Architect Peter Woolard has noticed that more builders are using white cypress timber since he designed this light-filled Lorne beach house on a steep & difficult site. Studio 101 Architects won an award in the Australian Timber Design Awards last year for their use of the timber cladding in this 3 bedroom house.
White Cypress was used as exterior & interior cladding, as well as for decking. Woolard says he used it because it is hard-wearing, affordable & rot resistant, & does not require chemical treatment.
"Termites & birds such as cockatoos who love to gouge & chew cedar, don't like it." he says.
The cost of the project was reduced by not putting it out to building tender. Woolard used a builder he had worked with before & took his advice on subcontractor prices into account to determine the project's priorities. He estimates building costs have risen 20% since the house was built 18 months ago.
An innovative feature of the house is the way it 'Floats' on the site. Woolard says he used a steel framing system that was prefabricated off site & then bolted it together like a Meccano set. "Once the steel frame is up, it is like a skeleton that you then fill in & wrap around it with a timber skin."
Click anywhere on the grey background to return to Frencham Cypress - designAclad
