Pattern, Contingency and Lifestyle

The Houses of Troppo Architects

Jessica Hsiao-Li Huang

B. Arch Studies, B. Arch (Hons)

A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy
School of Architecture and Built Environment
Faculty of the Professions
September 2016
 PATTERN, CONTINGENCY AND LIFESTYLE: THE HOUSES OF TROPPO ARCHITECTS

Dedication

This work is dedicated to:

Those who are passionate about a simple way of life

It is hoped that this thesis will contribute to our appreciation of how architecturally designed spaces can
bring delight into everyday experience.

And

Environmental concerns

In search of sustainability, it is also hoped that this study will heighten the concerns that we ought to
have for the design of our fragile living and built environments.

And

My family

My father who sadly passed away before the submission of this thesis once taught me the perseverance
and determination to achieve dreams in life, despite unexpected difficulties and challenges the life
throws at me. My mother, who never doubts my ability, always displays her faith in the intention of my
studies although she has no clue what they are for and how they can be useful for building a better world
tomorrow. My two boys, who have spent most of their weekends in my office showed their support and
belief in my hunch about the fruitful outcomes of this study and how they might influence the ways that
people understand the use of everyday space and live life to its fullest!

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Contents

Dedication……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. ii
Contents………………………………………………………………………………………………………… iii
List of figures………………………………………………………………………………………………….... vi
List of tables……………………………………………………………………………………………………. xii
Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………………………….xiii
Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………………………….....xv
Statement of Originality and Agreement……………………………………………………………………xviii
Statement of authorship……………………………………………………………………………………….xix

PART 1 THE BEGINNING

Chapter 1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………… 1
1.1 Background…………………………………………………………………………………………. 3
1.2 The Significance of Troppo Architects……………………………………………………………. 5
1.3 Research Questions……………………………………………………………………………….. 25
1.4 Aims and Objectives……………………………………………………………………………….. 27
1.5 Theoretical Framework……………………………………………………………………………. 28
1.6 Research Methodology……………………………………………………………………………. 30
1.7 Structure of the Thesis…………………………………………………………………………….. 32
Chapter 2 Literature Review………………………………………………………………………………………….. 33
2.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………. 34
2.2 Patterns……………………………………………………………………………………………... 36
2.2.1 Definition of pattern…………………………………………………………………..... 38
2.2.2 Pattern and design process…………………………………………………………… 38
2.2.3 Pattern and their sources…………..…………………………………………………. 42
2.2.4 Pattern, shape grammars and styles……...………………………………………..... 44
2.3 Contingency………………………………………………………………………………………… 48
2.3.1 Definition of contingency………………………………………………………………. 49
2.3.2 Contingency, institutional and social contexts………………………………………. 49
2.3.3 Contingency and Critical Regionalism……………………………………………….. 52
2.3.4 Contingency and sustainability………………………………………………………… 55
2.4 Values……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 57
2.4.1 Definition of value………………………………………………………………………. 58
2.4.2 Anthropocentric approaches to ethical values……………………………………..... 59

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2.4.3 A general ethics of the built environment…………………………………………….. 62

2.5 Summary…………………………………………………………………………………………….. 66
Chapter 3 Research Design and Methodology…………………………………………………………… 67
3.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………. 68
3.2 Three Stage tactics……………………………………………………………………………….. 71
3.3 Scope and limitations…………………………………………………………………………….. 72
3.4 Research methods………………………………………………………………………………... 74
3.4.1 Case study……………………………………………………………………………… 75
3.4.2 Observation…………………………………………………………………………….. 77
3.4.3 Exploratory Interview…………………………………………………………………… 78
3.5 Summary……………………………………………………………………………………………. 82

PART 2 THE JOURNEY 1980 ~ 2014

Chapter 4 Identifying Patterns……………………………………………………………………………….. 84
4.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………. 86
4.2 The contexts of the Top End……………………………………………………………………… 89
4.2.1 Climatic conditions and the built environments in the Top End………………….… 89
4.2.2 Social structure and cultural references……………………………………………… 92
4.3 Source of contemporary reference to Troppo’s work………………………………………….. 98
4.4 Aspirations for design principles, theory and methods…………………………………………. 105
4.4.1 Backyard Architecture………………………………………………………………….. 106
4.4.2 Architectural hedonism…………………………………………………………………. 109
4.4.3 Greater-than-the-indoors-will-ever-be-outdoors……………………………………… 110
4.4.4 The tenth line for verandahs and inside-outside…………………………………….. 111
4.4.5 The improvisation of forms…………………………………………………………….. 114
4.4.6 The instrumental ordering of spatial experience……………………………………... 115
4.5 A Pattern Language for a Gone Troppo lifestyle…………………………………………………. 118
4.5.1 Flirting with symmetry…………………………………………………………………… 125
4.5.2 Hard and soft space…………………………………………………………………….. 130
4.6 Summary…………………………………………………………………………………………….. 150

Chapter 5 Five Case Studies…………………………………………………………………………………. 153

5.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………. 154
5.2 The expansion of Troppo practice……………………………………………………………….. 158
5.3 Darwin: Mortlock Residence, Howard Springs, Northern Territory…………………………… 164
5.3.1 Troppo language in the Mortlock Residence………………………………………… 168
5.3.2 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………. 190
5.4 Townsville: Connell Residence, Magnetic Island, Queensland……………………………….. 193
5.4.1 Troppo language in the Connell Residence…………………………………………. 204
5.4.2 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………. 220
5.5 Adelaide: Russell Residence, Torrens Park, South Australia…………………………………. 222
5.5.1 Troppo language in the Russell Residence………………………………………….. 227

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5.5.2 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………. 244

5.6 Byron Bay: Hutchinson Residence, New Brighton, New South Wales……………………….. 247
5.6.1 Troppo language in the Hutchinson Residence…………………………………….. 252
5.6.2 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………. 270
5.7 Perth: Howell Residence, Applecross, Western Australia…………………………………….. 272
5.7.1 Troppo language in the Howell Residence………………………………………….. 276
5.7.2 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………. 296
5.7 Summary……………………………………………………………………………………………. 299

PART 3 INTERCONNECTIONS
Chapter 6 Troppo Language, Contingency and Responsive Cohesion…………………………….. 301
6.1 Overview……………………………………………………………………………………………. 302
6.2 Patterns of response to place……………………………………………………………………. 303
6.2.1 Place: the expansion of practice…………………………………………………….. 304
6.2.2 People: partnerships, additions of in-house architects and wealthy clients…….. 317
6.2.3 Construction technology and building regulations…………………………………. 327
6.3 Contingency in response to issues…………………………………………………………….. 331
6.3.1 Social organization…………………………………………………………………… 333
6.3.2 Cultural expression…………………………………………………………………… 335
6.3.3 Economic structure…………………………………………………………………… 338
6.3.4 Sustainable design……………………………………………………………………. 339
6.4 Like-minded values and attitudes………………………………………………………………. 342
6.4.1 Mentoring versus survival……………………………………………………………. 343
6.4.2 Interconnections and disconnection in design collaboration……………………… 347
6.5 Value and attitude by effect and experience…………………………………………………… 348
6.6 Summary………………………………………………………………………………………….. 350
Chapter 7 Conclusions……………………..………………………………………………………………... 353
7.1 Coherent form-patterns…………………………………………………………………………. 355
7.2 Effect of the differences and similarities……………………………………………………….. 357
7.3 Troppo values and attitudes……………………………………………………………………. 360
7.4 The journey from 1980 to 2014………………………………………………………………… 362

Appendix A ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 365

Journal Article……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 366
Appendix B ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 378
Interview Questions…………………………………………………………………………………………. 379
Appendix C ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 388
Interviews……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 389
References and Bibliography ……………………………………………………………………………………. 391

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List of figures

1. An invitation for a farewell party ……………………………………………………………………. 1

1.1 An invitation for the relocation-opening of Troppo office in Darwin ……………………………….. 4
1.2a The job record up to 1990 ……………………………………………………………………………… 6
1.2b The Troppo poster ………………………………………………………………………………………. 8
1.2c The Tour Map of Darwin Troppo houses …………………………………………………………….. 9
1.2d The articles about the housing development in Palmerston and Bowali Cultural Centre ……… 11
1.2e The collective photographs of Troppo’s residential and commercial projects ……………………15
1.2f The images of Rozak House and Thiel House ………………………………………………………16
1.2g Welke’s sketches of houses ………………………………………………………………………….. 17
1.2h Harris’s sketches of proposed house design and streetscape ……………………………………. 17
1.2i The news article about Welke’s expedition to Antarctica ………………………………………….. 19
1.2j The map of Troppo’s journey around Australia in 1978 …………………………………………... 20
1.2k The sketch of Tyto Wetlands Community …………………………………………………………… 24
1.3 The diagram for an overview of the research process …………………………………………….. 26
1.4 The diagram for the procedure of the research …………………………………………………….. 27
1.6 The diagram for an overview of research methodology …………………………………………... 31
1.7 Harris’s sketch of random streetscape ………………………………………………………………. 32
3.1 The diagram for an overview of theoretical framework, research methodology & methods …….70
3.2 The diagram for 3 stages of the research ……………………………………………………………. 71
3.4 The diagram for the process of conducting research methods ……………………………………. 76
4.1a The sketch of The Shelter Numberline ………………………………………………………………. 86
4.1b A collection of old photographs and sketches of indigenous huts, shelter and houses ………… 88
4.2.1a The Australia map and a climate diagram of Darwin ……………………………………………… 91
4.2.1b The diagrams of wind roses and sun paths of Darwin ……………………………………………. 92
4.2.2 Harris’s sketches of J.G. Knight’s bungalow …………………………………………………….......95
4.3a The covers of ‘Influences in Regional Architecture’ & ‘Punkahs & Pith Helmets’ ………………. 99

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4.3b The images of Troppo’s early news articles and a conference paper ……………………………102
4.3c The collection of articles and a poster for a public talk …………………………………………… 104
4.4a The illustrations of Troppo’s four design principles for tropical house designs ………………… 106
4.4.1a Welke’s sketch of a shed as an inspiration for designs ………………………………………… 107
4.4.1b The images of newspaper articles about backyard architecture ………………………………. 108
4.4.2 The sketches of the 1980s Troppo houses ……………………………………………………….110
4.4.3 The conceptual sketches for explaining the relationships between nature and houses ……..111
4.4.4a The sketches of the tenth line theory ……………………………………………………………... 112
4.4.4b The sketches and photographs of local and the 1980s Darwin Troppo houses ……….......... 113
4.4.5 Harris’s sketches and photographs of the Cape du Voltigeur House, South Australia …………..115
4.4.6 Harris’s conceptual sketches for section designs and floor plans …………………………….. 116
4.5a The sketches of Troppo’s first commissioned unbuilt house ……………………………………119
4.5b Nineteen elevation drawings of the 1980s Darwin Troppo houses …………………………….120
4.5c Designing symmetry with a hint of asymmetry patterns on elevations ………………………...121
4.5d The drawings for the analysis of communal and private spaces ……………………………….123
4.5e Nineteen floor plans of the 1980s Darwin Troppo houses ……………………………………. 124
4.5f The sketches of the colonial farmhouse design of the early Darwin houses ………………….125
4.5.1a The sketches for the transformations of forms of the Coleman House ……………………….. 126
4.5.1b The sketches for the transformations of forms of the Lawler House ………………………….. 126
4.5.1c The sketches for the transformations of forms of the Gettings House …………………………127
4.5.1d The sketches for the transformations of forms of the Green Can House ……………………...127
4.5.1e The sketches for the transformations of forms of the Butcher House ………………………….127
4.5.1f The sketches for the transformations of forms of the Draper House ………………………….. 128
4.5.1g The sketches for the transformations of forms of the Pitt House ……………………………….128
4.5.1h The sketches for the transformations of forms of the Gerovich House ……………………….. 128
4.5.1i The sketches of irregular forms of the floor plans ……………………………………………….. 129
4.5.1j The sketches of the courtyard design concept of the Hazeldine House ………………………..129
4.5.2a A general connectivity graph of the 1980s Darwin Troppo houses ……………………………..131
4.5.2b Rectangular and non-rectilinear forms of the 1980s Darwin Troppo houses …………………. 132
4.5.2c Verandahs added to bedrooms in the design of the 1980s Darwin Troppo houses …………..133
4.5.2d Three representations of symmetrical, asymmetrical and hybrid forms in geometry ………… 133

