Kieron Gait Architects
A small practice predominantly working within the residential sector in SE Queensland. In addition our principals and staff have expertise in Commercial, Resort and Hospitality sectors.
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Projects:
Grange Residence
Grange, QLD, 2012
An existing Post-War house with a North facing rear garden. The proposal adds a ‘Garden Room’ to the rear of the house. A space that can be utilised as a robust living space by the growing family and also be quarrantined as a studio apartment for family who visit from overseas for extended periods. The plan of the existing residence is turned to face the rear garden with a new deck space and reconfiguration of part of the kitchen to address the Northern aspect. The edge condition becomes a playful mediation between light and shadow. Through careful use of material and lighting the taught external skin around the circulation becomes a piece of theatre in the house – shadows from the landscape and the movement of the family through the house cast a subtle trace on the translucent skin. Day and night reveal a different nature of the house and its occupancy. Internally the linings are eroded in places to reveal a raw skeleton of humble materials – LVL studs and particleboard that are overlaid with a veneer of wall lining. The illusion of the solidity of the clean white plasterboard spaces is broken and the grain of construction celebrated.
Balmoral Residence
Balmoral, QLD, 2009
The redevelopment of a tired post war residence aimed to build a relationship between a large rear yard with distant views to the Gateway Bridge, and a high set house that addressed the street. A re-organisation of the planning turned the focus of the house from the street to the garden and created a threshold space – a series of decks that form a visual and physical threshold from the house to the garden. Connected under an enclosing roof, the space invites exploration and offers differing connections between thte adjacent rooms, garden and views. Intimate and smaller areas of sub-enclosure are created within this space, dramatised by the falling roofline. Levels are treated playfully and the exaggeration of the edges invites engagement on a more intimate level. Steps become seats, balustraded become tables. The openings and balustrades are carefully located to edit views of adjacent houses and allow the house to flow to the garden. Internally the house is treated as a simple volume. Light is encouraged into dark corners from both natural and artifical sources and openings take advantage of both close and distant views, borrowing the mature landscape from the adjacent properties. Balmoral Residence was awarded the Hayes and Scott award for Small Project Architecture at the 2010 AIA Queensland State awards. The project has been published in both local and national media
Soksabai Resort
Siem Riep, Cambodia, n/a
Cambodia has been experiencing a re-birth following the Khmer Rouge regime of the 1970s and subsequent international isolation. It has become a tourist destination thanks to its social interest and rich architectural legacy of the 11th and 12th Century when the country was at the height of its influence over the region. Soksabai Resort is located in Siem Reap – Gateway the the Angkor temples and ruins. The resort is a mix of 48 apartments and 53 room boutique hotel accommodation to satisfy a clientel of tourists and ex-pat Cambodians who will return for longer periods. The design takes on a duality: Physically the buildings respond to dwelling in the tropics – Deep shelter from the sun; exploitation of the voracious landscape potential; the cooling respite of water and use of local construction materials and techniques. The experience is of Buildings in the landscape – a demarcation of human intervention trying to hold back nature. In addition to creating an enduring building, this project endeavours to forge relationships with the local Siem Reap community by encouraging and sustaining local craft and culture. This will offer visitors a deeper insight into the Cambodian culture than a standard hotel experience. Contrary to modern Western construction techniques, to build in Cambodia is to celebrate the handmade – Skilled local craftspeople will be utilised and hav
