- Home
- Case Studies
- The Cypress House
The Challenge
Located at Point Lookout on North Stradbroke Island (Minjerrbah), The Cypress House was designed by architect Drew Heath for repeat clients from Sydney. Having just returned from Japan when the project was commissioned, Drew brought a distinct Japanese architectural eye to the project, setting the design apart from trends.
The brief called for a home that opened fully to its island surroundings, connecting occupants to the natural light, breezes and landscape of Point Lookout. Drew’s response was to design the house as three separate pavilions, with a roof intended to hover lightly above the living spaces below, sheltering them without any sense of visual weight.
Building materials needed to suit both the aesthetic ambition and the practical realities of an island site. Cypress timber, expressed internally and externally in cladding and structure, was chosen for its affordability and natural termite resistance, a sound choice for construction on North Stradbroke Island.
The roof itself presented the greatest design challenge. To achieve the floating, low-profile form central to the pavilion concept, the team needed a roofing solution that was lightweight enough to preserve the aesthetic, structurally capable of the spans and cantilevers required to shade the building, and simple enough to transport and install on an island accessible only by barge.
Presenter Paul Butterworth said the island setting shaped every decision on the project.
“We’re in an island paradise here on North Stradbroke Island, at Point Lookout,” Paul said. “We have the luxury of just opening up all the doors, connecting to this magnificent environment, and this house really takes advantage of that really directly.”
The Solution
Bondor’s SolarSpan® all-in-one insulated panel, consisting of the roof, insulated and ceiling met each of these requirements directly. Lightweight and straightforward to install, it could be trucked to the barge crossing and installed onsite by a small team, with panels seamlessly locked in place, row after row, to form a complete roof without the need for additional structure, insulation or ceiling linings. The prefabricated COLORBONDsteel® finish eliminated the need for multiple trades on site further streamlining the construction timeline.
Paul Butterworth pointed to the product’s suitability for remote construction. “The lightweight SolarSpan® product, which is a panelised system that can just easily get put on a truck, come across on a barge, and be installed by just a handful of guys, fairly simply, fairly directly, was just the perfect choice to get a nice, lightweight, durable roof in this island context,” Paul said.
The product’s structural performance allowed Drew Heath to achieve the spans and cantilevers essential to the pavilion design, protecting the living spaces below from sun and weather while preserving the appearance of a roof that hovers lightly over the landscape. Without SolarSpan®, the roof would have needed to be at least two and a half times thicker, undermining the fine, floating profile that defines the house.
Today, more than 20 years after construction, the roof continues to perform, and the house still looks as intended.
The owner, a boat builder, brought his own building knowledge to the project’s finer details, including hand-built pivoting door panels that combine slivers of glass with translucent fibreglass, filtering light into the living spaces and casting shifting shadows through the day.
“It’s one of my favourites on the island,” Paul said. It’s a beautiful design. The entire team have done a really great job.”