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4.5.2e Four types of the floor plan designs of the 1980s Darwin Troppo houses ……………............ 134
4.5.2f 3-dimensional models of the 1980s Darwin Troppo houses ……………………………………. 135
4.5.2g A collection of on-site photographs of the 1980s Darwin Troppo houses ……………………..137
4.5.2h A flight of stairs as a feature of the design of the 1980s Darwin Troppo houses ……………..138
4.5.2i The photographs of the Jarvis Lawler House ……………………………………………………. 141
4.5.2j The photographs of the Kaiplinger House ………………………………………………..............142
4.5.2k The photographs of the Green Can House ………………………………………………………. 142
4.5.2l The alternative use of verandahs ………….……………………………………………………….143
4.5.2m The alternative use of under house spaces ………….…………………………………………...144
4.5.2n The distinctive architectural features of the 1980s Darwin Troppo houses …………………... 145
5.3a The construction models and built work by McNamara ………………………………………… 166
5.3b The entrance and verandah at rear of the Mortlock Residence, Darwin ………………………167
5.3.1a The structure and form of the verandah of the Mortlock Residence, Darwin ………………… 168
5.3.1b The structure and form of the roofs of the Mortlock Residence, Darwin ……………………… 170
5.3.1c The new water feature of the Mortlock Residence, Darwin …………………………….............171
5.3.1d The connectivity graph of the Mortlock Residence, Darwin ……………………………............ 172
5.3.1e The floor plan of the Mortlock Residence, Darwin …………………………….......................... 173
5.3.1f The central axis of the Mortlock Residence, Darwin ……………………………....................... 174
5.3.1g The hierarchy in spaces of the Mortlock Residence, Darwin …………………………….......... 176
5.3.1h The open indoor and outdoor spaces of the Mortlock Residence, Darwin …………………… 176
5.3.1i The steel structure and building detailing for spatial experiences within spaces …………….. 178
5.3.1j The double-height spaces and transparency of the external walls …………………………….. 180
5.3.1k The views from outside in and inside out …………………………………………………………. 183
5.3.1l The surrounding landscape and observatory for wildlife …………………………………………184
5.3.1m The semi-open bathroom ……………………………………………………………………......... 185
5.3.1n The leisure and lifestyle ……………………………………………………………………………. 188
5.3.1o The use of spaces and the content of the residents ……………………………………………. 190
5.4a Clark’s sketches for the design concept of cruciform ……………………………………………...194
5.4b Posters of Clark’s design of contemporary Troppo houses in Townsville ……………………... 195
5.4c The diagram of Townsville annual temperatures and rainfall ……………………………………. 196

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5.4d Onsite photographs of contemporary Troppo houses on the Magnetic Island, Townsville …... 197
5.4e Clark’s conceptual section and floor plan drawings …………………………………………......... 197
5.4f O’Toole’s built work and a design proposal for a house ………………………………………….. 200
5.4g 3D models of the preliminary design of the Connell Residence, Townsville …………………..203
5.4.1a The entrance, balcony and verandah of the Connell Residence, Townsville ……………......... 206
5.4.1b The connectivity graph of the Connell Residence, Townsville …………………………………. 207
5.4.1c The floor plan of the Connell Residence, Townsville ……………………………………………. 208
5.4.1d The relationships between interior spaces and verandah ………………………………………. 210
5.4.1e The locations and numbers of en-suite bathrooms …………………………………………........211
5.4.1f The use of verandah space …………………………………………........................................... 212
5.4.1g The fixed and minimal openings …………………………………………................................... 213
5.4.1h The hidden trail for the exclusivity of the house ………………................................................ 214
5.4.1i The covered up structure and a mix-use of materials............................................................. 216
5.4.1j The framed view by a fixed size window ………………........................................................... 218
5.4.1k The absence of banks of windows ……………….................................................................... 219
5.5a The diagram of Adelaide annual temperatures and rainfall …………………………………….. 225
5.5b The existing structure defined the configuration of the Russell Residence, Adelaide ……….. 226
5.5c The form, texture, design and settings of the Russell Residence, Adelaide ………………….. 227
5.5.1a The outside-in experience in the living room ……………………………………………….......... 229
5.5.1b The connectivity graph of the Russell Residence, Adelaide ………………………………........ 231
5.5.1c The floor plan of the Russell Residence, Adelaide …………………………………………........ 232
5.5.1d The symmetrical form with a hint of asymmetry in the design of floor plan ………………....... 233
5.5.1e Shared and alternative use of private space …………………………………………………...... 234
5.5.1f Maximizing the use of circulation space ……………………………………………………..........235
5.5.1g The clear views to the entrance and backyard ……………………………………………….......236
5.5.1h The surroundings and changing natural settings …………………………………………………238
5.5.1i The beautiful warm feeling of the living space …………………………………………………… 241
5.5.1j The use of the advanced design technologies in place ……………………………………........243
5.6a The home office of the regional director in Byron Bay ………………………………………….. 248
5.6b The diagram of Byron Bay annual temperatures and rainfall ……………………………………250
5.6c The built work, and the collaborative and award-winning mixed-use building in Byron Bay …251

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5.6.1a The design of contemporary Troppo townhouses in Byron Bay ……………………………......252

5.6.1b The design form and natural settings of the Hutchinson Residence, Byron Bay …………….. 254
5.6.1c The slatted timber walls for the entrance and hallway ………………………………………...... 255
5.6.1d The connectivity graph of the Hutchinson Residence, Byron Bay …………………………….. .256
5.6.1e The floor plan of the Hutchinson Residence, Byron Bay ………………………………………. . 257
5.6.1f The transition space and semi-open hallway………………………………………………......... 258
5.6.1g The symmetry and repetition in the design of floor plan ……………………………………….. 258
5.6.1h The hierarchy in spaces ……………………..…………………………………………………….. 259
5.6.1i The transparency and open spaces within a monolithic box ……………………..……………. 261
5.6.1j The outside-in and inside-out experiences ……………………..……………………………….. . 263
5.6.1k The open access to nature and outdoor activities ……………………..……………………….. 265
5.6.1l The privacy offered by nature and its geographic settings ……………………..……………… 266
5.6.1m The style and context of the neighbouring houses ……………………..……………………… 268
5.7a The new home office of Adrian Welke in Perth ………………………………………………….. 273
5.7b The initially suggested house for the case study ………………………………………………... 275
5.7.1a The modern design of the Howell Residence for a wealthy lifestyle ………………………….. 277
5.7.1b The modern design of the Howell Residence for a wealthy lifestyle ………………………….. 277
5.7.1c The connectivity graph of the Howell Residence ………………………………………………... 279
5.7.1d The neighbouring housing styles …………………………………………………………...…….. 280
5.7.1e The scale and construction methods of the housing projects in the area ……………………. 281
5.7.1f The floor plans of the Howell Residence, Perth …………………………………………………. 283
5.7.1g The controlled circulation within enclosed spaces ………………………………………………285
5.7.1h The hierarchy in spaces shown in the design of split levels……………………………………. 286
5.7.1i The minimal architectural hedonism in the design of enclosed indoor spaces ………………. 288
5.7.1j The visual experience of an alternative hedonist lifestyle through transparency ……………. 290
5.7.1k The use of marble as an expression of a desirable lifestyle for the residents……………….. 292
5.7.1l The modern lifestyle with the order of hard surfaces and minimal landscape ………............ ….293
5.7.1m The heavily use of air-conditioning for maximum indoor comfort ……….............................. 295
6.2.1a The 16 design vocabulary elements of the Troppo language ………..................................... 308
6.2.1b Skillion roofs as a distinctive expression of contemporary Troppo houses ………………….. 314
6.2.1c The missing features in the design of Connell Residence……………………………………… 316

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6.3.2 Construction techniques used in the design of the 1980s houses …………………………….336
6.4.1 The image of Troppo as drinking man’s architects ………..................................................... 344

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List of tables

5.3.2 Comparison made between the language and the Mortlock Residence design …………....192
5.4 Design approaches between former and current directors in the Townsville office ……….. 203
5.4.2 Comparison made between the language and the Connell Residence design ……………. 221
5.5.2 Comparison made between the language and the Russell Residence design …………….. 246
5.6.2 Comparison made between the language and the Hutchinson Residence design …………271
5.7.2 Comparison made between the language and the Howell Residence design ………………298
6.2.1a Comparison made between the language and five contemporary houses …………………. 310
6.2.1b Comparison made for the contexts between 1980s Troppo and five contemporary
houses…………………………………………………………………………………………………….....312
6.2.2a The engagement and experiences of five regional directors with Troppo ………………......320
6.2.2b The engagement and experiences of the regional directors with clients ………………........324
6.2.2c The dynamics between five regional directors and clients in the processes ……………….. 325
6.2.3a The design of contemporary Troppo houses in response to climate, technology & clients’
daily activities …………………………………………………………………………………………….....329
6.3.1a The relationships between local development, design responses and social interaction of
the clients with neighbouring houses ………………………………………………………………........334
6.3.2a Recap on the Troppo’s construction practice and methods for the design of the 1980s Troppo
Darwin houses …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 338
6.4.1 Connections between indoor comfort and the numbers of rooms …………………………... 346

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Abstract

Troppo Architects, a multi-award-winning practice originally established in Darwin in the tropical Top
End of Australia in 1980, has long been regarded as a leader among a small vanguard of Australian
architects focused on climatically responsive design. Over a period of three decades, founding partners,
Phil Harris and Adrian Welke, grew and incrementally expanded the practice to five regional offices –
Darwin, Townsville, Adelaide, Byron Bay and Perth – across Australia. Whilst the practice has had to
adapt in order to address and respond to a greatly expanded range of both climatic and socio-cultural
variations in context, it has continued to attract outstanding critical acclaim including a Global Award for
International Sustainable Architecture in 2010 and the Gold Medal of the Australian Institute of Architects
(AIA) in 2014. How this design practice has succeeded in sustaining its own internal cohesion through
such a process of major organisational growth and change while it has also sustained its capacity to
respond effectively to context and clients’ needs in a distinctive and exemplary manner, is the
multifaceted question explored in this thesis.

The study focuses exclusively on Troppo’s single family houses. It investigates how residential designs
from the regional offices in the decade up to 2014 relate to the ideas and values that Harris and Welke
espoused in their first decade of practice in Darwin. Through a theoretical framework that engages this
work with concepts of pattern language, contingency, and responsive cohesion between designs and
their physical and psychological contexts, the study offers insight into relationships between Troppo’s
design ideas, their values, and their attitudes to space, place, culture, and the quality of delight in
environments for everyday living. Fieldwork-based and centred on a cluster of comprehensive case
studies, the methodology also includes extensive interviews with both the architects and the residents
of the houses in question, formal analysis of original design documentation as well as the built and

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occupied houses, observation of design processes within the different regional Troppo offices, and the
most thorough examination yet undertaken of the archives of the Troppo practice.

PART 1 presents an initial historical overview of the Troppo practice, the aims and objectives of the
research, and a review of the relevant literatures underpinning the theoretical framework and
methodologies to be applied. PART 2 first discerns and describes a pattern language that is observed
to have emerged from a corpus of Darwin houses designed and built in the first decade of the Troppo
practice, through the 1980s. Identifying visually distinctive patterns in plan or form for particular spatial
functions as well as psychological spaces associated with particular sensory experiences, the thesis
reconstructs the original contexts and design reasoning in and through which these patterns were first
explored. Representative houses designed and built by each of Troppo’s regional offices in the past
decade (up to 2014) are then examined in a series of five comprehensive case-studies. These map the
relationships between these later houses and Troppo’s early residential commissions in Darwin. PART
3 then discusses the similarities and differences between the respective formal languages of these
regionally dispersed cases and the early houses with respect to the broader theoretical foci and the
framework of the study (pattern, contingency, responsive cohesion). The thesis concludes with a brief
overview of the key findings of the study and their implications for contemporary architectural practice
and education, and for further research in those sub-fields.

The thesis shows how the design of Troppo’s houses reflects a process of cohesion between architects
and owners around shared values and aspirations for delight in the spaces within houses and for
experiencing close links with nature. It also reveals the critical importance of mentoring in the
relationships between Harris and Welke, the regional directors and their clients. It also shows how the
practice has negotiated conflict between its values and the realities of commercial practice in diverse
regional offices with changing client expectations, code requirements and building costs.

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Acknowledgements

I have had a great passion for computational visualizations and generative design since I was an
architecture student. The ‘unseen’ and ‘unheard’ creative design ideas formed in design processes had
always been the most curious human activity in my academic training, teaching and working in the
architectural field for almost two decades. Productivity, speed and visual representations of design were
matters in the early years. The more time I spent working on quantity and visual aspects of architecture,
the farther I found myself away from grasping the truth to my curiosity as to what was the ‘something’
that made architecture meaningful, aesthetically striking and functionally satisfactory for the user of
spaces. Furthermore, what it is in the space of a building that influences the way the user lives and
works with delight on a daily basis. This ‘something’ has been elevated to become the impetus of this
study and set a course to seek, unravel and examine those ‘unknowns’ in the design process of
architects.

With enormous gratitude, this study would never have been accomplished without the assistance and
support of many people who participated, engaged and spent a substantial amount of time with me over
the years. Their enthusiasm, encouragement, and anticipations for the completion of this study were the
power sources for me to dive deep, travel far and arrive at the destination of this long voyage of what
that ‘something’ is making us to live our lives to its fullest.

My supervisors, Emeritus Professor Antony Radford and Dr. Peter Scriver, have given me their faith in
the depth and significance of this study right from the beginning. Their supervision, assistance, advice,
and friendship have given me strength, different perspectives and approaches in search of ways to
reach the aims and objectives of this study.

Professor Phil Harris and Adrian Welke, the founders of Troppo Architects, have been incredibly
supportive throughout the time of this study. Their generous time was most appreciated in responding
to my enquiries about their practice, assisting to collate crucial first-hand materials, setting aside time

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 PATTERN, CONTINGENCY AND LIFESTYLE: THE HOUSES OF TROPPO ARCHITECTS

for interviews in their busy schedules and offering the contacts of the clients. My personal gratitude has
to go to my classmate and now a branch director of Troppo Architects in Adelaide, Cary Duffield. He
has shown and opened the ‘unseen’ door to understand Troppo’s practice culture, the details of
everyday life inside of Troppo practice, pros and cons on the practicality of Troppo’s principles and
theory. He was the first-point in contact for the associated stakeholders and made time for discussions
explaining questions and uncertainty about the operations and processes of projects.

