A Leap into the Firmament
Owner, Michele Payne, shows us through her dramatic residence, and reveals just why its been nicknamed ‘The Tower House’
I live in a house which the architect who designed it calls the Tower House – a simple, light, airy and dramatic residence. I think of it as feminine but not sissy. I first came to live in Victoria Park in the late-1980s, buying an attractive though largely unrenovated 1920s red brick bungalow perched at the top of a sloping, old-fashioned quarter-acre block, with great views of the city.
By the time I arrived, about 95 years after the area was first subdivided, council zoning for the area was designed to encourage higher densities because of its relative closeness to the CBD. The highest densities were (and are) at the top of the high ground on the hill above my house.
Mostly, however, increased density has been achieved through the use of battleaxe subdivisions. Consequently the pleasant streetscapes of the area have remained largely unchanged with many of the older ‘character’ houses still in place but with lots of new homes popping up in old backyards. It makes for a diverse environment.
My early years in the old house were during the time of 17 per cent mortgages. As time wore on I got nervous about my ability to keep up with the maintenance requirements of an older house. It deserved more care and attention than I could give it.
Another drawback with the house, despite my love for it, was its layout: it didn’t suit my lifestyle and the way I wanted to use the space.
By the mid-1990s I had been working with community-based groups exploring ways to create housing suitable for people on low incomes, outside of the existing public housing system, people who also wanted their housing to be low-maintenance and environmentally sensitive.
"Its skeleton comprises a strong, rigid steel frame, anchored down with concrete floors. Otherwise, given its roof shape, it might well incline towards taking flight!"
Through these activities I met the architect Gérard Siero, who, like many architects, has well-developed views about the way housing should be designed to be comfortable and energy-efficient in Perth’s climate. In keeping with the trend in Victoria Park, I decided to subdivide, realise my equity in the existing house and build a new, low-maintenance, environmentally sensible home. Fundamentally, the house would have lots of light and could do without airconditioning – which I don’t like – for staying warm or cool.
Gérard worked on the design in 1995-96, creating an efficient residence suitable for a single professional woman. The architect’s brief was partly prepared using the design concepts set out in Christopher Alexander’s enchanting book “A Pattern Language”. Because the rear part of the block was low-lying, Gérard persuaded me to take a leap up into the air, beyond the standard two-storey house height, to take advantage of the views, which I would have lost if I had adopted a more conventional layout.
Benefits of going higher – in addition to the financial ones – were that the house could be narrower, leaving more areas for landscaping and outdoor activities; I could retain and better protect the two large trees already on the block; and there would be room for planting more trees, which in time will also help regulate the temperature of the house.
The narrower house profile also reduced the bulk of the house, thus limiting the extent to which my neighbours’ views could have been blocked out if I had ‘maximised’ the development potential of the site: good neighbours make good neighbourhoods.
The design’s passive solar principles ensured the building would be oriented to capture a lot of sunshine through the windows in winter, and with its big projecting roof, keep it out in summer when the sun is higher in the sky. The staircase and the windows allow breezes in to cross-ventilate and draw up cooler air from the bottom of the house in summer. Its skeleton comprises a strong, rigid steel frame, anchored down with concrete floors. Otherwise, given its roof shape, it might well incline towards taking flight!
Even though it has an unusual shape I wanted the new house to complement the colours and textures of the older housing around it and to blend in with the established building fabric, one of the neigbourhood’s attractions. In the end I compromised on some energy-efficient characteristics of the possible materials (using earth red Colorbond rather than more light-reflective Zincalume) to help it blend in. An older style sand rendering technique has been used on the upper part of the house, and while the roof is curved steel, its average pitch conforms to the 35 degree roof pitch convention common in older houses.
"The public spaces that visitors see – such as lounge, dining and cooking – are at entry level. The higher up you go, the more personal the space."
For all practical purposes, the house comprises three open living spaces stacked on top of each other, which can be used for different combinations of activities. The public spaces that visitors see – such as lounge, dining and cooking – are at entry level. The higher up you go, the more personal the space.
I spend most of my time in the eyrie at the top of the house. It is my cosy retreat bedroom/ workspace/ relaxation lounge. In summer I throw open large bifold doors to incorporate a balcony wrapped around the outside of two sides of the house, giving me a breezy indoor/outdoor room. At the entry level, kitchen, dining and lounge spaces can be expanded for entertaining purposes in a similar way.
Construction commenced early in 1998 but made limited progress in the initial stages for a variety of distressing reasons not uncommon to those building outside the project home method. By mid-1999 there had been no further construction work for more than a year. I found the various sagas responsible for the delays too burdensome and put the project on hold for three years while I ran away to pursue study and career opportunities in New York.
Eventually, however, I returned and completed the house, nominally as an owner-builder/risk-taker, though heavily reliant on the help of a number of terrific people willing to apply their skills to creative problem-solving and cost control.
Nearly 10 years after it was designed, and more than seven years after ‘temporarily’ leaving the neighbourhood, I returned to Victoria Park to live in the house in 2005. The house works as I had hoped, giving me both pleasure and joy, far more than just another machine for living, a small, dramatic gesture in a neighbourhood experiencing dynamic and creative changes.
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