Lofted Living: Elevated Home Literally Sits on the Water
Eat your heart out, Fallingwater. When most people talk about owning a nice house on the water this is almost certainly not what they have in mind. Most of the time, this elevated home sits comfortably on the banks of a river – but when it floods, all bets are off as shown as in these incredible images.
Thin structural supports (that early modernists like Le Corbusier would be proud of) hold this unique house by John Pardey Architects high above the flood plain. Entrance staircases lead from the ground (or water) level directly up into the heart of the home on one side and to a front deck on the other.
Living, guest and bedroom spaces pinwheel out from a central communal axis. Steel framed with timber infill, these wings are each thrust out into a different part of the surrounding landscape – a custom design catered to the available views and varying amounts of privacy afforded by the open water and dense trees.
Of course, the experience back out from within the home is in many ways as impressive as the house itself, with elevated views of the surrounding forest and river below. Floor-to-ceiling glazing in common spaces gives the house an open feeling even as it sits on pillars lofted over the ground.
More from the architects
“We based our concept on three elements; living, guest and bedroom spaces, to create ‘wings’ that adopt a pinwheel form, raised up on columns to deal with flooding from the river. A dark, zinc-clad wing is pushed forward to receive an entrance staircase that slices up into an open timber-lined ‘hood’ with a glazed room to the side containing a guest suite and gym. The stair arrives onto a balcony and entrance – a central hall space – this is the day room, dedicated to outdoor living that leads out onto a large deck.”
