Hill House is a new house for a couple who have left their professional lives in the city and “retired” to the country to run a vineyard. The house is situated on the vineyard, set amongst the vines.

Our brief was to design a house that feels cosy when occupied only by our clients and their golden retriever, yet spacious during frequent visits from family and friends. We needed to design it to have a low ecological impact, both in design and in use, and a strong connection between indoor spaces and the natural environment.

Central to our design was a consideration of landscape. Formally, stabilised rammed earth walls respond to the natural wildness of the land, whilst fine timber window frames and joinery respond to the controlled order of the vines. Programmatically, indoor and outdoor living spaces bleed into one another. Culturally, an expansive “Australian” roof acts as water collector, heat vent and shelter whilst barbecuing. And environmentally, a combination of simple passive design techniques and complex active systems permit Hill House to be very close to resource neutral.