Join us for an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of one of the award-winning houses from the 2024 Australian Institute of Architects, ACT Architecture Awards, House on a Path. A 1970s house on an experimentally planned suburban site in Canberra has been reorganised and reoriented through 2 precisely placed but loosely programmed additions to ‘front’ and ‘rear’.
Japanese influences are evident in the original house and courtyard and Radburn planning principles in the battleaxe block – the unfenced ‘front’ boundary is to a public pedestrian path while the ‘rear’ driveway leads to the street. The principal architectural idea is to amplify these distinctive attributes while providing legible entries and introducing circular routes.
The additions internalise 7 external openings – slotting under the existing eaves to the ‘rear’ and matching the footprint of a demolished deck to the ‘front’. The additions function equally for utility, or to detour, gaze out and welcome in.
Inside, these circular routes enrich living patterns while outside, a new circular path skirts a new pool and gathers up narrow and generous spaces into a continuous whole.
6 November | Wednesday 5.30pm – 6.30pm
7 November | Thursday 5.30pm – 6.30pm
Tickets | General Admission | $25 | Craft + Design Canberra Members | $20 | Bookings Essential
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Joanna Nelson Architect is an established practice with current projects in the ACT, New South Wales and Victoria. Joanna graduated with honours from Adelaide University. She formed her own practice in Melbourne in 1987.
From 2005 to 2009 she worked as Senior Architect with the National Capital Authority in Canberra. She returned to private practice in 2010.
Joanna Nelson is dedicated to the inventive and rigorous exploration of the architectural potential of each project. Her projects have won numerous awards and been included in a range of publications.
Image Credit: Joanna Nelson Architect | House on a Path 2023 | Photograph by Anthony Basheer