A Huge House

2023 Induction Studio 

360 Student Housing

Brief:

The studio explores domestic life through the detailed development of the individual unit, shared areas and the city. Student housing inherently blurs public and private relations through the integration of sleep, leisure and work. Their domestic spaces have forecasted current trends of flexible ways of living and working, heightened by 24/7 cycles. They have been spaces that reflect culture beyond mere living by hosting forms of pleasure, hedonism, love, debate, play, joy and friendship. Following this historical trend, the studio speculates that housing could still be idle, almost useless in the contemporary city – and can, therefore, represent a challenge to Sydney’s status quo today.  

Student housing is a highly unique domestic typology that poses many challenges, bringing together a diverse range of people to cohabitate with many cultural, socio-economic and personal needs, all under one roof. This along with Sydney’s housing crisis and environmental turmoil are a few design considerations that ‘The Huge House’ must address. Parramatta road is one of Australia’s oldest highway, linked to ancient walking paths used by First Nations Peoples and is currently a predominant route between Sydney’s CBD and Parramatta. The high intensity traffic, noise and air pollution are factors that will need to be addressed within this design.

The design looks to address a lack of connection and fluidity to landscape, each other, and the community. The goal was to provide all 360 of the required residents with direct access to open green spaces and communal social areas. A large column grid system has been used to elevate the building, providing a fully permeable ground floor. 

Internal Render

Detailed Drawings