Australian studio Fouché Architects has completed Tallowwood Cabin, a black house with an angular form that cantilevers over its sloping plot in Queensland.
Tallowwood Cabin is located in a small clearing within a forested site in Tallebudgera and was designed for the father of the couple who owns the land.
Fouché Architects designed a top-heavy geometric form for the home that is topped with a pitched roof and raised on a concrete plinth to help minimise disruption to the site.
“The project was founded on three principles: try not to disturb the site too much, create a functional building responsive to the intense site constraints and make it an abstract object disappeared in the landscape,” studio co-founder Rayne Fouché told Dezeen.
“The building form is a response to the plan shape and site conditions,” he continued. “The building is raised off the ground in order to minimally impact the site and allow fauna to pass through relatively easily.”
Tallowwood Cabin has a black exterior that is designed to blend into the bushland surrounding the plot, which was the only developable site on the client’s land.
“A founding idea was to disappear the building into the bushland,” Fouché explained. “In this context, dense Australian bushland, the two least distracting colours are green or black.”
“If our building was more exposed to the sun we would have opted for green to reduce heat gain on the building envelope, however, we had the luxury of choice because the building does not receive much direct sunlight,” he continued.
While Fouché Architects had intended to use Shou Sugi Ban timber cladding for the exterior, bushfire design requirements led to a facade made from lightweight cement boards that have been stained black.
“The option to stain yielded delightful and somewhat unexpected results,” said Fouché. “It’s slightly uneven which gives it a textural quality and it is slightly reflective. The colours of the surrounding bushland bounce off the building nicely on a sunny day,” he continued.
Tallowwood Cabin is raised on a concrete base that intersects with the sloping site and contains a covered car park and utility spaces.
Access to the main house is provided via a sheltered concrete ramp enclosed within walls of timber battens. Beyond this, a polished grey floor stretches through the interior, accompanied by warm chipboard walls and ceilings.
The front door leads directly into the kitchen, where a long wood-topped island made from concrete blocks sits at the centre.
Towards the end of the kitchen, a built-in fireplace and bench have been recessed into the wall and lined with red-toned tiles.
The fireplace marks the transition into the living room. Connected to the kitchen to form an open-plan space, the living room features a corner sofa with a chipboard base.
Decking runs along the side of the living space, supported by stilts that let it hang over the sloped site with views of the forest.
“The brief was simple – two bedrooms, a bathroom, a living space and a deck,” said Fouché. “The arrangement of those spaces prioritises views.”
“The angular plan is a direct response to site context, most notably provision for access and avoidance of the surrounding tree canopy,” he continued. “This is evident in the floor plan – the trees shown in plan have been meticulously surveyed.”
A separate space that branches from the side of the entrance hallway contains the bedroom wing.
Divided from the open-plan living space and kitchen by angled walls, this area features two double bedrooms, both of which are fully coated in chipboard and enjoy views of the natural surroundings.
The home is complete with a small shower room coated in green tiles, brightened by a fully glazed end wall set within a black frame.
Other cabins with black exteriors recently featured on Dezeen include a Ukrainian mountain retreat informed by traditional cabins and an X-shaped Alabama cabin wrapped in corrugated metal.
The photography is by David Chatfield.