Former Darwin director, Greg McNamara, who tragically passed away in a motor accident two weeks
after my visit in 2011, stimulated me with most valuable thoughts about changing policy and
environmental concerns in the climate of current practice. His passion for architecture and kind
personality was appreciated deeply by driving me around to visit early Troppo projects and engaging
with me in insightful discussions a month before the tragedy took place. My thanks are extended to
Townsville director, Terry O’Toole, and former in-house architect Aftab Khamisa and Zammi Rohan,
former Byron Bay manager Dan Connolly, former Townsville director Geoff Clark, and senior architect
in Adelaide branch Damien Guerin for their generous time in discussions and providing materials for the
major part of this thesis – five case studies.

Without the sincerity of the occupants of early and later Troppo houses, this thesis would not have gone
deep into understanding the meaning of everyday life by living, experiencing and profoundly engaging
with the work of Troppo Architects. Their verbal descriptions and body language demonstrate the
‘feeling’ they received from and grew with the house and its surrounding landscapes over time. Many
thanks also go to the occupants of early Troppo houses and neighbours in Coconut Grove, Darwin for
their enthusiasm in participating in interviews and allowing house visits.

I am particularly grateful to personal support from many individuals along this long journey. Without their
encouragement, support and assistance in many different ways, this thesis would not have been
accomplished. Foremost is Dr. Kate Cadman, who constantly showed me her faith in my research and
generously offered me an enormous amount of time editing this thesis with advice and an eye for
mistakes in my writings. Individuals are my dear colleagues and friends, Dr. Vanessa Menadue, Vivien
Ho, Dr. Marwa El-Ashmouni, Martin and Ruth Nordstrom, Dr. Bill Mihalopoulos, Helen Low, Dr. Gerry

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 PATTERN, CONTINGENCY AND LIFESTYLE: THE HOUSES OF TROPPO ARCHITECTS

Groot, Mansoor Ma, Robert Caprile and many others. Special thanks are extended to them for their
mental support, friendships, and inspirational conversations at the difficult times of this study.

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 PATTERN, CONTINGENCY AND LIFESTYLE: THE HOUSES OF TROPPO ARCHITECTS

Statement of Originality and Agreement

This thesis contains no material which has been accepted for an award or any other degree or diploma
in any university. It is the best of the candidate’s knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material
previously published or written by another person, except where due reference is made in the text of
the thesis.

One journal article was completed and published during the candidature of the PhD with my supervisor
Emeritus Professor Antony Radford as the second author in 2013. The quotations and illustrations by
other authors and media have not been included in the body of this thesis unless stated in the text
otherwise.

I consent to the thesis being made available for photocopying and loan if accepted for the award of the
degree. The interviews with the associated stakeholders have been conducted with consent that
recordings, transcripts and quotations would only be used in the thesis and academic publications in
the future. Any quotations and/or use of graphic images, photographs, sketches and working drawings
of selected case studies will need explicit permission from them.

Jessica Huang

Date:

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PATTERN, CONTINGENCY AND LIFESTYLE: THE HOUSES OF TROPPO ARCHITECTS

xix
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Chapter 1
Introduction

This research began with my passion and curiosity to

understand the relationships between architects’
thinking and lived everyday space. I wondered
whether architectural design could actually enhance
emotional investment and attachment to lived space
over time. Specifically I was interested in what
qualities architects bring to the design of aesthetically
compelling houses, and how such architecturally
designed domestic spaces and structures effect the
experience of everyday living in them. The argument
Figure 1. This is the sketch drawn by Phil Harris, that emerges from this research is that architectural
the Co-founder of Troppo Architects. It expresses design does have the power to change the way that
the informality of Australian everyday living at the
Top End in the tropics. Date unknown. occupants experience space and the habitual
patterns of daily activities that they unconsciously perform within such spaces, and that these changes
can be potent. By altering the relationships between people, place, and nature that constitute lived
environments and mould the occupants’ behaviour, their attitudes to the socially constructed world may
be re-shaped as well. This research has sought, therefore, to address these seemingly intangible
experience-effects of architectural design, and how the spaces it creates can give new meaning to
everyday routines and lifestyles. To do so it examines a body of work and the design thinking and
processes of an award-winning Australian architectural practice noted for the design of distinctive
houses and dwelling experiences that are responsive to both their immediate natural surroundings and
less tangible qualities of regional culture.

This practice is the collective known as Troppo Architects (hereinafter referred to as Troppo). This thesis
– Pattern, Contingency and Lifestyle: The Houses of Troppo Architects – concentrates in particular on
how the ethos of the Troppo practice – its values, principles and methods – is materialised in the making

1
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

of pattern forms, and how their understanding about climates and regional culture has contributed to the
distinctive quality of their evolving designs over the past three and half decades, through contingencies
and the changing circumstances of an expanding practice that now operates across Australia and
overseas. This research has aimed, therefore, to reveal factors underpinning Troppo Architects’
sustained and widely-recognized success. Their body of residential work is closely and critically
examined as a case-study of how the quality of lived spaces is manifested through everyday experience
the occupants gained within the Troppo houses, and connections they built with landscapes and the
world. Through this inquiry into the architectural substance of the delightful lifestyles that Troppo strives
to create and offer to their clients, the meaning and ‘worthiness’ of what architects do ‘for others through
their works’ 1 may thus be better understood.

1Richard Saul Wurman, What will be has always been: The words of Louis I. Kahn (New York: Access Press and Rizzoli,
1986), 121.

2
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

The subject of this research is the private houses of Troppo Architects, a residential-focused practice
initially based in the tropical climate of Darwin, Australia. Troppo has been situated at the forefront of
innovative architecture in Australia for the last thirty-four years. It is the recipient of numerous awards,
including the highest and the most prestigious architectural award in Australia – the Gold Medal of the
Australian Institute of Architects – in 2014. Their status as one of Australia’s leading architecture firms
in residential practice has led to numerous requests for architectural services from government housing
authorities, public and private organizations and private business owners, as well as individuals. Troppo
has also designed a wide range of commercial projects in Australia and overseas such as cultural
centres, schools, multi-storey medium density housing developments, cultural heritage restoration
projects, restaurants, holiday resorts and hotels, a mixed use multi-storey project and Aboriginal
community-based projects. Now, as of 2015, Troppo has five regional offices scattered around Australia
in Darwin, Townsville, Adelaide, Byron Bay (now Byron Bay/Sydney) and Perth, in chronological order
of establishment.

Troppo Architects has been the subject of many publications in newspapers, architectural construction
magazines, national and international periodicals, academic journals and books. The early award-
winning buildings built in Darwin have become icons of tropical design in Australia. Most previous
research on Troppo has focused either on their iconic buildings or the contribution of the practice to the
design of a sustainable built environment. In contrast this study focuses on Troppo’s values for a
responsible practice, and the experience-effects of the distinctive form and volume they bring to the
design of domestic space on the everyday living of occupants. It investigates experience-effects from
an occupant’s perspective, looking closely at how his or her experience of lived everyday space is
influenced by Troppo’s particular design ethos and value-based approach to the making of architectural
form. It also investigates the consistency of Troppo’s design principles and methods, as well as the
cohesiveness of the designs they have produced over more than three decades of practice, focusing on
two themes in particular: how Troppo responded to the diversity of Australian regional sub-cultures, and
to immediate environmental concerns (see Figure 1.1).

3
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Figure1.1 This is the invitation for the relocation-opening of Troppo Architects’ office in Darwin (drawing date
unknown). The composition of images and texts displays their playful attitude with a hint of informality (two
crosses) as well as architectural rigor through the sketch, the proportion, layout and scale of the image and texts.
Long-thin form elements on each side (the images of Troppo flag, the office, and two trees behind their office)
implicitly express their design principles for incorporating nature and a subtle suggestion of their passive design
in long-thin-space concepts.

4
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.2 The Significance of Troppo Architects

The early residential work of Troppo in Darwin was at the centre of a controversial debate in the 1980s
involving their revival of lightweight construction methods and vernacular character of their architecture.
The background to the debate was Cyclone Tracy which wiped-out eighty-percent of Darwin’s houses
in 1974 and still remained a devastating psychological trauma for the local residents a decade later.2
Troppo responded to the rebuilding of Darwin with a revival of regional vernacular architecture and with
innovative compositions of geometry, form and materiality. This revival prompted two extreme voices in
a public display of ‘love or hate’ reactions in the local newspaper. 3

Vernacular architecture in the Top End is often characterised by its lightweight structure, locally available
materials (corrugated iron and timber) and simple geometrical form (a linear and rectangular shape)
which reflects economic situations and social development, the preferred lifestyle and needs of
‘Northerners’ for ‘their easy-going manner, friendliness and parochialism’ 4 at the time. After a decade of
designing tropical houses with a contemporary version of this Top End vernacular architecture, the
founders of Troppo, Adrian Welke and Phil Harris, earned the respect of the local public through media
exposure in news columns and public addresses about their voluntary services to the Northern
Territory’s cultural heritage 5. Their ‘hybrid’ vernacular architecture was well-received regionally with over
six hundred residential projects of various scales (extensions, renovations and house projects are shown
in Figure 1.2a) completed in their first decade (1980-1990) of practice. Welke and Harris also won two
open competitions: best design for low-cost housing competition with The Green Can House (1981);
and, in 1990, in collaboration with the local architect Danny Wong of Speargrass Architects, the best
design for a low-energy residential house, The Troppo Type Five. As more recent scholarship has
observed, Troppo was gaining a reputation as a ‘young and avant-garde practice that was breaking

2 The information about Cyclone Tracy is taken from Bureau of Meteorology,

http://www.bom.gov.au/cyclone/history/tracy.shtml viewed on 28th March, 2014.
3 One of the residents of the early Troppo Houses emphasized this relationship in the columns of the local newspaper in

the early 80s.

4
In her book, Australian Architecture Since 1960, Jennifer Taylor points out that climate is always a primary consideration
in the design of buildings for the north. ‘Northerners’ as they call themselves as a distinctive group differs from the
‘Southerners’ because ‘the north has a regional heritage in architecture of a delightful unself-conscious style admirably
suited to local needs’. Jennifer Taylor, Australian Architecture Since 1960 (Canberra: The Law Book Company, 1968), 116.
5 The co-founder of Troppo, Adrian Welke, received a National Trust award in 1992 for more than a decade of voluntary

service with architectural advice on heritage structures. ‘Adrian also took a leading role in saving the Myilly Point Heritage
Precinct’ (Northern Territory News, 1992 according to Troppo’s own record).

5
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

cultural boundaries’ with their alternative housing models attuned to the tropical north lifestyle and the
‘influence of the Anglo-Asian Bungalow’. 6

Figure1.2a This
image displays the
record of residential
jobs that Troppo
Architects were
commissioned to
design for private
clients over a period of
ten years in Darwin up
to job 624 in 1990. This
record was found in
their office in Perth
during the field work in
2010.

Two milestones of Troppo’s early work were a Troppo poster and a Tour Map. The Troppo poster (Figure
1.2b) summarised the diversity of tropical housing design in the first decade of their practice. 7 The Tour
Map (Figure 1.2c) showcased the variety in design of Troppo houses built in and around Darwin. The

6David Bridgman, The Anglo-Asian Bungalow, PhD thesis (Melbourne: RMIT University, 2006), 386.
7
‘The poster was a product of a few beers PH and I (Welke) had one night in the (Darwin) office after viewing the Russell
Hall poster. We did not want to be out done by him!’ This was Welke’s unexpected response regarding the copyright of the
poster for the journal article in the phone interview on 7 April, 2014.

6
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Tour Map not only promoted the distinctive features of Top End lifestyles that characterised Troppo
houses at the time but also served as an educational tool for academics, design professionals and the
general public about using a regional architectural design to express the diversity of multi-cultural Darwin
and as a means to embrace the climate and environment of the Top End by incorporating the
surrounding flora and fauna into the dwelling rather than isolating the residents from their environment.
The ‘climatic sense’ and ‘high visual interest’ of Troppo’s design approach also attracted attention in
contemporary academic research. 8 Some 1980s Troppo houses were used as exemplars of a Northern
regional style of Australian Architecture in important publications, such as Housing, Dwelling and
Homes 9 by Roderick Lawrence (1987), Australian Architecture since 1960 10 by Jennifer Taylor (1986),
Building a Nation: A History of the Australian House 11 by John Archer (1987), A Pictorial Guide to
Identifying Australian Architecture: Styles and Terms from 1788 12 to the present by Richard Apperly,
Robert Irving and Peter Reynolds (1994), A History of European Housing in Australia 13 edited by Patrick
Troy (2000) and the most recent The Encyclopedia of Australian Architecture 14 edited by Philip Goad
and Julie Willis (2012). Collectively, these publications described and characterised the visual features
of the early Troppo houses – in form, structural detailing, materials and architectural elements – as a
recognizable expression of the Tropical architecture of the Top End. Yet, with the important exception
of Goad’s work (to be discussed in greater detail below), few of these broader studies had scope to
consider Troppo’s design philosophy, values and attitudes closely, or their impact on the quality of space
and the occupants’ associated feelings, behaviours and psychological states.

8 One of the residents of the early Troppo Houses emphasized this relationship in the columns of the local newspaper in
the early 80s.
9 Roderick Lawrence, Housing, Dwelling and Homes: Design Theory, Research and Practice (Chichester: John Wiley &

Sons Inc, 1987).

10 Jennifer Taylor, Australian Architecture Since 1960 (Canberra: The Law Book Company, 1968).
11 John Archer, Building a Nation: A History of the Australian House (Sydney: Collins, 1987).
12 Richard Apperly, Robert Irving and Peter Reynolds, A Pictorial Guide to Identifying Australian Architecture: Styles and

Terms from 1788 (Pymble, N.S.W.: Angus & Robertson, 1994).

