18 Metres Down, 27 Degrees C, 25-30 Metres Visibility!

Bark Retreat 2009 was a huge success. Lizard Island resort, research station and reef was spectacular.  Highlights included detailed site analysis of Cod Hole at 18m down with visibility 25-30m!

Glass House Mountain House

Taking shape, the timber elements layer the edges of the North east courtyard and 'Zen' garden viewed through timber covered walkway, at the Glass House Mountain House at Maleny.

National Architecture Conference Melbourne 2009

Bark Design Architects discovered the 'spaces in between' during the recent national AIA architecture conference Parallax 2009 held in Melbourne curated by the boys of Terroir. The Bark team travelled to Melbourne (whilst Emma looked after the Studio) to immerse themselves in some inspirational thinking, beautiful work and engaging critique from several notable international and national architects and the keynote speaker, philosopher Slavoj Zizek!(above). One memorable and emotive highlight was the joy and beauty in the work of Bijoy Jain (below) of Studio Mumbai.

'spaces in between'

Bark Retreat 09

Lizard Island, the northern most resort island of the Great Barrier reef is the site for Bark's Easter Retreat 2009. As part of the studio's ongoing design enquiry and research into extraodinarily sensitive sites supporting viable Ecotourism ventures, Bark directors will be investigating the symbiotic relationship between built and natural environments which exist in this fragile coastal environment.

Noosa River House Transformed

Completed last year, the Bark Design Architects team transformed a 1980's waterfront speculative house on Noosa Sound. 

Starting with palette of a non descript rendered brick and tile, large footprint house, built to the allowable setbacks, Bark's broad brush design strategies included reducing internal floor area with voids, creating generous double height volumes, a clear legibility and contrast of spaces, and introducing high level operable clerestories for bringing in northern winter sun and encouraging natural cross flow ventilation into and through the spaces by harnessing cooling river breezes. 

Outdoor living zones provide seamless and ambiguous connections between interior spaces which enhance the sense of place of ‘living on the river’. Clean white planes with the warmth of natural timber frame the contemporary backdrop for fine furniture, art and relaxed river living. 

The Bones of the 'Zen Garden' arrive

The physical, visual and philosophical connections to its escarpment site at the 'Glass House Mountain House' has been further strengthened with the placement of a triad of local Glass House Quarry stones, carefully selected and placed with the client.

"Rocks are placed in the garden for enticement and reinvigoration of the viewer. The placement of rocks are the bone structure of a garden. Traditionally, the Japanese held rocks as very sacred objects. They were the home of spirits or kami in Japanese. Rocks when placed in a group needed to be placed in such a way that the energy was balanced, and they seemed to somehow interact with each other, or relate to each other. Triads are common ways to group rocks together symbolizing the triangle or the three forces equivalent to a triad of Heaven, Earth and Man."

The new 'Bones' are one component of the Northern 'Zen Garden' courtyard which the spaces of the house are gathered around.

Bark adds to the Hastings Streetscape Noosa

A building inspired by the landscape. The new Visitor Information Centre in Hastings Street Noosa was celebrated recently with morning and evening 'opening' do's with Bark's team being gratefully acknowledged and thanked for the architecture and design of the new centre at the evening celebrations.  

Already the subject of positive user and public feedback, the building with it's floating 'leaf' canopy roof is fast contributing to the life of the street and will take Tourism Noosa and hundreds of thousands of visitors to Noosa comfortably and dynamically into the future.

Bark at Pecha Kucha Brisbane

Bark presented to a full 'Powerhouse' at the latest Pecha Kucha event held in Brisbane. The Pecha Kucha format of 20 slides for 20 seconds per slide provided a very brief oppurtunity to present Bark's design environment, design principles and design process.  Check out the latest event at Pecha Kucha for the latest on the world wide phenomenum.

Photography by Camera Obscura

Noosa Visitor Information Centre Emerges

Bon voyage Christoph K the (unknown architect)!

Dwell magazine showcases Bark House

In the company of a select few featured houses from Australia and New Zealand, Bark Design Architects' Tinbeerwah House & Art Studio in the Noosa Hinterland is showcased in the latest issue of Dwell magazine, one of our favourite American publications showcasing design for Modern living.

The Tinbeerwah House was designed for Adrienne Webb and emerging artist Stefan Dunlop and is poised on an east facing escarpment in the Noosa Hinterland adjacent to the Bark Studio. To see the house and painting studio go to http://www.dwell.com/articles/site-unseen.html and view Dwell's story and Slideshow. 

Glass House Mountain House emerges

2008 Christmas Wrap Up

2008 has been another big and exciting year for Bark Design Architects. Our Christmas and New Year greeting card sampled several of the years highlights along the graphic lines of 'Abundant' - Australia's architecture exhibition at the Venice Architecture Biennale held in September this year (Bark exhibited work in Abundant).

