Celilo Springs
Mount Lawley, Western Australia — 2022
Marshall Clifton Award for Residential Architecture 2022
Colorbond Award for Steel Architecture 2022
Sustainable Architecture Commendation 2022
Houses Magazine Top Five Houses 2023
Sustainability must be the absolute priority of architecture. But technical sustainability is not enough. The world’s highest uptake of rooftop solar in Western Australia hasn’t slowed the destruction of the banksia woodland, nor will mandated 7-star energy ratings do anything for the endangered Carnaby’s cockatoo. CO2 reduction is essential, but immediate and more achievable conservation is forgotten due to the malaise of a population that has been disconnected from place.
Celilo Springs is a single-family home built on a subdivided site in inner Perth. It is an architecture in pursuit of complete immersion in its local context. With the objective of re-engaging the occupants with place. A small house, settled amongst a garden planted with only Western Australian species. filled with bird song and frog calls. hand-built by the owner and their family, using local materials; with stories and memories woven through the building fabric.
A house for Western Australia.
Photography: Peter Bennetts