13 Patrick Troy, A History of European Housing in Australia, eds (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000).
14 Philip Goad and Julie Willis, The Encyclopedia of Australian Architecture, eds (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,

2012).

7
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Figure1.2b This Troppo poster marked the significance of the first decade of the Troppo practice, mimicking the
design of a well-known poster of the 1980s celebrating the work of Andrea Palladio’s poster. (ca. 1990. The exact
date the poster was produced has not been recorded)

8
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Figure1.2c The Tour Map produced by Troppo illustrates a cluster of representative Troppo houses built in and
around Darwin between 1980 and 2000.

Troppo’s practice widened when several medium-density housing projects were commissioned by the
Federal Government’s Defence Housing Authority (DHA) in the early 1990s at Palmerston, Northern
Territory, The Larrakeyah Army Barracks in Townsville, North Queensland, and the naval base HMAS
Coonawarra in Darwin, Northern Territory. Through other commissioned projects, Troppo also had an
opportunity to work with Indigenous Australian communities. Observing Aboriginal lifestyles and
communicating with them deepened Troppo’s understanding of lived everyday space in the Australian
outback. Troppo has always had a deep sense for both the designers’ imperative to provide ‘shelter’
and to respect the spirit of the building site and its natural surroundings. 15 In 1990 the Troppo Type Five
House (also known as the Tropical House) won the Tropical House Design Competition for a public 3-
bedroom-house specifically built for an affordable lifestyle in the Top End. Significantly, the Troppo Type
Five house received formal recognition for its innovative design incorporating an authentically tropical
lifestyle centred on ‘living on a verandah’. 16

By the start of the twenty-first century, due to the on-going success of their practice, the expression of
“Going Troppo” was no longer just Australian slang for going crazy in the tropical heat and humidity. In
architectural practice, “Going Troppo” stood for ‘flexible designs for Top End lifestyles’ 17 and became

15 Philip Goad, Troppo: Architecture for the Top End (Balmain: Pesaro, 2005), 41.
16 This similar design of including a verandah as internal living and sleeping space can be seen in the Inside-outside House
built in Milikapiti in 1990.
17 Northern Territory Construction, February/March (1993), 14-15. Author is unknown.

9
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

associated with ‘low costs more style’, 18 ‘good living possible using less energy’, 19 ‘responsive
housing’, 20 and ‘defending a house up on stilts’. 21 Combined, such catch-phrases were defining the
emerging ethos of the Troppo practice (figure 1.2d).

The second decade of Troppo’s practice (1990-2000) was characterised by a wider variety of materials,
colours and patterns in their designs for residential buildings commissioned by the government and
private clients, as well as a growing number of commercial projects. Relative to the tropical housing
designs of the first decade, this shift was distinctive, particularly in the design of elevations, detailing,
layouts and volumes. During this period, drawings, photographs and publications about Troppo’s work
also became more widely and regularly available to academics, professionals, builders and the general
public because of the recognition of their work by a number of national and international awards.
According, their work was the subject of many local newspaper columns, citations and references, as
well as articles in national and international periodicals (Figure 1.2d). This media coverage indicated a
growing appreciation of the scope and distinctive qualities of a ‘contemporary regional architecture of
considerable strength and beauty’. 22

18 A local Northern Territory Newspaper article was found in the Perth office and the published date was unknown.
19 It is the special feature supported by National Energy Conservation Program on The Northern Territory News, May 1983.
Author is unknown.
20 Phil Harris and Adrian Welke, The Star, April (1981), 19.
21 Ibid, 20.
22 This is one of the jury comments made by John Morphett for Troppo’s Special Jury Award (RAIA) for the contribution of

their entire body of work to date in the Northern Territory, from an article appearing in Building Today (1992), 27.

10
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Medium density of Tropical housing development at An article about Troppo’s first

Palmerston (middle image), Larrakeyah Army Barracks, collaborative design project - Bowali
RAAF Base, and HMAS Coonawarra in Darwin Cultural/Visitor Center

Figure1.2d The article (Left) published in the local construction magazine, Northern Territory Construction, is
about Troppo’s first government commissioned project for a medium density housing project. Published in
February/March 1993. The other article (Right) published in the Darwin Construction Journal covers Troppo’s first
collaborative project with the renowned Australian architect, Glenn Murcutt, Bowali Cultural/Visitor Centre at
Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory. Published in February 1995.

During this time a large heterogenous assortment of archive material reflecting the Troppo design
attitudes and approaches was collected. This material was not made available to the public and was
later stored primarily in Welke’s Perth office and partially in Harris’s Adelaide office. This archive material
includes a substantial number of early sketches on various subjects: local buildings in the Northern
regions of Australia; landscapes; and random details of miscellaneous ‘stuff’, such as broken chairs,
bicycles, pots of plants; and people in informal places (airplanes, in corners of random sitting places);
party invitations; flyers and posters for a public speaking series; photographs and computer models of
their built work. Among these documents are written materials advocating the importance of preserving
regionally iconic and cultural heritage, which were published in newspapers and local media in the 1980s
and 1990s. There is also a portfolio containing Troppo’s residential and commercial projects in the
1980s, 1990s and 2000s in metropolitan regions, suburban contexts and remote areas of Australia.
National and international competition entries are also found in a collage of computer-simulated 3-

11
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

dimensional models, together with hand-drawn sketches and a narrative of the objectives and aims
relative to the selection criteria for these competitions.
From this archive material, it is clear that there was a visual development in respect to the design,
quantity and types of projects that Troppo undertook. The first decade of Troppo practice (1980 – 1990)
was a time for incubating new interpretations of Top End Australian architecture and the characteristics
of tropical houses.

‘There weren’t many jobs around at the time when we started our practice. We kept ourselves
busy by going around the community and drew some sketches and chilled out with some beers
in the heat (chuckling) after work in the late afternoon. This quiet period of our practice gave us
time to think about what we really do as architects and what architecture means…apart from
providing shelter.’ (Interview with Welke at the Perth office in 2010)

In the second decade between 1990 and 2000 Troppo embarked on an ambitious expansion by setting
up regional branches and designing houses set within very different environmental conditions to
Australia’s tropical north. The highlight of Troppo’s practice was well captured in the design themes
identified by Philip Goad in his monograph, Troppo: architecture for the Top End, about their twenty
years of work that will be discussed in detail later. The third decade (2000 – 2010) saw Troppo’s further
commitment to interpersonal relationships and connections with private and public clients. They
constantly customised their design strategies to suit the needs of local communities, aiming for sincere
interpretation of the regional culture and adopting advanced construction methods to minimize the
physical impact of their architectural designs on the immediate environment. During this third decade,
versatile forms, Troppo-resemblant structures and specific use of design elements were consciously
developed to highlight the practicality of distinctive features for regionally specific environments across
Australia.

The versatility of Troppo’s design principles and methods over these three decades can be seen in a
body of residential, commercial and institutional work that includes government commissioned projects
as well as privately-owned residential and commercial buildings of various scales and types. The scales
range from single-family houses to medium-density private and public housing projects, and from
community schools to art centres, hotels, shops and restaurants. Many of these projects have been
received positively for their aesthetic appearance, functionality of space, open structures and details,
passive design for achieving sustainability, and their expression of regional characteristics associated

12
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

with climate, cultural identify and surroundings. Prominent projects include Lavarack Barracks medium-
density housing in Townsville (North Queensland), community housing in Arnhem Land (Northern
Territory), Pee Wees restaurant in Fanny Bay (Northern Territory), the Top End Hotel in Darwin
(Northern Territory), Bowali Cultural/Visitor Centre in Kakadu (Northern Territory), Tyto Wetlands
Cultural Centre in Ingham (North Queensland), Marrkolidjban Outstation School in Arnhem Land
(Northern Territory), a mixed-use shopfront and accommodation in Byron Bay (Northern New South
Wales), Nganampa Aged Care facility in Alice Springs (Northern Territory) and Whitmore Square
medium-density apartments in Adelaide (South Australia) (Figure 1.2e). Most of these projects won state
and national awards in the categories of Residential and Commercial Practices. 23 As commissioned
projects they offered Troppo the opportunity to evolve their design principles and methods for diverse
climatic conditions, site scenarios and surroundings. The same projects also exposed Troppo to the
challenges of working with tight budgets, and the spectrum of complex issues architects have to deal
with when working with a wider cohort of clients (community users, Australian Aboriginals, government
servants and army officers, the general public), and associated stakeholders such as engineers,
contractors, planners, service consultants and retail businesses. Most importantly, Troppo adopted ‘the
best of both worlds’ 24 approach, with sophisticated and smooth negotiation skills allowing them to
present an easy-going attitude towards their clients. This attribute allowed them to establish productive
relationships, both personally and professionally, with the people with whom they worked. Flexibility and
being able to listen to the concerns of others became a significant factor in Troppo’s ability to build long-
term associations with their clients, who in turn spread the word of Troppo’s positive work ethics,
environmental-centred designs, and the good quality of their service.

23 These awards include Sustainability Awards, Urban Design Award, Public Architecture Award, People’s Choice Award,
Multiple Housing Award, John Chappel Award, Robin Boyd Award, Winner of Adelaide Affordable Eco-housing
Competition, Winner of Thuringowa City Council’s Climate Responsive Design Competition, both State and National RAIA
Sustainable Architecture Awards, and the National RAIA Award for Commercial Buildings. These awards are listed on
Troppo’s official website http://www.troppo.com.au/awards2-1/.
24 The description of ‘the best of both worlds’ was seen in the design work document of the 1980s Darwin Troppo houses.

The both worlds was referring to human (man-made) and environmental (natural) worlds. A good design of houses could
be achieved by adopting both passive and active design principles.

13
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1. Lavarack Barracks Medium-density housing 2. Community housing in Northern Territory

3. Bowali Cultural/Visitor Centre, Kakadu

4. Marrkolidjban Outstation School, West Arnhem Land

14
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

5. PeeWees Restaurant 6. Tyto Wetlands Cultural Centre 7. A mixed-use Urban Shopfront

8. Top End Hotel 9. Nganampa Aged Care facility 10. Whitmore Square Apartment
Figure1.2e The collective photographs display the diversity of Troppo’s work in residential and commercial
design at a larger scale

During the period between 1990 and 2013, two houses, the Thiel House (1996) and Rozak House (2002)
(Figure 1.2f) which were built on the outskirts of Darwin, drew a lot of local, national and international
attention to Troppo’s tropical architecture and environmentally responsive features. These two houses
were featured in foreign language magazines such as Le Monde in French, and Casabella, Corrado
Gavinelli and Ville Giardini in Italian.

15
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Prior to receiving national and international success, Troppo published numerous conference papers
and regional newspaper articles. These early publications are significant as they emphasise Troppo’s
core belief in creating an ecologically responsible practice. In particular, they elaborate the need for the
cultivation of an architectural design specifically for the tropical lifestyle, climate and landscape settings
of the Northern Territory. They also express Troppo’s enthusiasm and commitment to preserving the
diverse vernacular architecture in the Northern Territory by identifying the multi-cultural influences which
inspired residential building types in the region. After 1990, their second decade of practice, Troppo
became preoccupied with work on the government commissioned projects, and had limited time to
publish. Nevertheless, they did author a series of articles in Architecture Australia in 1998 and in again
2002. From 2010, there was a significant shift in Troppo’s public engagement with both Harris and Welke
presenting lectures, public addresses, radio interviews and public exhibitions.

Thiel House 1999,

Cullen Bay,
Northern Territory
Courtesy of Troppo

Rozak House 2002,

Lake Bennett,
Northern Territory

Figure1.2f Rozak House (Left) wins 2 state and 2 national awards including RAIA Sustainable Architecture
Award in 2002. Thiel House (Right) wins 2 state and 1 national commendation award in 1999.

Many of Troppo’s writings and presentations have received little attention and analyses. The early
conference papers laid the foundations for Troppo’s environmentally responsible practice. Sadly these
papers are not easily available to the general public, professional practitioners and design students.
Troppo’s concerns for architecture that embraces the Australian lifestyle, the preservation of regional
culture, and sustainable and environmentally friendly architectural design have remained at the heart of
their ethos.

16
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Evidence silently resides in random sketches which capture their philosophy through the representation
of the serenity of natural landscapes and their buildings, the imperfections in the composition of
everyday objects, and the natural interactions between people in a space. These sketches are crucial
to the comprehension of Troppo’s design philosophy and values for everyday living. Troppo’s Perth
office, and to a lesser extent the Adelaide office, hold an extensive collection of these early sketches.
The common feature of the sketches is the harmonic cohesion between dwelling, inhabitants, objects,
nature and the physical world. Taken together, they show the intention to delineate the co-existence, in
a harmonious relationship, between man-made objects and natural elements (Figure 1.2i & 1.2j).

Figure 1.2i Welke’s sketches display a neat drawing style of clean and acute precision in his observation. His
innate feelings are infused through his lines for a calm and contented way of life. (Date of the sketch on the left
is unknown)

Figure 1.2j Harris’s sketches display a vivid drawing style that is able to portray the informality and simplicity of
imperfections in life and relations between man-made objects, natural elements and the surroundings. (Drawing
dates unknown) Their passion for retaining the beauty of regional cultures and the harmony of local environments
is heard in their conference papers, lecture talks and public addresses which are yet to be studied in depth.

