Granton house, Tasmania

The site for this house is located on steep undulating farm land overlooking the Derwent River.  The main challenge for this house was always going to be the steep site, steep sites are harder to build on and cost more money.  By arranging a series of cascading boxes terraced along the natural fall of the land better material efficiency was achieved .  Why squares? mathematically squares are a very efficient means for enclosing a volume in terms of the amount of external lineal material needed to enclose an area.  Less material / m2 of area = less cost.  

The cascading boxes are to be constructed from concrete and locally sourced stone making them effective heat conductors.  By sinking the boxes into the earth they benefit from geothermal heating at the basement level and solar heat gain from the sun to upper levels resulting in a more consistent temperature throughout the building with out any mechanical intervention.   A ventilation chimney is incorporated in the design by way of a central stairwell which provides a means for cooling the building on hot days.