Following a death in the family, a father and son's goal to build a family home at Otford became a therapeutic experience.
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"My Mum was battling cancer... And passed away before it happened, so it was a bit of a cathartic project for my Dad and I," architect Luke Novotny said.
Luke purchased the block in 2014, and sought to design what would become 'Otford House', a "contemporary Australian modern home", with an agricultural feel to the planning.
A "two-year labour of love" ensured for Luke and his father Peter, a carpenter by trade.
'Otford House' was built using a range of Australian timbers.
Luke said one of the main objectives was to "get passive light and thermal performance out of it".
Key features also include the "perfect northern aspect, and the whole living area opens up".
"It's got a 7.2-metre wide sliding, stacking door... The main living area, it all opens totally to the outdoors and the views," Luke said.
"In summer, it just totally opens up... It's kind of like a big camping site really.
"It's really comfortable and kind of like living outdoors in summer.
"But in winter, we've got double-glazing on all those, so we get sun right into the space and it warms it up."
The project is essentially complete, with some landscaping left to do. It's now Luke and his family's place of residence.
Mr Novotny said the Otford project was a "representation of where our company is looking to take our architecture in the local area".
The company is the Illawarra-based Gong Architecture, a collaboration with co-director David Macready.
They attended high school together at Edmund Rice College, and later crossed paths again at the University of Technology Sydney.
About two years ago, they launched the Gong Architecture firm.
They have collectively worked for some of Australia's most respected architectural firms on a variety of project types, both locally and abroad.
This has included Mr Macready's work to help rejuvenate Wollongong's oldest house, the 1844 mansion named 'Keera Vale'.
The house was featured on ABC TV's Restoration Australia in 2015, and is a regular source of curiosity for passing motorists.
"The owners really fell in love with the place, and didn't want to just go in and spend a heap of money, and fast-track it," Mr Macready said.
"They worked at it over time, which is great because there weren't any existing documents to know exactly what it looked like.
"There's only a couple of photographs, so we recreated that visually as an artist's impression.
"It turned into a long journey."
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