Part A

Lake Weyba House: Gabriel Poole

Gabriel Poole’s Lake Weyba House, designed for he and his wife Elizabeth in 1996, is located on the Western side of Lake Weyba, approximately a ten minute drive from Noosa Heads. The site consists of many natural features such as native flowers, gums, casuarinas and coastal wallum. At the time of building this house, development was beginning to take place in the surrounding area, destroying the natural features, namely the coastal wallum, of the area. Poole states ‘in future our property may be the only surviving example of wallum for many kilometres’ (Hyatt 2000). He was particularly careful not to destroy the surrounding natural environment during the construction of this house.

As development was to overrule the surrounding environment, privacy and views were taken into consideration in the design. Instead of viewing outward horizontally, each room has a view to the sky. Poole’s wife Elizabeth was the one who suggested creating views of the sky as that was the only view that would never be disturbed (Hyatt 2000). Poole respond to his wife’s requirements, making for a more delightful living experience by creating views of the sky.

The house is split into three modules, all connected by covered walkways. The first module contains:

• Living
• Dining/Kitchen
• Office

The second module is the bathroom which contains:

• Semi outdoor shower
• Clear acrylic roof
• 3mx2m bath
• Composting toilet

It is interesting to note the distribution of space here. The bathroom is the largest room of the house. It suits the needs of a family like the Pooles as it was built for only Gabriel and Elizabeth, however this distribution of space would not suit the needs of a larger family with children. He describes the bathroom as the engine room of the house and that it is not uncommon to find 2-3 people in the bathroom at any one time (Hyatt 2000).

The third module is the bedroom.

This house employs lightweight construction techniques which are most suitable for the climatic context. It uses lightweight steel frames and the plywood floors are suspended off the ground (Poole n.d). In all his designs, Poole emphasises design for climate without the use of air conditioning. Lightweight construction reduces the negative effects on the surrounding environment. Some of his objectives in architecture are air flow and ventilation systems, site aspect to suit the climatic and environmental conditions and provision for natural light and shade (Poole n.d). He certainly accentuates that the house is to be an environmental filter.

A simple use of materials is applied, making the house sit comfortably with its surroundings, blending in with nature. There is a blur between what is natural and what is not. This intertwining of nature and materials makes this house at one with the environment, not dominating its natural habitat.

Walls are timber framed and clad in folded galvanised iron sheeting. Windows and large sliding doors both operate using a chords and pulleys system. The northern wall is of particular interest. Screen timber frames have been inserted 2.1m above ground level. These frames have been weather proofed by simple garage roller doors, operated by a hook and a long stink. (Hyatt 2000).
This is certainly a delightful house which Poole describes as ‘the single best work of my career’ (Sorensen 2008).

Reference List

Hyatt, P. 2000. Local Heroes. Victoria: Thames and Hudson.
Poole, G. n.d. Architecture. http://www.gabrielpoole.com.au/philosophy.html (accessed 19 March 2010).
Sorensen, R. 2008. Architect redrawing flaw plan. The Australian. September 15.