Architect: Jennifer Taylor & James Connor
Location: Point Lookout, North Stradbroke Island; Queensland, Australia
As an Environmental filter: Dunbar House is located on North Stradbroke Island which in due course places it firmly within a sub tropical climate. This consequently can lead to a variety of weather conditions from intense heat and lashing rain in the summer months through to the bitter South Westerly winds in the winter months. With this in mind Dunbar House responds excellently, with its large eaves, retractable roof, removable walls and on both its North and Eastern sides, clerestory windows. These features along with the house’s many louvered wall panels allows it to both open fully and close itself off so as to fully maximise the potential to capture the beauty of any given day.
As a container for human activities: With its ability to cope with a variety of weather conditions, Dunbar House also has the ability to adapt and change to ones own spatial desires. Due to its manoeuvrable walls, both ends of the house can be dually opened or closed to allow for either a stunning open plan experience or conversely, to intimately cater to the occupants need for privacy.
As a delightful experience: To sum Dunbar house up as an experience would be impossible. Dunbar house is more then just one experience. It’s an amazing culmination of many experiences orchestrated by the architects, as you move and immerse yourself into the spaces created. It starts with the surreal experience of entering the house, where you are greeted by nothing. No roof. No walls. Nothing, but open air and a breath taking view. This perception of the space then changes in the blink of an eye as the occupants recognize the summer storm moving in from the west and realize that this open aired space offers the ability to close itself off from the outside and produce intimate spaces, beautiful in their own right. Due to its purposeful lack of permanency, Dunbar house has the ability to cater to the needs of everyone and every situation, which in turn makes it a stunning piece of architecture.