Location: Castlemaine, Victoria

Project type: Residential/ Sustainable design

Status: Complete

Set high on a steep block on the edge of Castlemaine in rural Victoria, this new recycled timber and brick house was designed for the renowned Australian printmaker, David Frazer.  The house is framed by two existing pine trees and affords romantic views of the surrounding native forests.

Frazer house exemplifies climate change adaptation (CCA) design principles, which reduce vulnerability to extreme events such as flash flooding, extreme heat and fire – through measures such as the steeply pitched gabled roof, the raised floor and external shading elements. Passive solar principals were applied to the design of the project, ensuring that the quality of light at every part of the day throughout the year, and its relationship to the house, were taken into account. 

Energy efficiency was a high consideration given the extreme winters and summers in Castlemaine. For the external walls, LOGAN STUDIO specified brick veneer construction, employing Ozone Panels on the interior and recycled bricks on the exterior. In addition to the Ozone Panels, the ceilings and roof were heavily insulated to create a complete thermal barrier to external temperatures. 

Stylistically the house reflects the values of the artist himself - evoking nostalgia and tradition through a synthesis of mid-century stylistic gestures (invoking memories of the artist’s childhood home) and the coarse rural materials and construction techniques of the pioneer’s stone house (a reference to the houses depicted in the artist’s own art works).