Floating Gable House | Phorm architecture + design

2025 National Architecture Awards Program

Floating Gable House | Phorm architecture + design

Traditional Land Owners

Turrbul and Yuggera Peoples

Year
2025
Chapter

Queensland

Region

Brisbane

Category
Residential Architecture – Houses (New)
Builder
Greg Thornton Constructions (GTC)
Photographer
Christopher Frederick Jones
Media summary

A cardinal idea for Floating Gable House was to allow light to instruct the plan. We mapped the available light entering the Site, then intuitively painted the plan with a palette of light, translucency and surface in mind. We also wished to maintain the continuity of memories existing between the family and the new house Site, previously the family lawn tennis court.
Roofs are significant in our Practice work. The presence of the exposed pitched roof within the interiors is integral to the experience at Floating Gable House.

Landscape connects the house to the site. The pre-existing tennis court fencing was retained at the periphery and re-purposed to support a drapery of greenery and seasonal colour.

Floating Gable House continues our interest and applied research into the synergy between the Queenslander and contemporary Japanese house typology, in this instance as it applies to a narrow infill house.

We love living in this house. We had many years in the twin gable Queenslander next-door but the contemporary single gable house on our old tennis court wins on design and livability. We feel more connected to the garden and natural light. The new house maintains a visual connection to our store of family memories. As a client, you know what you want but can’t always articulate it. Phorm are so skilled at distilling these unspoken intentions. We feel so lucky to have not just a house, but a creative space looking up at the sky and into the garden.

Project Practice Team

Paul Hotston, Project Architect
Nicola White, Graduate of Architecture
Monique Pousson, Design Architect

Project Consultant and Construction Team

Cornerstone Building Certification, Certifier
Westera Partners, Structural Engineer
Steven Clegg Design, Landscape Consultant
Caribou, Lighting Consultant
Architectural Windows & Doors Pty Ltd, Windows and Doors Supplier
Sunshine State Cabinets, Cabinetry Manufacturer

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