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Double bass: this coastal retreat on the Bass Strait poetically responds to climate and views.


Architecture's endless quest for Verb 1. quest for - go in search of or hunt for; "pursue a hobby"
quest after, go after, pursue

look for, search, seek - try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of; "The police are searching for clues"; "They are searching for the
 'transparent' buildings can simply mean excessive use of glass. This then requires ingenious design to solve problems created by the designer. In many parts of the world, sunlight, far from being the essential ingredient of a health and efficiency type of architecture, is the key problem which has to be overcome. Nor do extreme daytime temperatures imply a clement night-time environment.

The Bass Strait Bass Strait (băs), channel, 80 to 150 mi (129–241 km) wide, between Tasmania and Victoria, SE Australia, connecting the Indian Ocean and Tasman Sea; Port Phillip Bay and Melbourne are on the northwest coast.  in Australia, south of Melbourne, is a case in point. Climate comfort is more important than universal views, and this coastal retreat, a house and studio pavilion at Cape Schanck by Denton Corker Marshall Denton Corker Marshall (or DCM) are a major award winning Australian architecture practice established in Melbourne in 1972. Its founding principals are John Denton, Bill Corker, and Barrie Marshall. The firm now also has offices in London, Manchester and Jakarta. , keeps glazing to an appropriately low level. That said, the house (which is located on a steep site in the middle of a golf course) is designed so it can enjoy ocean views, but does so in the context of a 'black box' steel structure clad in cement sheet, with a concrete ground slab and suspended floor.

It is not the black box approach which makes the house interesting, however; rather, it is the array of angled elements deriving from the twisting of the box tube in section. This leads to raked cladding The plastic or glass sheath that is fused to and surrounds the core of an optical fiber. The cladding's mirror-like coating keeps the light waves reflected inside the core. The cladding is covered with a protective outer jacket. See fiber optics glossary. , cranked crank 1  
n.
1. A device for transmitting rotary motion, consisting of a handle or arm attached at right angles to a shaft.

2. A clever turn of speech; a verbal conceit: quips and cranks.
 lower windows, and a chimney which emerges from the wall at a faintly alarming angle. The desired impression was of a building which has rotated on its axis as the box lands on the site.

Not just one box, but two: one sitting atop the other and peeking out through the native ti-trees, entered via a glass-enclosed (but shaded) concrete stair beneath its belly. The top deck The term Top Deck can refer to a number of things:
  • Deck (ship), nautical usage of the term "top deck".
  • Top Deck (magazine), a now-defunct gaming magazine published by Wizards of the Coast.
  • Top Deck (drink), a beverage sold in the United Kingdom.
 contains the living area with a long narrow window that frames the view along the western elevation, and cruciform cruciform /cru·ci·form/ (kroo´si-form) cross-shaped.

cruciform

cross-shaped.
 columns of hot dipped galvanised steel set into the box's volume. Living, eating and sleeping zones are located in free-standing maple timber veneer veneer (vənēr`), thin leaf of wood applied with glue to a panel or frame of solid wood. The art of veneer developed with early civilization.  cubes within the body of the house, with the master bedroom and its bathroom separated by a concealed sliding door.

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Glass ends in the house provide vistas to the landscape, and to the new studio across the north-facing courtyard separating the two buildings. The studio entrance is via glass sliding doors at either end of the box, with the interior space marked by an aluminium cube containing storage, kitchenette and bathroom. In all, a variety of materials, deployed to environmental and/or aesthetic advantage, has resulted in a piece of architecture where client delight and climatic considerations have been successfully reconciled.

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COPYRIGHT 2005 EMAP Architecture
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2005, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Article Details
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Author:Finch, Paul
Publication:The Architectural Review
Geographic Code:8AUST
Date:Jun 1, 2005
Words:422
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