Project 1 - Part B

               St Lucia House – Elizabeth Watson Brown                                                             







Personal Brief:

 Elizabeth Watson Brown’s St. Lucia house is a response to several main design challenges. The focus of these is the accommodation of a family, her own family of 4. This was the fundamental element focused on by E. Brown both as an architect and as a mother. The St Lucia house’s design clearly considers many other relevant design elements. When this family- orientated design was combined with an experimental yet responsible and sustainable response to sub-tropical climate in modernist form, a critically acclaimed house emerged. I believe E.W. Brown created a structure that successfully implements itself as an environmental filter, a container of human activities, and a delightful experience.


An environmental filter:

Based around three main existing trees on the site, the house is stripped back to elemental form. Essentially, it focuses on sectional and volumetric manipulation and natural light filtered through the trees and the main body of the house is entirely open due to huge northern facing glass facade. In the subtropical environment of Brisbane, the house links inside and outside space through the relationship the house builds with the trees outside. This concept is outlined in A Pattern Language: pattern 171 Tree Places which states, “…shape nearby buildings in response to trees, so that the trees themselves, and the trees and buildings together, form places which people can use.”.  This has been heavily considered and successfully achieved in the St. Lucia House.


Key Design elements that contribute to the success of the house include:

 • Orientation & Form. A very shallow height/depth/length ratio gives due north orientation to every major room.

• Microclimate. Shade, transpiration and evaporation in the heavily treed northern court pre-cools summer breezes.

• Ventilation. The tall, one-room deep house has a 50% openable north wall and high southern openings to maximize cross-ventilation, venturi and convection effects. Internal spaces are designed as openly as possible to maximize air movement, supplemented only by occasional bedroom fan use.


• Solar Gain. The tall northern window wall is fully shaded in summer and maximizes winter sun penetration.


• Thermal Zoning. Lightweight upper storeys vent and cool rapidly in summer evenings, while earth-coupled lower rooms provide ‘retreat’ spaces using thermal lag effects.



Taking up only 29% of the 400m2 lot, the house has a footprint of 116m2 and 209m2 of floor space.This leaves a huge proportion at the front of the lot to be used as garden space, giving maximum view out the glass façade, creating an extensive journey even before reaching the front door and increasing the privacy within the structure. (E.W.Brown, P. Skinner2004).


Her very ‘climate aware’ design is specific to the site, but also manipulates elements present in any sub-tropical environment.  There is no use of air-conditioning and a single ceiling fan in the bedrooms cools the space during the exceptionally hot summer nights. A 4.5 energy efficiency rating was achieved  which is notable but Peter Skinner, husband and contributing architect states, "The star model of energy efficiency is fraudulent as a measure of greenhouse gas emissions or energy consumption". Whether this is a show of his arrogance for his work, lack of faith in the system or support for his partner is not clear.


A container of human activities:

The sensation of the combination of inside and outside environments is strong both spiritually and physically. The room immediately adjacent to the main tree gives sense of an internal verandah, due to the huge glass wall and sheer volume of this room.  Designed for her own family, the ‘client’ brief was obviously clear and personal.  Certain elements that were more fundamentally important in the design process;  “into inside-outside space, spatial sequence and experience, regional modernism, passive subtropical climatic design, small-lot housing, lightweight construction and multi-generational living patterns.” (E.W.Brown, P. Skinner2004).



A grand view of all open spaces both inside and out is available from the mezzanine above the main living space. It gives the user a comfortable observation point to check what is going on throughout the rest of the space, excluding the more private areas such as bedrooms and the bathroom. This is also a fine demonstration of split level planning, allowing for five semi-open levels to fit within the 7.5m two storey height limit. Through this intelligently planned space, flexible spatial qualities are achieved while retaining an efficient flow through the space. All the main rooms are given access to the prime northern position through this arrangement. Due to the open view on the northern façade, the southern and eastern sides, on which there are adjacent properties, can be relatively closed off; with a sole purpose of allowing light and air flow into and through the building when required. This retains privacy from the neighboring properties.


