The crew re-located to Barcaldine for over 3 months for this project. This homestead is on a cattle property in Central Queensland and has 600mm thick external rammed earth walls as part of the design. Internal walls are 300mm thick.

The walls will provide excellent protection from bush fires as rammed earth has a very high fire rating.  They will also help keep the inside of the house nice and cool during the scorching summer days of this semi-arid zone of Australia. Conversely, they’ll also keep the heat in during the cold nights.

The predominant colours of this region are “iconic Australia”, with red soil and grey-green eucalypts against a deep blue sky. By using the earth materials from various parts of the property, the house echoes these colours. Different times of day highlight different colours in the rammed earth walls.

The house has been named “Wedgetail” by the architects, Sparks Architects of Peregian Beach. The roof line features a dropped ‘wing’ at one end of the building amongst many other innovative design features.

Internal photos are by Dan Sparks, Sparks Architects.