Kinglake, Victoria
The Kinglake House is sophisticated, intelligent and luxurious whilst maintaining its ecological footprint.
OVERVIEW
The Kinglake House in Kinglake, Victoria is a part of a process of change – a family home that functions elegantly and efficiently, creating a foundation for a sustainable future which stretches to the wider fabric of the community.
The Kinglake House has a genuine inter connectivity between land, water, air and life. Resisting the impact of bush fires, generating it’s own energy with renewable resources, capturing and harvesting it’s rain water, constructed from non toxic materials that are recycled or recyclable, creating a habitat for flora and fauna as well as a productive garden on its green roof.
Nestled on 10 acres overlooking the picturesque Yarra Valley from the South West. The property is verging on the Kinglake National Park to the South and rises to the ridgline of the Great Dividing Range to the North.
The owners Daniel Zeidan and Vicky Kordatou have displayed a depth of commitment and willingness to build a home that they can connect with – a home that adds value to their lives and complements their surroundings.
BACKGROUND
The concept of the Kinglake House was the brainchild of Joost Bakker. Joost is a discipline-crossing creative and visionary. Highly regarded for his distinctive aesthetic and design ingenuity. Joost is attracting global interest in his desire for better nutrition, the use of sustainable building materials and inspiring design.
Vebo Group founder, Peter Buruma was introduced to Joost in 2008. Peter was instantly inspired by Joost – his seemingly never-ending enthusiasm to make a difference in the world.
Peter has accepted many invitations from Joost to collaborate on projects in Sydney and Melbourne.
Joost contacted Peter in September 2013 to express an interest in the Kinglake House. On 27 September 2013, Joost and Peter drove to the Kinglake site to meet Daniel Zeidan for the first time – wow what an amazing site.
Peter embraces the concept of conserving the earth by protecting its capacity for self renewal. The Kinglake House was a powerful and meaningful project.
From their first meeting, Daniel and Peter started forming a mutually beneficial relationship. It became clear that Daniel was taking on all of Joost’ design ideas plus adding value with his own creative inspiration and direction.
WHAT WE DID
Joost had provided a brilliant concept that needed developing into a system we could confidently construct and guarantee. Vebo rigorously tested the concept design.
The role of Vebo was to connect the interested parties whilst maintaining the project teams expectations.
Vebo reviewed and evaluated the concept drawings, formalising the client brief then presenting Daniel and Vicky with a budget cost of works. The transition from concept to building contract was seamless with the process taking 6 weeks.
The layout, frame design, exterior finishes were all well developed at the concept stage with the interior being a blank canvas for Vebo to work with.
Vebo Group entered into a design agreement with Daniel and started compiling the concepts and ideas into a tight set of concise architectural drawings and documentation – all the time maintaining a communication line to Joost ensuring that his ideas and processes were documented accurately.
Vebo also needed to consider the design of the electrical, hydraulic, hydronic services and sewer system. This was managed by bringing together like minded specialists.
At the end of the design phase, Daniel and Vicky were presented with a fixed cost of works. Upon approval, Vebo entered into a head building contract with Daniel.
The Foxtel TV series, Grand Designs Australia had been advised of the upcoming project and requested that we make a presentation to the production team for consideration in their upcoming series – Joost, Daniel and Vebo all thought this would be a great platform to display the innovative genius of the Kinglake House. The project was to be documented from Daniel and Vicky’s perspective and ultimately led to the production of a brilliant episode.
The construction phase of the project was anticipated to commence in early 2014, due to unforeseen client delays, the onsite works commenced in July 2014.
During the construction phase, Vebo remained focused on producing an end product that was to an international standard.
The main stages of construction were base, frame, fitout through to completion.
During these stages of works, there was a need to manage client initiated changes to layout, finishes and fixture specification. To the credit of Daniel and Vicky, all changes were design enhancements.
The presence of the production team from Fremantle Media for Foxtel TV series, Grand Designs Australia added an additional layer of project management and site management.
The unpredictable climate of the region presented some serious challenges with our resources. This was compounded by the proximity from metropolitan Melbourne. The site was beyond the metro area and therefore became regional, meaning that every delivery needed careful planning and sometimes extending lead-times considerably, a lot of trades wanted to be sure to have full days work before committing to head up to the lofty region.
Because of the unique scope of the design, Vebo had to work hard to develop relationships with like minded specialist to drive and deliver the project.
Along the journey, a lot of valuable contractors became the heart and soul of the project, investing in the ideology of what this house embodies.
KEY CHALLENGES
- Fire resistant construction.
- Engineering of lightweight steel portal frame to support green roof.
- High level of construction detailing and finishing to an international standard of quality.
- All materials to be recycled or 100% recyclable.
- All materials to be non toxic – zero VOC.
- No use of UPVC material.
- Ecological construction methods.
- Limiting the use of glues and adhesives.
- Aesthetically pleasing design.
- Personal and tailored solutions.
- Management of Grand Designs Australia filming of the project during construction.
- Attention to detail in planning, monitoring and outcomes.
- Sub alpine location and weather conditions.
- Product design and development.
- Recycling of construction waste materials and packaging.
PROCESS
- Introduction.
- Site analysis.
- Client brief.
- Budget cost of works.
- Design agreement.
- Permits and authority approvals.
- Design management.
- Electrical, hydraulic, sewer, hydronic design.
- Interior design.
- Building system development.
- Building product development.
- Fixed cost of works.
- Head building contract.
- Project management.
- Construction management.
- Occupation and handover.
PROJECT STATS
- Date completed: July 2015.
- Location: Kinglake, VIC, AUS.
- Type: New building.
- Occupant type: Private residence.
- Contract type: Design and Construction.
- Bushfire Attack Level (BAL): 12.5.
- Start of construction: July 2014.
- Start of occupancy: July 2015.
DETAILS
- Land area: 10 Acres.
- Project area: 400 SQM.
- Building area: 220 SQM.
- Elevation: 550m (1,804 ft).
- Geographic classification: Sub-alpine.
- Annual rainfall: 850MM.
- Mean max temp: 16C / 61F.
- Mean min temp: 8.2C / 47F.
LAYOUT
- Master bedroom with walk in robe.
- Master ensuite with shower, basin and outdoor bath.
- 2 Bedrooms with built in robes.
- 1 Bathroom with shower, bath and toilet.
- Laundry / mudroom with tub, washing machine and drier.
- Open plan kitchen, living and dining room.
- Walk in pantry and store.
KEY FEATURES
- Lightweight steel portal frame.
- 3.0m high ceilings to main open plan living area, 2.4m ceilings to all other areas.
- Green roof.
- Plywood ceiling linings.
- Straw bale insulation.
- Recycled plastic waffle pod system.
- Recycled concrete.
- Compresses straw partitioning to bedrooms.
- Custom made end grain ply flooring.
- 90,000 litre in ground concrete water storage.
- Off grid solar electricity supply.
- Under slab ventilation system.
- Hydronic heating.
- Evacuated tube solar HWS.
- Custom made hot water storage tank.
- Slow combustion wood fired cooker.
- Miele induction cooktop, oven and integrated dishwasher.
- Custom made recessed range-hood.
- Central light switch bank.
PROJECT TEAM
Joost Bakker, Director | By Joost
- Concept design.
- Green roof system.
- Rock wall system.
Peter Buruma, Director | Vebo Group
- Design manager.
- Interior design.
- Project manager.
- Construction manager.
- Site manager.
- Builder.
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