This included total separate home office and living floors with access, the removal of in excess of 3000 cubic metres of limestone to “cut” the lower home office level into the hillside, concealed garages and service areas , total passive solar design, the use of large exposed steel sections for architectural effect as well as structural support elements, complete home automation, solar energy supply with gas boosters, and finally the challenges of building an essentially timeless Australian design with minimalist Japanese detailing.

The architectural brief required a hybrid construction approach which included a combination of brickwork, reinforced slab-beam floors, large scale steel architectural elements for both architectural effect and steel structural sections built into the brickwork and roof , colourbond cladded roofs, the use of various natural timbers including cedar and sustainable batu, marble internal/external floors with full fiberglass waterproofing, and lastly an environmentally appealing timber floor solution that uses a non toxic easily maintainable finish.

The highly visible external steel channel A-frames sit atop fabricated “witches hats” to give a unique floating effect. As well as the perimeter deck beams which are hinged off concrete filled FRC columns. The size and steep pitch of the roofs also required a primary steel structure with infill pine and LVL timber only.

The home was designed and built with passive solar principles to minimize direct sun in summer using sail shades to protect the large expanse of glass on north side, and verandahs on the west side to create full protection , highly insulated comfort glass on exposed east, west and north faces, transparent stainless steel security screens to allow maximum ventilation from the river breezes during the hot summer months and a gas fire and bayonet points for heating during winter. Relatively small glass areas are used on the east and west faces on the exposed walls of the top floor to minimize incoming heat load during summer whilst the same applies on the south face to minimize heat loss in winter. The design anticipates very little use for the inbuilt ducted air conditioning system except for 10 to 20 days of summer.