17
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

A monograph Troppo: Architecture for the Top End, by Philip Goad (text) and Patrick Bingham-Hall
(photographs), published in 1999 and revised in 2005, is the primary publication which offers relevant
and chronological descriptions and analyses of Troppo’s work. Goad details Troppo’s background,
practice history, and contributions to sustainable architecture up to 2005. Special attention is paid to
descriptions of Troppo’s concepts for their award-winning projects and the summary of ‘a series of ideas’
developed over twenty years of Troppo practice as design themes25 that can be seen as general
guidelines for design professionals, academics and architecture students. These themes were ‘hearing
the rain’, ‘transported materials’, ‘house as compound‘, ‘Bali bathroom‘, ‘nature in the Territory, looms
larger than man‘, ‘the adjustable skin‘, ‘the natural chimney‘, ‘the inside-outside house‘, ‘a house is…‘,
and ‘the tenth line‘26 with a brief interpretation of each theme. They were important because through
these ten themes, Goad draws connections between the narrative of some recognisable Troppo
buildings, and their philosophy for adopting natural phenomena as sources of design ideas, and their
responses to natural environments and the social behaviour of inhabitants. Goad also elaborates the
early journey of the Troppo founders to the Top End of Australia, the ups and downs as they dispersed
their practice in different regions of Australia, their active participation in heritage protests, and their
particular interests in expanding vernacular architectures on a global scale by participating in institutional
design projects and competitions in Asia and the Pacific region. The range of these projects extends
from holiday resorts, commercial and school projects, to an expedition to restore the hut of Australian’s
greatest polar explorer Sir Douglas Mawson located at Cape Denison on Commonwealth Bay, the winter
base station for the Australasian Antarctic Expedition of 1911-1914. (Fig 1.2g Northern Territory News
2002).

25Philp Goad, Troppo: Architecture for the Top End (Sydney: Pesaro Publishing, 1999), 83.
26To Goad, these ten themes were design thematic constants which he also included in another book, New Directions in
Australian Architecture. Philip Goad, New Directions in Australian Architecture (Balmain: Pesaro Publishing, 2005), 243 –
246.

18
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Figure1.2g Adrian Welke’s expedition helped to

preserve the Australian explorer Douglas Mawson’s hut
in Antarctica in 2002. The hut which was built in 1912 is
located at Cape Denison, 3000 km south of Hobart,
Tasmania. It has significant historical value and was
described by Mawson as ‘the home of the blizzard’ (NT
news 2002) which date was unknown.

Troppo’s story began in 1978, as Goad recounts, when Phil Harris and Adrian Welke took a study tour
with two classmates, James Hayter and Justin Hill, as part of their final year course requirement in
architectural studies at the University of Adelaide. In that year, the four young men from the southern
state spent five months travelling in a Volkswagen Kombi van around Australia exploring the regional
identity of small inland and coastal towns in remote areas (Fig 1.2h). On their journey, they observed
the everyday living of townships, the social interaction and activities of regional communities, and began
recording and noting the relationship between diversity in landscape and diverse types of historical and
contemporary buildings. They produced a documentary report, Influences in Regional Architecture,
illustrating the significance of the vernacular architecture of different regions in Australian contemporary
architecture at the time. This report elaborated the heterogeneous architectural remnants and building
types in rural communities, which was a response to the different climates and diversity of flora and
fauna around coastal and inland areas of Australia. Arguably, it became an important social and cultural
document as it revealed ‘the historical architecture of the Australian tropics’. 27

27Philip Goad, “2014 Gold Medal: Environmental fit”, Architecture Australia, Vol 103, no.2, March (2014). (Accessed online
and viewed April, 2014)

19
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Figure 1.2h The map shows Troppo’s adventurous journey around Australia in 1978.

Another important research report, Punkahs & Pith Helmets: Good Principles of Tropical House Design,
was published by Troppo in 1982. This report continued Harris’ and Welke’s exploration of design
principles and methods for building tropical housing in the Top End. It focused on the fundamental logic
of following the sun paths, wind directions and orientation on site (fans and rotary vents) to maximize
the level of human comfort for indoor and outdoor spaces. Goad points out that invitations for project
opportunities from the Top End coincided with an economic recession in Adelaide which prompted them
to set up their practice in Darwin. Goad mentions that the nickname of ‘Troppo’ conveyed the idea of
‘southern yobbos’, in mockery of their appropriated tropical design methods and particularly of their
attempts to restore multi-cultural and diverse traditional architecture after the destruction caused by
Cyclone Tracy. Nevertheless, as Goad’s descriptive accounts show, Troppo started their Darwin
practice with a clear sense of the imperatives to pursue sustainable and climate-responsive design.

20
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Although it does not explicitly mention Troppo’s ‘hedonist’ attitude, Goad picks up Troppo’s sense of
humour as being ‘an intrinsic element of the practice’. 28 This attitude was the main driver for the
manifestoes of Troppo’s affections, initiatives and innovations regarding tropical house designs. A
hedonist is understood as ‘a person who believes that the pursuit of pleasure is the most important thing
in life; a word for a pleasure-seeker’. 29 The significance of this attitude is addressed in their publication:
A Hedonist Handbook for Full Enjoyment of the Elements in The Australia and New Zealand Association
for the Advancement of Science ANZAAS Conference in Townsville in 1987, which cleverly capitalises
on ‘Troppo’ mockery to draw a crucial link between tropical climate, Troppo’s design methods and a
distinct and fun hedonistic lifestyle. Significantly, public perception of Troppo’s ambition to create distinct
tropical Top End architecture changed from mockery to respect when they started to win government
commissioned projects. At the same time, Troppo’s innovative designs, and structures engineered for
strength, stability, durability and cyclone-resistance directly addressed local fear of cyclones, floods and
other natural hazards that punctuate life in the Top End. A noticeable changing attitude by members of
Top End local communities is seen in their steadily increasing demand for Troppo houses and the
hedonist-lifestyle in the tropics that they were designed to experience.

Goad and Bingham-Hall’s monograph provides a straightforward illustrated narrative of Troppo’s history,
showing the architectural fabric, built forms, spatial planning and visual imagery of significant Troppo
houses up to 2005. The book offers the visual experience of Troppo’s composite system as well as an
exploration of Troppo’s design features, rich materiality, visual-tectonic representations of steel
framework, configurations of design elements, and the passive design strategies for cross ventilation
and natural lighting incorporated in the design. It also throws light on the general social dimension of
Troppo’s work in expanding their practice regionally, while a key theoretical contribution of this book was
to highlight Troppo’s concept of the ‘tenth line’.

“Behind all of these strategies is Troppo’s notion of the tenth line. When one draws a solid cube
in axonometric or isometric, nine lines are required to represent that cube in three dimensions.
To draw a tenth line across any of the cube’s corners is to immediately imply transparency to the
volumetric system. This is an intrinsic design philosophy for Troppo. Their architecture obviates

28 Philp Goad, Troppo: Architecture for the Top End (Sydney: Pesaro Publishing, 1999), 11.
29 The definition of this word, hedonist, was defined and used from the Oxford English Dictionary in 2012.

21
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

the need for examining the idea of the open frame and potentially unenclosed volumes. Space is
extendible and also infinitely adjustable – if one allows the addition of the tenth line.” 30

In the format of a relatively concise monograph, however, Goad and Bingham-Hall did not have scope
to address the cultural dimension of Troppo’s work in depth, or its responses to changes in business
management, practice culture, design methods, building regulations, and the diversity of needs and
requirements of clients. Another significant aspect of the work that has yet to be closely studied is the
observable evolution in the typical Troppo plans and design features over the years. These include the
use of under-house space in moderate climates, multi-functional living verandahs, the concept of shared
space, the dynamics of spatial sequencing between indoor and outdoor spaces, and the psychological
effects of spatial experience on the occupants in accordance with the diverse social, cultural, economic
and environmental contexts of regions. The existing literature also offers little insight into the highly
significant influence of place, people and circumstances on the development of Troppo’s design
approach, most notably in the nuances of design elements, the adaptation of Troppo practice culture
through new partners and in-house architects, and the noticeable signs of changing values across
regional offices.

Considering previous visual documentation and analyses of the work, Bingham-Hall’s evocative
photographs in his collaborative monograph with Goad, have primarily display Troppo’s proclivity for
lightweight construction and use of local material in response to conditions of climate, site, and
landscape. These include distinctive examples of Troppo’s idiosyncratic design elements such as the
Bali bathroom and courtyard of Thiel House, and the twisted mono-pitched roof forms of Rozak House,
which offer readers a visual understanding of variations in the houses. However, in the text
accompanying these photographs there is little explanation of how the forms relate to Troppo’s
endeavour to draw connections between functions of space, their ethical values for sustainability, and
the sense of people’s belonging and their everyday activities over time. For example, the incorporation
of the complete openness of the Bali bathroom demonstrates a different approach to the semi-open
bathroom of early tropical houses. A further dynamic transformation is seen in the evolution of roof-

30 Philip Goad, Troppo: Architecture for the Top End, 84.

22
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

forms from their early work using traditional gable-roof forms to the rounded roof of Barkus House, to
the pyramid of Troppo Type 5.

While Goad and Bingham-Hall’s seminal monograph is an invaluable foundation for further research
that offers an insightful understanding of ‘a coherent sequence of events’ 31 through which the Troppo
office was established and subsequently expanded, its scope does not extend to how Troppo have
developed the diverse design forms of their houses, or their ways of interacting with clients and engaging
with social events (academic and professional), the normality of their sustainable practice, and the
cultural immersion strategies that Troppo have integrated in developing their office culture in a multi-
branch practice.
Other publications on Troppo’s work have been written almost exclusively from a professional
perspective (by academics, researchers, architects and design critics), focusing on functionality,
materiality, architectonic structure and detail, and aesthetics of form. However, multiple other potentially
significant perspectives on the work – including those of Troppo’s regional directors, in-house architects,
clients and the occupants of Troppo houses – have, so far, remained unexamined if not overlooked.

‘Irreverent but sophisticated, inventive with a tinge of larrikin spirit’, 32 was the jury that awarded the
partnership the 2014 AIA Gold Medal described their work. Troppo’s profound influence on the design
principles, theory and practice of architecture in Australia (Figure 1.2k) has yet to be fully explained and
understood.

31 Carlo Ginzburg, trans John Tedeschi and Anne Tedeschi, "Clues: Roots of an evidential paradigm," Clues, Myths, and
the Historical Method (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989), 96-125.
32 The citation of the 2014 Gold Medal awarded by the Australian Institute of Architects addresses the distinctive features

of Troppo’s approach specifically to the online publication of Australian architecture.

http://www.architecture.com.au/docs/default-source/act-notable-buildings/winners_webcontent.pdf?sfvrsn=0. (Viewed on
28th March 2014)

23
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Figure 1.2k This sketch is for a multi-use cultural precinct with a restaurant and multi-purpose centre at Tyto
Wetlands Community, Queensland. The lightweight appearance of the building gently blends into the
surrounding landscape. Sketched by Harris and collected at the Perth office in 2010.

24
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.3 Research Questions

The research questions for this study focus on the intangible factors that have influenced Troppo’s
practice over three decades and across five regions in Australia. A design philosophical approach is
taken to explore the peripherals of the ‘unknown’ design processes of Troppo’s work in order to better
understand their ideas and values. Seeking the character and meaning of the design of Troppo houses
of specific times in specific regional contexts helps make sense of why their work is significant in terms
of understanding the evolving form-patterns needed to express the diversity of Australia’s cultural
contexts. Identifying the nuances of form-patterns provides an indication of Troppo’s observations of a
vast range of geographical settings and variations of building policy in response to the dynamics and
variations of the Australian lifestyles that are associated with different climates and times.

One primary research question is identifying the intangibles that shape the design of Troppo houses
over time. That is

How do the designs of houses from Troppo Architects’ five regional offices in the decade up
to 2014 relate to the ideas and values Harris and Welke espoused in their first decade of
practice in Darwin from 1980?

Sub-questions are proposed in terms of looking at the design features of the early and contemporary
Troppo houses and ascertaining the process of changes in design principles and design form. These
questions are intended to go beyond the aesthetic appeal of architectural elements. They seek to
uncover the affect of design on individual’s everyday experience of space and how design reorientates
his and her relation with place, cultural identity, and surrounding landscape. The sub-questions are
1. What are the principal coherent patterns in the designs of houses in Troppo’s first decade
(1980-1990) of practice in Darwin?
2. What are the nuances and similarities of design features over the course of Troppo’s
thirty-four-years of practice between the opening of the Darwin office and the set of five
regional offices that were operating in 2014?

25
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

3. How do the designs of houses reflect the architects’ values and attitudes in response to
everyday living, cultural references, climate and site conditions?
4. What can be learnt from the designs of Troppo houses that is relevant to contemporary
house design?
1980 - 1990

The design
of houses

Figure 1.3 This diagram offers an overview of the process for seeking the objectives of this study.

26
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.4 Aims and Objectives

In searching for the answers to the research questions, this thesis aims to:
• reveal the intangibles embedded in the ideas and values Harris and Welke espoused in
the first decade of practice, and how their ideas and values have been expressed and
operationalised by regional partners and in-house architects in the process of
contemporary housing design;
• identify the configurations of form patterns for a language and distinctive features in the
designs of Darwin houses in the first decade;
• distinguish nuances and similarities of design features between the first Darwin singular
operational practice and five regional practices (2014), and identify their approaches for
dealing with circumstances, climate zones, the unity of cultural practice, the diversity of
client groups, policy changes, and the invention of new technologies and construction
methods over time;
• show interconnections between Troppo’s and partners’ values and attitudes to creating
an everyday lifestyle that reflects regional expressions of cultural significance, climate-
responsiveness, and a reciprocal relation with nature and built environments in harmony;
• offer lessons for creating adaptable and flexible designs with a potentially personalised
style and design elements from design patterns of Troppo houses.

