Designed by Bill Gibson, Lead Designer at DX Architects; for his Wife, Eleanor, and his dog, Milk.

Frustrated by the restrictive lifestyle and lack of housing availability in inner-city Melbourne, in late 2021 Bill and Eleanor moved back home to North-East Victoria to the small Alpine town of Myrtleford with a plan to build their first house. In late 2022, they purchased a small parcel of steep land at the base of Reform Hill, capturing views overlooking the Ovens Valley and towards Mount Buffalo.

Alpine House is an aggressively efficient, two-bedroom contemporary house due for completion in 2024. The project is a reflection of the occupants and a response to context, imagined as a sustainable place of retreat for the bitter winters and scorching summers. The house is delicately perched on the site, hovering above the ground and projecting over the steep edge with a cantilever, emphasising the outlook towards the mountains. The black metal cladding and stained plywood lining are budget conscious and hard wearing material selections which provide a neutral foreground for the impressive landscape beyond.

The house is sustainable and efficient, with no mechanical heating or cooling. Myrtleford has a high diurnal temperature variation so natural ventilation corridors are utilised to purge the heat during summer, while bulk insulation, high performance glazing and active solar control in the form of a sliding bushfire shutter are utilised to maintain a comfortable internal temperature. A small wood fireplace provides heating and ambience.

This regional project is an attempt at budget conscious sustainable architecture, designed for 2 people and a dog.