Dwell 2015 11

off the grid
When you think of beach houses, this
simple box, clad in vivid orange and red
metal panels, probably isn’t what
springs to mind. But then, the Tasman
Peninsula, a remote region of Tasmania,
itself a remote island that dangles 150
miles south of Australia, isn’t typical of
the country’s beaches, either.
David Burns and Tania Soghomonian,
the house’s owners, had previously
worked with architect Misho Vasiljevich
of Misho+Associates on their house in
Sydney. The partnership is a natural fit:
The couple both work in the field of
environmental science and sustainability,
and the architect specializes in
energy conservation.
In 2005, Vasiljevich relocated his
practice to Hobart, Tasmania’s capital,
to escape the urban intensity of Sydney.
His clients, however, never even saw the
island until five years ago, when Burns
came to visit and was astounded by the
sheer abundance of its untamed landscape.
He was also drawn to the cultural
dynamism of Hobart, which has in
recent years become a stop on the international
arts circuit, by virtue of the
cutting-edge programming at the new
Museum of Old and New Art.
“Most Australians probably don’t
consider Tasmania anything special, or
haven’t in the past, because it’s far away
and hard to get to. But Misho was the
one who really opened our eyes to what
we were missing out on down here,”
says Burns. “We fell in love with it.”
Large swathes of the island are
devoted to national parks and UNESCO
World Heritage sites, namely its wilderness
and remnants of its penal colony
past. The eastern side, where Burns
immediately started researching available
property upon his return to Sydney,
is more populated but no less stunning.
The couple eventually purchased a
47-acre plot with wide-angle views of
the water, backed by a mountainous,
double-peaked hill covered in dense
stands of eucalyptus trees. >
N
The home was designed as a
“box within a box,” in which two
interior structures—an openplan
living space and two en
suite bedrooms—sit within its
exterior envelope. Inspired by
the region’s fiery orange lichen
A
A
B
E
F
Premaydena House Plan
A Bedroom
B Bathroom
C Kitchen/Dining Area
D Living Area
E Veranda
F Laundry
B
D
C
and the indigenous waratah
shrub’s bright flowers, the
colorful exterior panels are
made of heavy-duty galvanized
steel to guard from Tasmanian
winds, which can reach up to
60 miles per hour.
116 NOVEMBER 2015 DWELL