Balmoral Gully House by Kieron Gait Architects

Nestled into the adjoining gully, Balmoral Gully House sees an existing home given a new life. Referencing the filigree and dappled light of the adjacent canopies, Kieron Gait brings a sense of its living neighbour into the architecture.

Situated within an unusual site, located at the bottom of an existing gully, Balmoral Gully House sees an existing home reinvigorated through a more purposed connection to place. Through careful consideration and analysis, Kieron Gait studied the neighbouring context and its many virtues and deciphered a language that was then translated into the resulting architectural form. The approach to materiality and encouragement of natural light into the home are an extension of these principles, allowing for a clear assembly of built and natural phenomena on the site.

Through careful consideration and analysis, Kieron Gait studied the neighbouring context and its many virtues and deciphered a language that is then translated into the resulting architectural form.

The garden is envisioned as a place of play and discovery and its close adjacency to the gully allows for this to occur naturally.

The initial brief involved the addition of two bedrooms within this space and to create a connection to the existing garden.

The home originally was elevated, creating an unused under croft area in which the bulk of the new works transpire. As an under-utilised opportunity, this area was the most obvious place to maximise utility and to better connect the home to its unique location. The initial brief involved the addition of two bedrooms within this space and to create a link to the existing garden. The assessment of the pre-existing living elements on the site, their resources, the light they needed, and the waste they produced was key to understanding how to best respond. The resulting garden was a practical extension of this, allowing for these functions to continue to occur, and the new landscape aimed to add value, where the plan acts to frame the outdoor space.

Balmoral Gully House sees an existing home reinvigorated through a more purposed connection to place.

Although set within a suburban area, the neighbour’s proximity and privacy is closely managed through strategic screening.

The home originally was elevated, creating an unused under croft area in which the bulk of the new works transpire.

The addition of the pool along one side of the home integrates another living element, water and encourages a sense of play. The garden is envisioned as a place of play and discovery and its close adjacency to the gully allows for this to occur naturally. Although set within a suburban area, the neighbour’s proximity and privacy is closely managed through strategic screening and trellising. This orchestration of vertical elements allows for views and sightlines to be directed toward the gully or be restricted to the treetops. On the other side of the home, screening elements are managed through planting.

The extensive use of hoop pine is paired with the inherent robustness and durability concrete, hardwood and steel throughout.

The black stained timber is used to sit subservient to the landscape, and all the edges of the built form are filtered in some way toward the gully.

Inspired by naturally filtered light, the resulting formal response echoes the beauty of dappled sunlight within the forest. The black stained timber is used to sit subservient to the landscape, and all the edges of the built form are filtered in some way toward the gully. The widespread use of hoop pine is an extension of this, as is the inherent robustness and durability of concrete, hardwood and steel throughout. Kieron Gait has taken cues from the home’s surroundings and proposed a response that welcomes a conversation. Balmoral Gully House celebrates its unique and charmed site the bottom of a gully and embraces its context beautifully.