Through the large glass façade of the living area, a view into the court and pool area is framed by the tree closest to the façade. This northern window epitomizes the concept mentioned in Pattern 192: Windows Overlooking Life from A Pattern Language. Although this gives an equally revealing view from outside into the interior, privacy is not compromised. Past the court and pool area is heavy vegetation and a tall solid fence which from the street not only conceals the happenings of the family but creates a strong spatial barrier so the instant one walks in the gate they enter a new realm entirely separate from the street. Although Peter Skinner states, “The openness of living spaces and decks to the street allows visual and social engagement with street and neighbourhood activity. It seeks to re-invigorate traditional front verandah, front porch and front fence community socialising threatened by more defensive and introspective housing design.”  This is not so. Although this may have been the intention, vegetation has grown to the point of creating a barrier between the street and the court. This is not anti-social, however, but a positive move towards a balance in privacy and social neighborhood design.


There has been an appropriate lifestyle created in the space, and outdoor summer living is promoted through easy interrelation of open living, kitchen, deck, barbeque, court and pool areas. Pool-side living spaces are designed for informal use in wet clothing. (E.W.Brown, P. Skinner2004). These elements are created for the pleasure one would experience whilst using them on a daily basis, but also complement the portion of summer days that are hotter than average; being seen as not only a tolerable element of sub-tropical living but one of enhancement of lifestyle.

A delightful experience:

At night, the interior light shines out to the immediate tree, dancing and playing with the patterns nature creates. During the day, the tree sheds shadows of its form onto the court enhancing  the connection to the environment. This back and forth relationship between the inside and out isn’t only defined by day and night. In an almost childish design, the court leads around the base of the tress, leading up a slightly elevated entry way, constantly becoming further consumed by the trees, and becoming more closely entwined in their beauty.





 By the time you reach the door, you are not sure whether to take a step in, or reach up and almost effortlessly climb into the tree. This sensation does not ease as your journey through the house continues.


The main room is central in the layout of the house ensuring household communication while sliding doors allow for three different physical and symbolic settings. From here the rooms branch off vertically according to their level of intimacy and relevance to adjacent spaces. Both the journey to the other more intimate spaces and the sliding doors control the gradient of intimacy created beyond this main room, while the arrangement of the five different half levels allows for easy communication between the different users of the spaces. This is an interesting and unique adaption of Pattern 127: Intimacy Gradient, mentioned in A Pattern Language.


Conclusion:

Having designed the St. Lucia House for her and her family’s personal use, it is evident that Elizabeth Watson Brown put a lot of herself into this project. This is a credit to her great architectural ability, as the house is now renowned as a groundbreaking and respectable piece of sub-tropical architecture.  Catering perfectly for her current living circumstance with her family whilst still being relevant and sustainable for generations to come, the St Lucia House is successful in capturing and enhancing the wonderful sub-tropical climate and environment.


















Bibliography:


AIA, “St Lucia House - Nationally Significant 20th-Century Architecture” 2010, Queensland.


C. Alexander, S. Ishikawa, M. Silverstein, “A Pattern Language” , Oxford University Press, 1977, New York.  Patterns 75, 83, 109, 127, 130, 171 and 190.

Elizabeth Watson Brown, 2011, “St. Lucia House”. Elizabeth Watson Brown Architects, Queensland.


Hedley Thomas, “Green houses expose flaws in ratings”, Aug 2010, The Australian.


J. Bell, E. Stathaki, “The New Modern House – Reflecting Functionalism”. Laurence King Publishing Ltd. 2010. London. Pages 160-162


Peter Skinner, 2004,’CLAIMS TO THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ST. LUCIA HOUSE
AS DESIGN RESEARCH & CONTRIBUTION TO KNOWLEDGE’.
School of Geography Planning & Architecture, University of Queensland, 2004.


Queensland Gallery of Modern Arts, “Elizabeth Watson Brown Architects”, Queensland, 2008.



Images:


E.W.Brown, P. Skinner, “St Lucia House, RAIA Robin Dods Award for Housing”. School of Geography Planning & Architecture, University of Queensland, Queensland. 2006.
http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:3544         - Date Accessed: 17/3/11


Jon Linkin, P Bingham-Hall, site plan – Placemakers.
Contemporary Qld Architects.




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