Ribbon House

Unmistakably modelled on the tail of a flyaway ribbon flickering in the wind, the roofline of the Ribbon House is the source of the project’s lively persona as well as its name. A playful, smoothed-out interpretation of the neighbouring peaked terrace row roofs, the undulating roof ends abruptly, its edge cantilevered out over empty space as if it isn’t quite finished, or maybe it’s trying to run away. And in this sense it literally does, as the architects say, breathe a sense of animation into space.

Located within the Subi Centro Redevelopment, the Ribbon House seeks to overcome heritage restrictions and challenge predictable construction methods so prevalent in the developerdriven solutions. Oriented to the North, it looks out over a perfectly circular body of water, which unfurls playfully into the lakeside elevation of the home, redefining the boundaries and defining the interlocking volumes. Also on the lakeside perspective, the glass living room block cantilevers out over the landscape, becoming a suspended extension of the home. This space is reached via stack sliding full-height doors which connect through to generous openings at the rear, promoting cross ventilation as well as a general sense of direction and perspective towards the water views. In contrast to the round organic form of the lake and the drama of the open glass verandah, the main living areas are arranged in a linear pattern, around a chiselled-put breezeway adjacent to the vertical circulation core. This layout connects the various levels, while also acting as a light well to the central spaces. This was a particularly concerted response to the wedge shape of the block, and the knowledge that homes built in such odd-shaped blocks often end up tainted by a confusing melange of dark interiors and poky nooks. Instead, light is abundant – an effect enhanced by expansive, polished off-white stone floors, open tread stairs with glazed balustrades, double-height floor-toceiling glass, and blonde timber joinery.

The glass, white and timber motif is representative of the restricted, modern palette of colours and materials chosen to give the Ribbon house its sense of modern design integrity, in the face of so much developer-driven fauxarchitecture elsewhere in the Subi Centro development. At a community level, this concerted effort towards robust architecture shows that blank parapet walls and varying setbacks between small lot subdivision type buildings can be dealt with successfully and functionally, to capture light by day and act as a theatre screen by night. The Ribbon House creates the opportunity for the public to review and debate a range of solutions to the environment and topography, on an aesthetic level, but also in terms of sustainability. For apart from fulfilling the client’s expectations, the design also fulfils the expectations of today’s wider, ecoconscious society, through the careful selection of materials, management of energy, waste and water, and use of innovative solar cooling systems. With its subtly softened roofline peaks, and unexpected focus on setback and volume connection, the Ribbon House comments on the staid form of its neighbours, and the form subsequently expected of it. It does so not by rejecting the predictable style and basic functionality of the local cookie-cutter building vernacular, instead choosing to embrace and animate it. +

1 Despite the apparent whimsy in the ribbon roofline, the house has an unexpected focus on setback and volume connection. The Ribbon House comments on the staid form of its neighbours, but by embracing and animating the cookie-cutter vernacular rather than by rejecting it. 2 The roof shelters an outdoor living space which overlooks the perfectly circular body of water under it, which itself is perched over a cantilevering living room. 3 The beginning of the ribbon roofline forms the ceiling of this double height space. 4 The strongly North-oriented building seizes a view of the water. 5 It is rare for a house on a wedgeshaped block to be well lit, but this one is. Its main circulation is vertical, acting as a light well. The daylit spaces are brightened further by offwhite floors, glazed balustrades, the ubiquitous floor to ceiling glazing, and blonde timber joinery.

PHOTOGRAPHY by Robert Frith