A Cabin is an Environmental Filter
As stated before; Gabriel Poole believes that every client is different, every site is different and so every house should be different (ABC, 2004). So with my design I needed to adapt it to suit its particular location. I have looked at what needs to be filtered out and what needs to be allowed in. Noise and traffic were the main troubles with the site at this stage, it became clear that these needed to be filtered out. However there were some natural features like the surrounding trees that I wanted to use in my design. I also added large windows with wide eves to the north to allow sun in, in winter and block it out in summer. I have also analysed the wind movement through the site.
A Cabin is a Container of Human Activities
Throughout Gabriel’s work, there is a sense of humanity, of making the best fit for his clients with the place they inhabit (Butt, 2004). I wanted to create a cabin that has a strong sense of human activity designed to cater for its exact location and occupier. So I did some more site analysis to gather how I wanted the cabin to hold and interact with people. I wanted to make sure I understood the surroundings and access points; so the cabin was best designed to cater for peoples activity. As with gabriels design, the main living spaces were placed outside. This allowed the ability to enjoy the natural ventilation and native planting surrounding the cabin.
A Cabin is a Delightful Experience
Gabriel said, “My buildings are different not simply for the sake of it but because I believe there are better ways of construction and living than those now available to us (Hukins, 1992).” It was a challenge and I hope I have stood up to his expectations; but I wanted to create a cabin that felt right. I wanted it to relate to the site in an intimate way but I also wanted to keep a lot of Gabriel’s ideas from the Lake Weyba House. The site was tricky as it faced north onto a small park. Which at first seemed desirable but with further research it was discovered that the park was a major thoroughfare for pedestrian movement and the open park allowed vision into the site by vehicles. It was also discovered that there was a large multi story residential building being built across from the park. This made the northern aspect much more undesirable. I noted a few factors; Gabriel’s wife would be happy if she was able to see the sky, and the fact that a golf course was to the east of the site. I decided that the views were to be to the east overlooking the golf course. With my wind analysis i decided to use landscaping to control the winds. I did the following analysis to arrive at these conclusions.
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