Approaching the gate of 22 Waterway Drive, the grassy thwack of a golfball being struck floats faintly over the berms in front of the house.
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The berms, or raised mounds of earth contained by recycled brick walls, remind owner Kirsty Dunn of her childhood in Scotland. They represent the hills covered with grasses and wildflowers of that green country.
“When the grass and flowers are grown, they will sway in the wind, making patterns and curves,” says Dunn.
They also give an uninterrupted view of the 7th, 8th and 9th holes of the Ballarat Golf Club, which Dunn, as a keen golfer, appreciates.
The recycled bricks are a feature of the this astonishing, utterly contemporary house, repeated throughout the main structure. They illustrate just one element of the attention to detail that is evident throughout the building, from the heated floor to the keyless access.
Standing at the end of a lane and facing southwest across the expanse of the fairways, the Pyrenees and mountains beyond are visible in the distance from the upper living area of the home.
The house is the end-product of a long and detailed build by Kristy Dunn and her husband Aaron, director of Renovative, an award-winning building firm.
Designed to be a place of tranquillity and protected from outside noise by its aspect and double-glazing, the 350 square-metre home incorporates the latest technology in most of its features.
It was not the place Kirsty Dunn envisioned living in when she and Aaron moved to Ballarat from Barwon Heads.
“When we moved to Ballarat over four years ago we made the assumption that we'd be looking for an old, beautiful period home; that big, red-brick style. I was never a fan of the brand-new build, I liked the traditional idea of the old home,” says Dunn.
Friends convinced the couple to have a look at the block available in the Insignia estate abutting the golf course.
“It wasn't what we were looking for, but when we saw this block, it was just so beautiful...”
“It had everything that we actually hoped for: space, views, privacy, proximity to the hospital (Dunn is an emergency physician), safety – it’s at the end of a cul-de-sac so it was safe for the children. Aaron actually hired a cherry-picker so we went up to the first storey and imagined what the house would look like, and that was breathtaking.”
The Dunns realised they could design a home that turned its back to the rest of the buildings on the estate and instead embrace the panorama of the golf links and beyond.
Starting with a concept by Moloney Architects, the building incorporates unique and bespoke features such as on-site welded window shrouds, elevated cathedral ceilings and raked detailing.
The upper living spaces jut out, giving the impression that the building almost overhangs the back of the tees and fairways in front of it.
Do they find the odd stray drive finishes up in the front yard? Dunn laughs.
“It would have to be a pretty dreadful shot to finish up in here,” she says.
Nevertheless, the proximity to the course gave the golfers a chance to see the building go up over its 16-month construction – and offer their criticisms.
The brickwork, composed of five different styles and colours of recycled brick, was a particular point of interest. The bricklayer painstakingly broke apart and mixed the lots, a mammoth task.
“We got a great many opinions from the 9th tee,” says Dunn.
“A lot of people were very uncomfortable with the brick. Seeing green brick with graffitied brick with red brick, white brick. They couldn't cope with it because it was so distinct; it’s not in keeping with some of the more homogeneous colours around here.
“We honestly had golfers leaning on their clubs and just watching, staring. If they saw anyone associated with the build, they’d ask us when were we rendering the bricks: ‘when are you painting them, tell me you’re rendering them...’”
Similarly, the corten shrouds surrounding the windows were a bespoke innovation, made on site by the fabricator and machined to remove any evidence of a weld. The flat steel is reflected on the tops of the brick walls.
Dunn says the tolerances achieved by the metal fabricator were within millimetres.
“It’s all about the view, the house serves the view,” she says. For example, the curtain rails inside withdraw behind a false wall, making them invisible when they are retracted. The minimal interior features – dark walls and cathedral ceilings – all serve to highlight the exterior aspect.
Distinctively, the house takes advantage of the latest innovations in home automation. Kirsty Dunn says the whole building can be virtually be run from a mobile phone.
The smart system can lock and unlock the house, control the air-conditioning, access the closed-circuit television security and turn the swimming pool on and off.
There is also the capability to control irrigation for the garden – although Dunn says most of that is automated.
“The system is connected to the Bureau of Meteorology website, and reads the forecasts for Ballarat. It also takes note of the weather that is actually happening – whether it is raining or not or how hot it is,” she says.
The sound system, able to be heard throughout and without the house, is also on the smart system.
“It really has been a labour of love,” says Dunn.
“I spent a lot of time of a cold day sitting on a milk crate in front of where the fireplace would go, working on a sketch pad and imagining the finishes, trying to work out what it was all going to look like.
“But I was never unhappy. It was great fun.”