 

2009 is also set to be big, with the completion of several new projects and the construction of 'Stage 2' of our Noosa Hinterland Bark Design Studio - an experiment in concrete, timber, glass and water....

Architecture - Inspired by Australia

Bark Design Architects are very pleased that the Bark Studio and the adjoining Dunlop Webb House in the Noosa Hinterland are two Queensland projects featured in Architecture - Inspired by Australia, a new book by Mint Publishing featuring some of the most beautiful and considered buildings by twenty two australian architecture practices.

"Following the success of 'Architecture inspired by New Zealand', comes the next book in this series combining the best of residential architecture together with spectacular and unique landscapes..... designs that are featured in the book have been largely informed by the nature of the environment, whether it is red plains, steep escarpments, lush gullies, rolling woodland or golden beaches.....Twenty-two top Australian architects, discuss what drove their design and the factors they took into consideration concerning site, materials and approach. The designs they came up with are a unique and sympathetic response to the different environments."

Architects featured include: Durbach Block, Peter Stutchbury, Nick Turner, Ian Moore, Philip Cox, Glenn Murcutt, James Grose, Shane Thompson and Daniel R Fox, Lindy Atkin and Stephen Guthrie of Bark, Max Pritchard, Con Bastaris, Craig Rosevear, Stuart Tanner, Scott Balmforth, Gerard Reinmuth, Richard Blythe, Reno Rizzo, Kerstin Thompson, Stephen Jolson, Tim Jackson, Jon Clements, Graham Burrows, John Wardle, Adrian Iredale, John Nichols and Dale Jones-Evans.

Woodgate Beach House

Bark Design Architects are currently in the construction documentation phase for a new timber beach house at Woodgate, on Queensland's Capricorn Coast, to commence construction early 2009.

During the design process Bark have explored the essence of some traditional Sri Lankan design in a contemporary context to align and compliment the memory, experience and culture of our clients homeland, and are currently developing a series of perforated compressed fibre cement screens to articulate and moderate light on the project.

'Beach Access' Display Pavilion on drawing board

Fresh off the drawing board at Bark Design Architects is a new Residential Sales and Display Pavilion for a large residential community, coastal site in Northern New South Wales. The design works with ideas of experience and memory of 'being at the beach' to develop a 'journey' of particular coastal experiences in the building.

Essentially, this building is about ‘framing’ the potentials of living as a natural sustainable casual lifestyle proposition.

Bark Design Architects design intention is to connect the experience of the building to the broader coastal landscape, providing a memorable experience of possibilities of the seaside landscape using topography, endemic coastal vegetation and dappled light and shadow.

Publish or Perish

Bark Design Architects believe in a lesson learned from Architect John Mainwaring regarding the scholarly practice mantra of "Publish or Perish"...... our list of published articles is growing.

Bark talks Practice with Young Architects Group

Friday night saw Bark and James Russell share the 'soap box' in their In Practice talk to young graduates. 30+ architecture graduates and young architects gathered informally on the steps at architect James Russell's Fortitude Valley office to hear James and Lindy, Steve and Phil from Bark Design Architects talk about the formation, growth and vibe of their respective offices as one in a series of recent YArch organised 'In Practice' talks which are designed to expose recent graduates to some real elements of architectural Practice.

Four Bark Projects Currently under Construction

The China Beach House at Sunrise at 1770, Capricorn Coast Queensland.

The Glass House Mountain House at Maleny, Sunshine Coast Hinterland.

The Coast Apartments at Sunshine Beach, Sunshine Coast.

The Noosa Visitor Information Centre for Sunshine Coast Regional Council and Tourism Noosa, Hastings Street, Noosa Heads.

Glenn Murcutt Masterclass in July 2008

Our 2008 Glenn Murcutt International Masterclass at Riversdale.

Engaging with the fragility and splendour of a unique Southern New South Wales site to discover ways of building reconciliation into the landscape, which both cradled and tortured the great Australian painter, Arthur Boyd.

The sharing and wisdom of all the tutors was outstanding. Their projects moving in so many ways. Collaboration in design groups with wonderful people from across the planet was at once challenging and inspiring.

A week of understanding the site at Riversdale and a week of intense collaboration at the University of Sydney architecture studios to demonstrate our design approach for 'Reconciliation'.

Drawings, sketches and models were produced in abundance and many emotions were aroused. A truly memorable experience....

Discovery Coast 'Bush' House

Our Discovery Coast 'Bush House' near the Town of 1770, designed for a repeat client and friend, and recently bought by a couple of Brisbane architects, will be a featured project in a new book published by Thames & Hudson.

“A Place in the Country: New Rural Architecture in Australia and New Zealand” by Stephen Crafti is due out next month.