledge have kept culture alive.
We recognise First Nations peoples as the first architects and builders. We appreciate their continuing work on Country from pre-invasion times to contemporary First Nations architects, and respect their rights to continue to care for Country.
