A
little pavilion sits on a hillside, facing due north, with
breathtakingviewspanningwestovertheriseandfallof
ancientmountainstructuresformedbythecrucibleofthe
Tweed Volcano, and east to the vast Pacific Ocean caught in
the embrace of Cape Byron.
This modest building in northern New South Wales, known as
Possum Shoot Shed, is a temporary dwelling: a sometimes “crash
pad”foracoupleandtheirgrownchildrenandastageonthejourney
ofcreatingamorepermanenthomefurtherupthehill.It’saplace
for“elegantcamping”madefromremnantsofanexistingshed
that, while “not quite liveable,” offered up enough intact material
intheformofcorrugatedsheetingandtimberboards to enclose and
ingrain the new structure with storied textures.
Thepropertyusedtobeabananafarm.Oncecultivationceased,
weedstookhold,butthenewownerisprogressivelylooseningthis
gripthroughconsideredclearingandrehabilitation,havingalready
planted 3,500 indigenous trees on the eastern slope and, to the south
behindtheshed,ahillsidegarden.
Access to the shed is from the north-western corner of the site.
A narrow, winding roadway runs beneath the property, lined with
a thick barricade of forest. As you emerge from this green enclosure
03 Asouth-facing glass
wall aligns with a hillside
garden to create what
the architect describes
as a “living painting.”02 Thepavilionisdivided
into four bays, with the
two outer bays devoted
to bedrooms and the
inner two as living space.andintoaclearedpatchofhillside,theviewstothenorth-eastand
outtoseaopenup.Theshedsitsonalevelledcontour,reoccupying
the location of the original structure. Approached obliquely the
new shed reads iconically, the end elevation a simple, silvery grey
trapezoid marked by sliding panels covering two simple openings and
a roofline in tune with the fall of the tumbling slope.
Betweenthegraveldriveandtheshed,broad,flatstonesareset
naturalistically into the casually manicured lawn, gently stepping
upbeneaththehalfarchesofastatelypalmtothethreshold–a
semicircular miniature patio – of the rust-protected door. An
alternativepathissetalittlelower,alsoasastone-steppedtraverse,
past an outdoor shower attached to a refashioned telegraph pole and
up onto the elemental platform of a hardwood deck.02