Watkins Street Townhouses, White Gum Valley, Fremantle, WA, 2013
This group of 3 townhouses stagger up and down a deep block.
Here, glass and steel balances with rammed earth, honest expressions of base structure, nestling in the rise-and-fall of an ancient Fremantle dune.
Of course the main ‘rooms’ are the courtyards. Each enables access to encircling internal spaces for our winter friend, the northern sun, and for the summer saviour, the ocean breeze, the ‘Fremantle Doctor’. High level glazing furthers solar access and relieves rising heat in summer. No need for air-conditioning here.
Polished concrete, softening plywood, and custom orb ceilings carry a sense of the Outdoors indoors.
Windows are finely steel framed. Spare, yet warm, and above all – at medium density – connected with the environment.