Examining the
Ideas relations
between
Troppo house
designs,
circumstances
Seeking the affect of Troppo’s form-patterns as the and
Values aim of this thesis responsive
cohesion

Figure 1.4 This diagram displays Troppo’s ideas and values to achieve the aims and objectives.

27
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.5 Theoretical Framework

The theoretical framework is developed and based upon three concepts: patterns, contingency and
responsive cohesion (RC) (Figure 1.4). These concepts are explored in Christopher Alexander’s A
Pattern Language (1974), Jeremy Till’s Architecture Depends (2009), and Warwick Fox’s A Theory of
General Ethics: Human Relationships, Nature and the Built Environment (2010). In combination, they
offer a basis for grasping the connections between dynamics of spatial arrangements and changes of
social patterns; an insight into the impacts of uncertainties on architects’ decision making processes,
and the influences of stakeholders in contingent architectural practice; and a general understanding on
the relational qualities of things, people and their internal and external relationships. This theoretical
framework intends to draw links between philosophical theory in practice and the life - work of early and
later Troppo houses. The purpose is to highlight the relevance and correlations between the pragmatic-
based theory of pattern language and the distinctive characteristics of Troppo houses, influences of
circumstances and the changes of architects’ values and attitudes; and responsive cohesion as a
general theory for a way by which people should live and the core of Troppo’s design philosophy for an
everyday lifestyle in response to place, people and sustainability.

The theoretical framework is divided into three stages in accordance with these three concepts. Stage
One emphasizes Alexander’s approach to the adaptability and consistency of a pattern in design
process. His theory of ‘a pattern language’ assists in examining a cluster of early Troppo houses built in
Darwin in the first decade from 1980 to 1990, seeking to identify patterns in form, spatial arrangement,
material and detailing. Stage Two is developed from Till’s recognition of opportunity amongst the ‘mess’
typical of architectural practice. Till’s ‘mess’ is the term he uses to describe the combination of tangled
issues of external dependencies (people, geographical, ecological and political contexts) and influences
on the decision-making of design processes as they engage in practice. It is used as a tactic to
investigate changes and developments between the features of early Troppo houses built in the 1980s
and contemporary regional houses built between 2003 and 2014. Stage Three applies Fox’s
foundational value of responsive cohesion to examine values and relationships amongst Troppo’s
responsibility as architects, the character of Troppo houses, the meaning of their design features, and
their integration of site, local community, building regulations, technology and issues of sustainability in
contemporary architectural practice. As a whole, this framework provides a basis for unravelling

28
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Troppo’s pattern-forms in the distinctive style of their practice, for examining the intangibles in relation
to their evolving design features in response to changing climate, constraints and circumstances, and
for drawing interconnections between intangible reasoning and tangible design elements, and verifying
Troppo’s goals as responsible architects for a better quality of living through rigorous and ambitious
architecture.

29
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.6 Research Methodology

The methodology concentrates on qualitative research as this study focuses on real-world situations,
human responses and life-quality experiences in the design of Troppo houses. Research methods are
adopted to capture personalised perspectives, identify the events and activities of specific
circumstances, and investigate the physical and psychological experiences of the study participants
without judgement. Case study, exploratory interview and empirical observation are the main research
methods. The case study offers an opportunity to look at a corpus of Troppo houses from a specific
timeframe at a detailed level. Interviews provide multiple-perspectives on the issues, events and
circumstance of the time by the participants. The setting of an interview gives the interviewee a chance
to describe the situations and reflect their thoughts. This particular method enables the researcher to
comprehend the reasoning behind the physical outcomes of the projects and grasp the considerations
and concerns for the design decisions taken during the design processes. Observation involves the
researcher taking notes to understand the responses of the participants (Troppo partners, in-house
architects and clients/occupants) to the questions put to them in an environment of their choosing such
as their work place or their own home.

Figure 1.6 illustrates the flow and interrelationships between the body of Troppo’s life-work, the literature
review and the three research methods. The characteristics and strategies of these methods will be
elaborated in Chapter 3.

30
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Figure 1.6 An overview of research methodology

31
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.7 Structure of the Thesis

The structure of the thesis offers a narrative

on Troppo’s singular practice in Darwin and
its development into five linked regional
offices. It examines their design processes
chronologically to identify changes in design
approach, development in architectural
ethos, and the significance of the coming-
and-going of members in their regional
offices. The thesis is divided into three parts
with seven chapters to highlight the
important elements, sources of information,
Figure 1.7 This sketch implicitly depicts the imagery
of a peaceful lifestyle as a Utopia that inspires events and findings.
Troppo to create lightness, simplicity, tranquillity
and calmness in harmony with nature
PART 1 comprises chapters 1, 2 and 3 and
presents an initial historical overview, research aims and objectives and a review of relevant literatures
underpinning the theoretical framework and methodology. PART 2 comprises chapters 4 and 5. Chapter
4 explores the pattern language within a corpus of Darwin houses in Troppo’s first decade of practice.
A language consists of form patterns for functional physical space and psychological spaces associated
with sensory and spatial experiences. Chapter 5 describes and analyses representative houses from
each of Troppo’s five regional offices, mapping the links between them and Troppo’s early Darwin
houses to identify the similarities to and differences from the early pattern language. PART 3 comprises
chapters 6 and 7, and presents a discussion of the findings and the conclusions of the research. The
factors that generate the differences are discussed in Chapter 6 where some influential themes and
impactful factors on design decision-making are revealed. Finally Chapter 7 draws the conclusions in
relation to the discovery of interconnections between Troppo’s values and attitudes, the designs of
houses, spaces for everyday living, other ‘things’ and their contexts, with some final comments on the
wider relevance of Troppo’s work to contemporary architectural practice.

32
 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

Chapter 2
Literature Review

Chapter 1 reviewed the relatively limited literature on Troppo and their projects. Chapter 2 expands the
discussion in an overview of some relevant design literature that presents perspectives on how
architects shape this socially constructed world through physical forms. Contemporary studies have
analysed architects’ approaches and design responses for dealing with daily circumstances, exploring
the attitudes and values to which architects give priority in shaping an everyday-architecture that
connects place, people, things and the rapidly changing environments of life experiences today. This
chapter focuses on three domains of design discourses: patterns in form-making, contingency in
architecture, and the concept of responsive cohesion as an aspect of architects’ ethical values.

33
 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction
‘A design process is a perpetual discovery.’ 33 It is a journey for exploring infinite possible solutions to
evolving problems. Every architectural design solution tangles with changing challenges associated with
a large and diverse range of human-environment issues: the integration of technology and advanced
building materials; the functionality of space and the aesthetic appeal of form; social implications, cultural
interpretations in relation to context; building regulations and codes; and economic means. Design
professionals encounter these challenges as they are ‘fundamental to one’s being’ in relation to the
‘uncertainty, contingency and vulnerability’ of everyday life. 34 In the book of Jeremy Till, Architecture
Depends, uncertainty and contingency characterise the ‘mess’ that he calls the tangle of issues that
design professionals have to address with discipline, order and a set of core values and skills in the
everyday world of their work. 35 In doing this, architects seek to make space and form in buildings both
utilitarian and psychologically satisfying. Christopher Alexander points at an essential ‘quality without a
name’ 36 that makes even the humble work of architecture more than just the production of a practical
structure. Alexander’s concept may be compared with the relational quality described by the
environmental ethicist, Warwick Fox, in which there is responsive cohesion between the components of
‘things’, and ‘things’ and their context. 37 Both these concepts point to an integral relationship between
design and a way of life, embracing the wholeness of the inhabitants, site, place and the built environment.

To identify useful conceptual tools with which the present study may explain the interconnections
between Troppo’s stimuli, design processes, and values in response to everyday life, this chapter
examines these three key works – Christopher Alexander’s A Pattern Language: Buildings, Towns
Construction, Jeremy Till’s Architecture Depends, and Warwick Fox’s A Theory of General Ethics – as
the foci for a broader review of other relevant design literature. The intention is to assemble an effective
theoretical framework in which connections between the meanings of daily living in space and the

33 Dana Cuff, Architecture: The Story of Practice (Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 1991), 94.
34 Randall Teal, "Immaterial Structures,” Journal of Architectural Education 62, no. 2 (2008),14-23.
35 Jeremy Till, Architecture Depends (Cambridge, Mass: MIT press, 2009).
36 Christopher Alexander, The Timeless Way of Building (New York: Oxford University Press, 1979).
37 Warwick Fox, A Theory of General Ethics: Human Relationships, Nature and the Built Environment (Cambridge, Mass:

MIT Press, 2009).

34
 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

comprehensive theories associated with formalism, critical regionalism, humanism, and utilitarianism
can be examined and explained.

35
 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.2 Patterns

Patterns are ubiquitous, especially in design and daily activities of a human life. They offer a sense of
order, growth of connections, and possibilities of innovative combinations. In A Pattern Language:
Towns, Buildings, Construction, the architect and academic Christopher Alexander argues that the
concept of pattern in design is built upon ‘a fundamental view of the world.’ 38 It represents a sense of
social network, the natural structure of a growing organism, a recurring form of motifs and actions.
Patterns are implicitly and explicitly generated by a set of rules in form and event to which we seem to
pay no attention. They are inevitably integrated in every aspect of human lives, with the process of
generating them being embedded in behaviours and actions that dominate daily routines and the
creative activities that they comprise. Patterns are woven into everything we do in this rich tapestry of
life, in processes of dreaming, thinking, making, designing and living – that is of being. Alexander’s
conception of patterns is similar to Neil Stillings’ representation of knowledge through semantic
networks, frames, scripts and the production of rules from a cognitive science perspective. 39 Both
Alexander and Stillings emphasize the quality of order in a sequence of events. The notion of rule-based
representations is apparent in the sense of situation-action behaviour in creating a pattern and in
generating an elaborate chain of ‘scripts’ or ‘frames’. The situation-action behaviour is driven by
reasoning about things from everyday life. 40

Phil Harris refers to Troppo’s ‘Alexandrian love affair’ suggesting their indebtedness to the works of
Christopher Alexander, to whom they referred in one of their public lectures hosted by the Australian
Institute of Architects (or Royal Australian Institute of Architects, as it was called in the 1990s) in
Melbourne in September 1990. 41 In the title of the notes of Polemic Lectures Humpty Darwin sat on a
Wall: The Teetering Times of an Outback City, Harris and Welke addressed the ‘rotten hard life on the
edge’ in Darwin as being an unstable entity requiring abandoning the old and devising the new after the

38 Christopher Alexander, Sara Ishikawa, and Murray Silverstein, A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1977),12.
39 Neil Stillings, Mary Anne Ramirez, and Laura Wenk, "Assessing critical thinking in a student-active science curriculum,"

In meeting of the National Association of Research on Science Teaching, Boston (1999).

40 Neil Stillings, Steven Weisler, Christopher Chase, Mark Feinstein, Jay Garfield, and Edwina Rissland, Cognitive Science:

An Introduction (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1987).

41 Harris presented a speech in which he argued the significance of learning the built forms and structures of the historical

buildings in response to the natural setting of a city and the forming of a community.

36
 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

effect of Cyclone Tracy. To both the Troppo founders, a house provides more than is generally
understood as the basic need for shelter provided by physical boundaries in contemporary urban living.
A house should offer inhabitants freedom, transparency, security, privacy and connections with nature,
wildlife and all elements of the living environments as a whole. Their perceptions resonate with
Alexander’s proposed social-living patterns and Jonathan Raban’s book, Soft City, about the conceptual
idea of malleable city space associated with a combination of physical fabrication (hard space) and
social-sustenance (soft space) on emotional, intellectual and physical levels. 42

Patterns lay a foundation for design decision-making, drawing connections between the design
processes of problem-solving, sources of references, formalism and the concept of shape grammar.
The forming of patterns demonstrates an understanding of a process of integrating design principles
and architectural theory 43 in visual representation in the field of architectural practice. In Alexander’s
early publications about pattern language, 44 he suggested each pattern as an interactive dialogue
between a particular design problem and a strategic solution, with detailed explanations gained from
real-life project experiences. Despite focusing on a generic and systematic means for creating a
sequence of everyday experiences for occupants, Alexander’s form-patterns display adaptability and
stability which offer relevance for design in general regardless of region, climate, culture, and policy
change. The achievement of Alexander’s pattern language is to be ‘the archetypal core of all possible
pattern languages which can make people feel alive and human.’ 45 There are implicit associations made
between patterns, geometry, climatic conditions, cultural references and environmental considerations
in Alexander’s patterns but explicitly they create a vision of the experiences of everyday life in the
physical contexts of the socially constructed world.

42 Jonathan Raban’s book, Soft City, is a documentary about one man’s exploration of metropolitan life through living in a
myriad of small and overlooked city spaces. By moving through a sequence of crowded and compact living spaces, Raban
creates an intriguing and fluid narrative about the experiences of living between the physical hard and constructed
fabricated city walls and the intangible spaces that offer mental escape in a complex and modern urban jungle.
43 Phil Harris, and Adrian Welke, Punkahs and Pith Helmets: Good Principles of Tropical House Design (Darwin: Troppo

Architects,1982), and Bryan Lawson, How Designers Think: the Design Process Demystified (London: Routledge, 2006).
44 Christopher Alexander, Houses Generated by Patterns (Centre for environmental structure, 1969), Christopher

Alexander, ed. The Oregon Experiment (London: Oxford University Press, 1975), Christopher Alexander, Sara Ishikawa,
and Martin Silverstein, A Pattern Language (Centre for Environmental Structure, 1977), Christopher Alexander, The
Production of Houses (London: Oxford University Press, 1985), Christopher Alexander, "The origins of pattern theory: The
future of the theory, and the generation of a living world," Software, IEEE 16, no. 5 (1999), 71-82.
45 Alexander, A Pattern Language, xvii.

