Shady Creek Farm House

Shady Creek is a working sheep farm located on the outskirts of Warragul in Victoria’s West Gippsland. This new farm house replaces the existing and contributes to the operational aspects of the farm while responding to the clients request that the house create a nostalgic connection to the original sheds that have been retained. The corrugated clad home references the materiality and geometries of the agricultural sheds while the home itself is a sheltered retreat from the day to day aspects of running a farm.

The pinwheel plan of the home radiates from a central scrabbled concrete column that sliding doors engage into, when open the column a is free standing element connecting living spaces with garden. Therefore, the column centres living, dining, kitchen and garden as equally weighted spaces that seamlessly connect to each other. The pinwheel plan approach continues through to the arrangement of the secondary spaces which are individually housed in separate volumes each with a linked connection to the heart of the home.

An early design decision to use a singular material for wall and roofing was clearly related to the intent of creating planning and visual connections with the original painted outbuildings however it did also provide an effective means of working to modest budget for a home of this size. The challenge we set for ourselves was to develop non-standard corrugated details throughout, creating a series of details to elevate the elegance of this every day material. By eliminating standard flashing details and junctions typically found in corrugated cladding we were able to create cleanly incised openings at windows and transition free junctions at external corners. Interestingly this approach to detailing in turn strengthened cognitive connections to the very agricultural level of construction found in the sheds. From opposite intentions resulted the same effect.

The farm house is a very specific dwelling type, the occupant lives permanently at their place of work, life is intricately connected to the land on which they live and the animals in their ward and there is little opportunity for separation between home and farm. Shady Creek Farm House creates a place for our client to retreat from the farm and be surrounded by garden and living spaces but also allows for the house to open up to the working farm beyond.