A Metal Shell Keeps This Australian Retreat Cool—and Fire Safe

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Project Details:

Location: Sawmill Settlement, Australia

Designer: Robbie Walker / @robbiejwalker

Footprint: 517 square feet

Photographer: Tasha Tylee / @tashatylee

From the Designer: "This project is a nice example of a good design only possible with a good client. The brief was, ‘I want something small to share with my family and friends.’ Over the weeks until I visited the site, Hollie, the client, would send me pictures of all the trees explaining what they all were, never sending me tile samples or kitchen bench top requests. Obviously, the site and how the building would feel were most important to her.

"The site was the beginning of a gully where all of the street water was discharged. There is one apparent flat area close to the boundary, and all of it is covered in amazingly tall trees. The thought was to put the building up with the trees and out of the water. Inspired by the trees, the four columns represent tree trunks, and the slats catch light more randomly than a flat panel, like the leaves on the trees. They also help the building breathe and stay cool, keeping the aggressive summer sun off the steel roof sheets and wall lining underneath. It’s not a big building, just enough, with one bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living room.

"Having the building off the ground also allows for car access underneath to the garage that took advantage of that flat section, which houses a laundry and hidden outdoor kitchen. The huge trees make it a high risk Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) 40 zone, so all external materials had to be non-flammable.

"The true hero here is the client. Choosing to build something small when you have the space to go bigger takes real courage. Real estate agents advised that a four-bedroom, three-bathroom house would fetch the best price if they ever decided to sell. The bank would likely struggle to value a one-bedroom home in a rural area, making financing more difficult. When it comes to planning and building permits, there are hardly any cost savings—small projects still require the same consultants, reports, and approvals as larger ones. So, after all that effort, resisting the urge to simply double the material use and add extra bedrooms is no small feat. In a system that rewards excess, choosing to build less—not out of necessity but out of principle—is just as, if not more, important than the materials themselves.

"A steel building in the Australian sun gets very hot in summer (and timber could not be used in a BAL 40 bushfire area). To get away without having an air conditioner, all walls and the roof are covered in steel slats that shade the building; the space between the slats and the building allows air to move through, aiding in the cooling."