37
 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.2.1 Definition of pattern

A pattern, according to Alexander, 46 is defined as a cluster of elements repeated in a predicable manner.

The repetition is familiarized and formed as a ‘template’, a term that is often used in disciplines of
mathematics, language, computing science, art and architecture. In the domain of architecture, patterns
are longstanding and crucial design elements, which, taken together, form an architectural language.
They play a significant role in defining periods of history, styles of architects, sources of configurations,
and the fundamental rules of generative design in contemporary practice that are dominated by
computational production. In this thesis, patterns are used as a term to identify the repetitions in the
processes and outcomes of design decision-making, representing the means of spatial arrangement,
the formality of geometric compositions and a potential design vocabulary of architectural elements.

2.2.2 Pattern and design process

Patterns are associated with the production of a design through the decisions, preferences, creative
intuitions and experiences of the designer. Making preferences plays a predominant role in a design
process as each preference is ‘a response to changes in the wider social and cultural context.’ 47 Every
response is a solution for a particular design problem, but a new problem potentially emerges and changes
the dynamics and structure of the process. Design is an on-going process. Nevertheless, creative
intuitions and experiences grow into preferences and form certain recurring patterns over time in a manner
which is related to cognitive aspects of the design process. There have been some extensive studies to
comprehend these relationships through design-strategy-based experiments, case studies and
computational knowledge-based models in both academia and practice. 48 The findings of these studies
offer insight into the significance of the innate feelings which psychologically drive the behaviour of a
designer. In order to reveal the implicit yet crucial factors connecting these four elements – decision-

46 The relevance of the definition of a pattern language is taken from Alexander’s book, A Pattern Language on page xix.
47 Bryan Lawson, How Designers Think: the Design Process Demystified (London: Routledge, 2006), 17.
48 Christopher Alexander, ed. The Oregon Experiment (London: Oxford University Press, 1975), Bryan Lawson,

"Schemata, gambits and precedent: some factors in design expertise," Design Studies 25, no. 5 (2004), 443-457, Menezes
Alexandre, and Bryan Lawson, "How designers perceive sketches," Design Studies 27, no. 5 (2006), 571-585, John Gero,
"Computational models of innovative and creative design processes," Technological forecasting and social change 64, no.
2 (2000),183-196, William Mitchell, "A computational view of design creativity," Modelling Creativity and Knowledge-Base
Creative Design (1993), 25-42, Charles Eastman, On the analysis of intuitive design processes (Carnegie-Mellon
University, 1968), Charles Eastman, "Representation of design processes." In Conference on Design Thinking, MIT, April
(1999), 23-25.

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making, preference, intuition and experience – that is, the relationship between pattern and design
process, some literature will be reviewed and references made to architects’ experiences in real-life
projects.

In design practice, patterns are often seen as visual representations of design in form and spatial
arrangement without knowing the psychological impacts on its users. Some patterns often appear in a
linear sequence representing the specific formation of repetitive elements. The more experiences a
designer has had, the easier and quicker he or she can create patterns that work in any designated
context. At the fundamental level, one attribute that does not change is the core value of personal beliefs
embedded in the actions, representations and meaning of these patterns. In the literature, however,
relationships between pattern making and designers’ values are yet to be examined, as most
consideration focuses on the variety of ways for representing the order of physical patterns. The
psychological impacts that some patterns create, such as certain ‘feelings’ and ‘emotions’ that occupants
experience in a particularly formed pattern of space, have not been a focus of attention. Architects have
anticipated the way occupants may experience the space they use, but the extent to which the patterns
of spatial arrangements actually generate the ‘feelings’ they imagined, whether they influence their way
of thinking about the use of space and their growing awareness of connection to nature and the outside
world have remained unexplored.

Preferences of individuals set up ‘a reflective conversation with the situation’; 49 they are subjective and
made to reflect scenarios, conditions and constraints for the architect and for the occupant of a building.
While they determine the patterns that reflect the distinctive characteristics of a designer’s style and
response to various scenarios, inevitably, as a result of how the spaces are used daily, these preferences
also develop the feelings and specific patterns of the inhabitant’s behaviour. This understanding can be
seen in Looking for the Beach under the Pavement by Herman Hertzberger, who points out that:

“Everyone is doomed to be the one he wants to be seen as by the others: that is the price the
individual pays to society in order to remain an insider, by which he is simultaneously possessor
of and possessed by a collective pattern of behaviour. Even if people built their houses
themselves, they could not escape from this, but instead of having to accept the fact that there is

49 Donald Schön, The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action (New York: Basic Books, 1983).

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only one place to put the dining table, everyone would at least be enabled to interpret the
collective pattern in his own personal way.” 50

The Malaysian architect Ken Yeang elaborates a similar thought in search of his personal preference. He
proclaims that:

“I trust the gut feeling, the intuitive hand, the intuitive feel about the project…You can technically
solve accommodation problems, you can solve problems of views and so on but which problem
to solve first is a gut feeling…You can’t explain it but you feel that’s right and nine times out of
ten you are right.” 51

Yeang’s perception of the ‘gut feeling’ for problem solving and solution seeking as ‘ you can’t explain it
but you feel that’s right’ echoes the meaning of the ‘connections’ that Alexander expresses in his idea of
a ‘quality without a name’. Over the years, many design researchers have looked at architects’ feeling
from cognitive aspects of design processes through symbolic logic, 52 as well as using knowledge-based
and computational models for problem-solution explorations. It is intuitive and exists as a part of the non-
material structures of human existence in everyday activities. 53 The act of designing requires human
knowledge derived from experience, thinking, and learning in design processes. ‘Feeling right’ becomes
a part of this human knowledge that demonstrates the capacity to comprehend present situations and
make appropriate decisions. Architects’ intuitive feelings are guided by what they know with accumulating
experiences for challenging uncertainty and contingency.

Hertzberger and Yeang identify the connections between decisions, processes, preferences and a feeling
of what is right in creating ‘a collective pattern of behaviour’ for design. There is a sense of order and
discipline derived from a designer’s cognitive power for ‘feeling right’, which grows out of the processes
of problem solving and solution seeking. British architect Richard MacCormac also writes of ‘the feeling
born of experience.’54 It is apparent that architects rely on their past experience of feeling right in seeking
better solutions for resolving design problems and avoiding making more future problems. This

50 Herman Hertzberger, "Looking for the beach under the pavement," RIBA Journal 78, no. 8 (1971),128.
51 Ken Yeang, quoted in Bryan Lawson, Design in Mind (Oxford: Butterworth Architecture, 1994).
52 John Gero, ed. Artificial Intelligence in Design (Springer Science & Business Media, 2002).
53 Randall Teal, "Immaterial Structures," Journal of Architectural Education 62, no. 2 (2008),14.
54 Bryan Lawson, and Kees Dorst, Design Expertise (London: Routledge, 2013), 10.

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phenomenon can be understood through John Christopher Jones’s concept that he points out that design
is of ‘the performing of a very complicated act of faith’. 55 ‘The [design] searching is probably much more
important than the finding.’56 An understanding about the design searching can also be linked to Bryan
Lawson’s book, How Designers Think: The Design Process Demystified. In his book, he reports that
design experts attempt to understand design processes through looking at the spectrum of design activity
conducted in various design disciplines in terms of the relationships between problems, solutions,
situations, decision-makings, creativity and outcomes. He points out that one common design exploration
takes place when a designer performs in either a linear process of analysis, synthesis and evaluation, or
in a recursive pattern of highly creative thinking because design is ‘a continuous and continuing, rather
than a once and for all process’. 57 The perception of a linear process is partially aligned with Alexander’s
notion of ‘a straight linear sequence’. 58 In A Pattern Language Alexander proclaims that:

“The patterns are ordered…This order, which is presented as a straight linear sequence, is
essential to the way the language works…What is most important about this sequence, is that it
is based on the connections between the patterns.” 59

The ‘connections’ between patterns reveal how components of a pattern internally correlate as a
‘sequence’ and externally interact with other patterns to make a bigger, cohesive ‘whole’. There is a
network of many scales, in accordance with Alexander’s ‘clinging together’ and Warwick Fox’s ‘holding
together’. Alexander and Fox share the view of ‘connections’ as a way of understanding how everything
works in coherence and harmony in an ecological and socially constructed everyday world.

“No pattern is an isolated entity. Each pattern can exist in the world… that is supported by other
patterns…This is a fundamental view of the world. So that one place becomes more coherent,
and more whole.” 60

55 John Christopher Jones, Design Methods: Seeds of human Futures (New York: John Wiley, 1970), 56, John Christopher
Jones, Design Methods reviewed, in S. A. Gregory (ed) The Design Method, 1966.
56 Lawson, How Designers Think, 23.
57 Ibid, 91.
58
Christopher Alexander et al , A Pattern Language, xii.
59 Ibid.
60 Christopher Alexander et al , A Pattern Language, xii.

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In this concept, there is a sense of the integration of cognition, integrity, experience and harmony in design
processes. The quality of design is fostered by the designers’ ‘gut feelings’ and intuition that leads them
to find and combine appropriate, fruitful patterns.

2.2.3 Patterns and their sources

The more an architect has seen and experienced, the more references he or she can utilize in solving
various problems in different situations. In Hertzberger’s book, Lessons for Students in Architecture, he
highlights how sensory experience is relevant in accumulating sources of references and why it is
significant for architects to collect a network of sources in order to produce a cluster of ideas as solutions.
He points out that:

“Everything that is absorbed and registered in your mind adds to the collection of ideas stored in
the memory: a sort of library that you can consult whenever a problem arises. So, essentially the
more you have seen, experienced and absorbed, the more points of reference you will have to
help you decide which direction to take: your frame of reference expands.”61

Hertzberger’s point that the ‘frame of reference expands’ denotes an idea of a designer’s expanding range
of patterns for design. He focuses on the probabilities of solutions, and sets out explanations for the
selections of more sources of reference. Architects’ cognitive powers for feeling right and connections to
their experiences are not addressed and investigated in his book.

Some researchers have characterized this cognitive power to source reference materials as skills. 62
Others symbolize them with representations of computational models, 63 design behaviour, 64 and a

61 Herman Hertzberger, Lessons for Students in Architecture (Rotterdam: Uitgeverij 010 Publishers, 1998), 135.
62 Bryan Lawson, and Kees Dorst, Design Expertise (London: Routledge, 2013).
63 Nigel Cross, "Descriptive models of creative design: application to an example," Design Studies 18, no. 4 (1997), 427-

440; John Gero, "Conceptual designing as a sequence of situated acts," In Artificial Intelligence in Structural Engineering,
Springer Berlin Heidelberg (1998), 165-177; John Gero, "Computational models of creative design processes," In Artificial
Intelligence and Creativity, Springer Netherlands (1994), 269-281.
64 Hideaki Takeda, Sasaki Hiromitsu, Nomaguchi Yutaka, Yoshioka Masaharu, Shimomura Yoshiki, and Tomiyama Tetsuo,

"Universal abduction studio-proposal of a design support environment for creative thinking in design," In DS 31:
Proceedings of ICED 03, the 14th International Conference on Engineering Design, Stockholm (2003)., Kees Dorst, and
Judith Dijkhuis, "Comparing paradigms for describing design activity," Design Studies 16, no. 2 (1995), 261-274.

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structure of relations within the domain of design space. 65 In this context, with the nature of Troppo’s work,
the most direct link is between the ‘feeling right’, ‘relevant life experiences’, and ‘skills’ 66 in Troppo’s way
of creating their own set of characteristics for design patterns. They refined their design ‘skills’ through
the experience of living locally, traveling widely and their enthusiasm for seeing, feeling and experiencing
‘things’ around them, especially through their intuitive eye-hand-mind connections between their sketches
and place they live in the tropics. In his book The Thinking Hand, Juhani Pallasmaa argues that the birth
of creative work is driven by eye-hand-mind fusion of an architect by ‘thinking through senses’ and
experimenting in architectural creative work through artistic experience, emotion, existential knowledge,
imagination and memory. 67 These ‘skills’ are demonstrated and recognized by the ‘quality’ of
characteristics of patterns without being standardized by a particular style 68 as architects embrace, accept
and enjoy whatever nature offers them. Harris and Welke developed their skills by improvising the amenity
of tropical house designs from the heat, the sun, rain, monsoon, land and the wild in the tropics.
Nonetheless, their cognitive powers for design also resonate with Hertzberger’s sensual experience and
Till’s perception in Architecture Depends of ‘observers in life’. 69 Yet there is little research to date which
draws links between the formality of architects’ skills, the complexity of everyday life experience, and
patterns, in order to cultivate ‘quality’ in the character of architects’ designs. The following subsection
examines the relations between patterns and formalism in some renowned architects’ life works to confirm
their importance in design.

65 Gabriela Goldschmidt, "Capturing indeterminism: representation in the design problem space," Design Studies 18, no. 4
(1997), 441-455., Claudia Eckert, and Stacey Martin, "Sources of inspiration: a language of design," Design studies 21, no.
5 (2000), 523-538., Gabriela Goldschmidt, "Quo vadis, design space explorer?," AIE EDAM: Artificial Intelligence for
Engineering Design, Analysis, and Manufacturing 20, no. 02 (2006), 105-111.
66 In Lawson’s book, How Designers Think, he points out that ‘design is a highly complex and sophisticated skill. It is not a

mystical ability given only to those with recondite powers but a skill which, for many, must be learnt and practised rather
like the playing of a sport or a musical instrument.’ 66 Bryan Lawson, How Designers Think: The Design Process
Demystified (London: Routledge, 2006), 6.
67 Juhani Pallasmaa, The Thinking Hand: Existential and Embodied Wisdom in Architecture (Chichester: Wiley, 2009).
68 In both books of Frank Lloyd Wright, An American Architecture (New York: Horizon Press, 1955), and Frank Lloyd

Wright, In the cause of architecture. Ed. by Frederick Albert Gutheim (Publisher not identified, 1975), the idea and the
significance of a particular style in defining and understanding architecture was extensively discussed with the life work of
Frank Lloyd Wright.
69 Jeremy Till, Architecture Depends (Cambridge, Mass: MIT press, 2009), 212.

