A
R
C
H
I
T
E
C
T
U
R
E
+
D
E
S
I
G
N
P R O F I L E | J A M E S S T O C K W E L L
internal materiality, when the glass gives
glorious way to openness, one cannot
always be sure where the building starts
and where it ends—it is one continuous
thing. Like water, but belonging, in edifice
and in essence, to the land. In a decade,
Bunkeren might well be camouflaged in
flora and fauna, reclaimed by an environ
that in the 19th century was a thriving
botanical garden. In seeing past the site's
coastal vulnerabilities, Stockwell saw
something far more crucial: opportunity.
To extend the existing ecosystem over
the concrete structure and, in so doing,
to cultivate life within, as well. "I really
like the idea of making the ground plane
ambiguous," he says, "so you're sort of half
in the land and half on it and, in time, that
becomes even more ambiguous and more
blurred." An architecture indistinguishable
from the landscape itself, leaving one
family, rooted to place.
stockwelldesign.com.au
away on the lowest floor is an especially
clandestine space for the family. This
"entanglement with the earth," as described
in the program, is the definition of living
harmoniously with nature (in this case,
the stone itself). "We observed on the
site early on that the conglomerate rock,
which is almost like concrete in itself, had
a certain kind of shape to it and that if we
could carve into the rock a bit, we could
make a cellar and a room that was half-
rock, half-architecture, part-landscape and
part-building," says Stockwell. Warmed
with timber and furniture, including a piece
of Danish lighting, the space has a sparing
quality that Danes bring to their domestic
spaces. Stockwell is particularly partial to
this space. "It's just a nice reminder that we
share this place with nature, and we don't
control it all," he told The Local Project.
"We're only part of the equation and there's
a lot to enjoy in the longevity of it."
Due to the similarity in external and
30 DIGS.NET
| 6.16.23
