Affordable +
Steffen Welsch Architects · 2016
Projects / Built project
Down to Earth
A rammed earth extension to a Brunswick bungalow by Steffen Welsch Architects, using passive solar design, social spaces and natural materials.
- Project size
- 193 m2
- Building levels
- 1
- Photographer
- Rhiannon Slatter
- Project context
- Architecture · Built · Victoria · Residential
The story
The story behind the work.
Down to Earth is a rammed earth extension to a Californian bungalow in Brunswick, Melbourne, designed by Steffen Welsch Architects around the everyday rather than the spectacular. The practice set out to let the architecture recede so that the life inside it could come forward. Spaces are linked so a parent can keep an eye on a child across rooms or start a conversation across a threshold, bathrooms are treated as social rather than purely private, and small pockets are built in to make routine activities more enjoyable.
Materials and details were chosen for what they offer in daily use. The rammed earth walls store and radiate solar heat, openings draw natural ventilation through the plan, timber posts are sized to lean against, and a bench is robust enough for children to climb on to reach the basin. The single-storey extension covers 193 square metres on a 445 square metre site and was completed in 2018, with passive solar principles applied throughout. The project budget was around USD 820,000.
Architect: Steffen Welsch, Steffen Welsch Architects. Photography: Rhiannon Slatter.
The practice