Award Winning Project - The Gampe House at Samsonvale

"I wish Sustainable all the best! Brett and his team have been fantastic to deal with. The house achieves a level of environmental sustainability we had only dreamed about when we started this project two years ago. Brett's experience in designing zones for large families, and our shared passion for
minimal environmental impact while maximising the passive elements of the Queensland climate has resulted in the home of our dreams." Paul Gampe of Samsonvale.

Winner of the HIA Brisbane Greensmart Energy Efficient Home of the Year Award for 2007, the site is an acreage block located in the Samford Valley with magnificent views over to Mount Samson and Mount Glorious. A small existing slab on ground brick veneer house occupies the front of the property near the road. The site has a level platform near the road to a vegetated steep bank and then falls gently to the rear of the property to a citrus orchid and dam inside the back boundary.

Our clients approached us with a 2ha parcel of land on which they wanted to build their family home. The existing house located at the front of the property was to be retained and a link provided to the new main residence. The client's intent was to build a unique house, located over an existing earth bank, nestled between the existing trees so it remained grounded to the site at the front. It then opened up to the views to the west with the platform floor of the house floating metres above the ground at the rear.

The clients had lived in Japan and wanted to have their new house capture the essence of the Japanese culture and architecture. Quintessential to this was a bathhouse which became a pivotal room within the house and provides a truly magical bathing experience with its finishes and the view to Mt Samson.

The house is sited over an existing steep bank near the existing house and took on a split-level timber platform form to accommodate for the site contours. The house is an integration of beauty, practicality, passive solar design and ventilation, resource efficiency and craftsmanship, remaining close to nature and in harmony with the surrounding environment. Full integration of the indoor and outdoor living spaces captures an understated lifestyle to suit the rural setting and maintains the feel of a traditional farmhouse.

An open plan layout, featuring extensive use of timber and glass, the house is designed to take full advantage of the spectacular views and the rural setting creating an inviting indoor/outdoor ambience.
The house provides for flexible spaces with the ability to provide separate zones within the design to enable efficient heating in the colder months. This enables the majority of rooms to be able to drag the views into the house, as evidenced with the media room although positioned to the east, having the ability to capture the view through a finned wall to the west.

The spaces were to be minimalist and creation of privacy from the entry ensures that the house is slowly revealed as you move through it. Minimal number of steps throughout the house ensures easy access to all rooms.

The clients are strong advocates of sustainability and requested that the house incorporate the following features within the design:

 PV solar panels with a connection to the electricity grid.
 Gas boosted solar hot water system.
 Ceiling fans to aid in the cooling of the rooms (no air conditioning).
 Reticulated gas pipe work for connection of gas room heaters.
 Biolytic sewage treatment system to irrigate the landscape.
 C Bus integrated system that controls lighting security and operates selected louvre windows to allow passive ventilation of the building.
 AAA plumbing fittings.
 Compact fluorescent light fittings.


Although the house was to remain simple in form, the design incorporated finishes and features that further enhance the living environment. Some of these features include plywood ceiling panels to the main living areas, a large working kitchen with butler's pantry and stone and stainless steel tops. There is a large verandah capturing the aspect over the dam to the mountains and an external BBQ bank enabling catering externally. The use of renewable resource bamboo flooring adds warmth to the interior along with a Japanese bathhouse with timber duckboard shower floor and plywood vanity tops.