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2.2.4 Patterns, shape grammars and styles

For most parts of design processes, patterns and grammars share forms of expertise, life experience,
and aesthetics which are easily understood by being seen in visual representations. An approach to
understanding patterns in design has focused on the ideas of rule-based or knowledge-based design.
This offers a mechanical and systematic way for generating graphic representations of patterns in 2D
or 3D computational models. Shape grammars are known and used to denote the recursive generation
of arrangements of shapes. 70 A shape grammar that provides alternative patterns is based on a system
of shape rules. Rules are derived from a set of preferences and a set of variables for generating the
possibilities of a base design. In design practice, especially in industry and engineering domains, the
rules are aimed to maximize alternatives from a single design idea for time efficiency and productivity.

The rule for a shape grammar is defined as the unit of measure 71 or the fundamental unit 72 which is
potentially used to generate the possibilities of a pattern. This concept is popular within the domain of
computational design and has been used for generative design in architectural research. 73 Categorizing
rules for spatial arrangement is a way of understanding particular styles of architects’ work. The use of
a shape grammar is found in analysing many pre-eminent and influential architects’ works such as those
by Palladio, 74 Frank Lloyd Wright, 75 Glenn Murcutt, 76 Christopher Wren, 77 and Santiago Calatrava.78 It
is also widely used in understanding a particular traditional style of housing, ornament or garden, such

70 George Stiny, "Two exercises in formal composition," Environment and Planning B, 3, no. 2 (1976), 187-210.
71 George Stiny, and William Mitchell, "The Palladian grammar," Environment and Planning B, 5, no. 1 (1978), 5-18.
72 Carlos Hernandez, and Roberto Barrios, "Symmetry, rules and recursion," Session 11: Shape Grammars - eCAADe 23,

2005, 538.
73
Jessica, Huang, T.W. Chang, and Antony Radford, “A Derivation Graph of Computer Models for the design process on
the Web" In Tan, B.-K., Tan, M., and Wong, Y.-C., editors, Proceedings of the fifth Conference on Computer Aided
Architectural Design Research in Asia, (2000), 307-316, Singapore. School of Architecture, Centre for Advanced Studies in
Architecture, National University of Singapore.
74 George Stiny, and William Mitchell, "The Palladian grammar," Environment and Planning B, 5, no. 1 (1978), 5-18.
75 Hank Koning, and Julie Eizenberg, "The language of the prairie: Frank Lloyd Wright's prairie houses," Environment and

Planning B, 8, no. 3 (1981), 295-323.

76 Neil Hanson, and Antony Radford. “On Modelling the Work of the Architect Glenn Murcutt,” Design Computing 1, no. 3

(1986), 189 – 203.

77 Glasgow Buelincks, “Wren’s language of City church designs: a formal generative classification,” Environment and

Planning B: Planning and Design, no. 20 (1993), 645-76.

78 Carlos Hernandez, and Roberto Barrios, "Symmetry, Rules and Recursion," Session 11, Shape Grammars - eCAADe

23, 537-543.

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as the vernacular style of a Japanese tearoom, 79 Chinese lattice design, 80 bungalows, 81 Taiwanese
traditional houses, 82 Mughul gardens 83 in India, and the most recent work on Alvaro Siza’s houses at
Malagueira. 84 A graphic representation for the design process of a house by Samer Akkach shows how
a derivation graph unfolds the same results even when an architect applies several different rules to
formulate variations of designs but still lead to similar outcomes. 85

Shape grammars offer an explanation for similarities or unities underlying variations. They have been
used to explore correlations among variations of a design. As a rule-based computational approach to
design analysis, however, shape grammars work best where there is relative little variation in the corpus
of work – particularly floor plans, from which the rules are derived – as compared, for instance, to the
1980s Troppo houses that will be examined later in this thesis. Notably shape grammars fail to capture
the ways in which humans interpret and respond to designs, or to reveal the untold circumstances which
influence decisions in the making of designs. But even where grammar-based explanations are
inadequate, a body of work that seems to respond or relate to other factors, such as place, people,
invention, cultural movements, historical events, may still be similar in terms of a distinctive physical
appearance or ‘style’.

79 Weissman Knight, "The forty-one steps," Environment and Planning B, 8, no.8 (1981), 97-114.
80 George Stiny, "Ice-ray: a note on the generation of Chinese lattice designs," Environment and Planning B 4, no. 1
(1977), 89-98.
81Frances Downing, and Ulrich Flemming, The bungalows of Buffalo (Pennsylvania: Department of Architecture, Carnegie-

Mellon University, 1981), Ulrich Flemming, "Structure in bungalow plans," Environment and Planning B 8, no. 4 (1981),
393-404.
82 SC Chiou, and Ramesh Krishnamurti, "The grammar of Taiwanese traditional vernacular dwellings," Environment and

planning B 22 (1995), 689-720., SC Chiou, and Remish Krishnamurti, "The grammatical basis of Chinese traditional
architecture," Language of Design 3 (1995), 5-31, SC Chiou, and Remish Krishnamurti, "The grammar of Taiwanese
traditional vernacular dwellings," Environment and Planning B 22 (1995), 689-720.
83 George Stiny, and William Mitchell, "The grammar of paradise: on the generation of Mughul gardens," Environment and

Planning B 7, no. 2 (1980), 209-226, Terry Knight, "Mughul gardens revisited," Environment and Planning B: Planning and
Design 17, no. 1 (1990), 73-84.
84 José Duarte, Customizing Mass Housing: A Discursive Grammar for Siza's Malagueira Houses, PhD Thesis.

(Cambridge: MIT Press, 2001), José Duarte, "A discursive grammar for customizing mass housing: the case of Siza's
houses at Malagueira," Automation in construction 14, no. 2 (2005), 265-275.
85 Jessica Huang, Honours thesis, A Graphic Representation for the Derivation of the Design of Akkatch House, The

School of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Design, The University of Adelaide, 1998. See also Jessica,
Huang, T.W. Chang, and Antony Radford, “A Derivation Graph of Computer Models for the design process on the Web" In
Tan, B.-K., Tan, M., and Wong, Y.-C., editors, Proceedings of the fifth Conference on Computer Aided Architectural Design
Research in Asia, (2000), 307-316, Singapore. School of Architecture, Centre for Advanced Studies in Architecture,
National University of Singapore.

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The concept of styles in architecture is of paramount importance in the present study as the style of a
building may epitomise the social, cultural, economic and political contexts of the particular place and
particular time in which it was built. Recognizing a specific regional or nation-wide style is important in
the context of Australian architecture because it offers insight into the vital role of architecture in shaping
the built environment and constructing interpretations of Australian cultural landscape. This is, –
especially relevant in the case of the Troppo practice. Through the course of modern Australian history,
since the beginning of European settlement in 1788, the visual characteristics of buildings – formal
elements, materials, construction detailing and techniques – have revealed social development and
order, cultural changes and integration, and economic status, in particular shifts of political power and
influence. A review of relevant literature reveals a broad spectrum of architectural discourse in Australia
in recent decades regarding the identification of building types and architectural styles, and the
relationships between these and various facets of the progression of Australian history more broadly.
Specific architectural features and elements that characterise these buildings have been classified in
accordance with regional and cultural influences, 86 climatic conditions87, social, cultural and
psychological factors, 88 and residential typologies. 89 The search for style in Australian architecture
during the long experimental journey from the colonial to the post-war periods was a social phenomenon
through which distinctive hybrid designs in form and spatial layout gradually emerged in response to
climate, the land, the built environment and the inhabitants and communities of this island continent’s
regional sub-cultures.

David Bridgman’s PhD thesis, The Anglo-Asian Bungalow, 90 is particularly relevant as an elaborated
historical narrative on the significant role of Anglo-Asian bungalows in the Northern Territory during the

86 Jennifer Taylor, Australian Architecture Since 1960 ( Canberra: The Law Book Company, 1968), Richard Apperly, Robert
Irving and Peter Reynolds, A Pictorial Guide to Identifying Australian Architecture: Styles and Terms from 1788 to the
Present (Pymble: Angus & Robertson, 1994).
87 Richard Hyde, Climate Responsive Design: A Study of Buildings in Moderate and Hot Humid Climates (Melbourne:

Taylor & Francis, 2013), David Bridgman, Acclimatisation: Architecture for the Top End of Australia (Melbourne: Royal
Australian Institute of Architects, 2003).
88 Roderick Lawrence, Housing, Dwellings and Homes: Design Theory, Research and Practice (Chichester: Wiley, 1987).
89 Patrick Troy, A History of European Housing in Australia (London: Cambridge University Press, 2000), John Archer,

Building a Nation: A History of the Australian House (Sydney: Collins, 1987)

90 David Bridgman , The Anglo-Asian Bungalow, PhD thesis (Melbourne: RMIT University, 2006).

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mid-1930s, and their stylistic influences on the architecture of the tropical north till the early twenty-first
century. Bridgman points out an important fact that the ‘successive generations of buildings’91 not only
occurred by adapting to regional influences (Papua and New Guinea, Singapore, India and South-East
Asia), but was also driven by difficulties, constraints and uncertainties such as the orthodox perspective
of long Northern Territory architectural history, the consequence of physical changes to the built
environment caused by unpredictable natural disasters (cyclones) or a direct result of war-time
bombing. 92 The global dissemination of bungalow designs infused with a diversity of cultures, limited
local resources and experiences, tight economics and rudimentary new construction techniques
developed by architects in Canberra and Darwin for the relatively isolated region of northern Australia.
A region specific style for the tropical north was given the opportunity to emerge by the Department of
Works in the late 1930s. Despite their advocacy of ‘the colonial farmhouse model of central rooms and
surrounding verandah’ seen as ‘utopian vision of the imperial powers in Canberra’, 93 the important
precedents of fusing cultures and adopted histories of architecture played a vital role in encouraging
Troppo to develop a new design language. Bridgman used the twenty years work of Troppo as the
exemplars to highlight the birth and influential revolutionary model for the creation of new styles of
tropical housing designs in the Top End. In every situation, there are contingencies and uncertainties
taking place along the process that contribute to unanticipated outcomes. The present research has
explored how a contingent event such as Tracy Cyclone in 1974 turned into an opportunity for Troppo’s
regionally appropriate housing design to thrive within the conservative architectural practice of the north
in the 1980s, and to revitalize recognition of the patterns and styles of vernacular tropical architecture
even while the ideology of modernism remained heavily embedded in the mind of local practices that
had adopted its more universal patterns and associated styles after WW II. There are other
contingencies that have also intervened in the development of the Troppo practice that need to be
unravelled.

91 Ibid, 4.
92 Ibid.
93 Ibid, abstract.

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2.3 Contingency

Contingency is unavoidable as it is a part of life that individuals have to encounter and endure, being
challenged by the uncertainty it brings. The consequences are carried forward depending on the choices
individuals make. Making sense of how choices are being made reveals the circumstances, constraints
and conditions impacting on individuals at the time. Consequently, through a lens of understanding
‘contingency’ in Troppo’s real life practice in the five different regions in which it operates, this study
seek to observe the nuances of design elements and ‘unknown’ decision-making processes that may
help explain and interpret the survival and successes of Troppo’s situated practice. For this purpose,
Jeremy Till’s concern – mess - in the current culture of architectural practice is the most relevant and
recent scholarship on architectural contingency. 94 It opens up a realm of design decisions within ‘mess’
to explore what intangible influences potentially work in contemporary practice. Analysis of the
contingent elements (humans, circumstances, things) as architects perform their discipline can help to
make buildings operate in the ways they are intended for inhabitants, or can show why these buildings
fail to perform their design purposes. Subsequently, such analyses can generate common inquiries that
emerge in relation to derivatives of the distinctive character of buildings with aesthetic appeal, and to
their functionality in the eye and mind of the beholder. There is a balance between chaos and harmony
embedded somewhere along our common perceptions of mess in the world in which we live.

Till’s perspective of ‘mess’ focuses on the dilemmas architects encounter in daily practice and forces
being imposed by stakeholders in design processes. There is a disconnection for architects between
the basic ‘truth’ of their everyday practice and the fantasy of their constructed world. Till argues that
architects need to practise design with an ethical stance, as they make an irreversible impact on the
physical world. They ought to demonstrate their responsiveness to specific challenges through their
empathy and determination for a sustainable living environment, rather than only seeking aesthetic
configurations and pure forms. He examines a tendency in current practice to examine the pure formality
of form in the internationalism of architecture, instead of emphasising considerations for social
constructions, regional cultural references, and implications for environmental issues and concerns.

94 Jeremy Till, Architecture Depends (Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 2009).

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To engage these ideas, the following subsections offer various perspectives on Till’s argument and
investigate connections between mess, opportunities, contingent architecture and architects’ attitudes
in relation to critical regionalism and sustainability in built environments. They provide a background for
comprehending the motivation of the Troppo founders to tour Australia and seek opportunities in the
contingency of architectural practice within an unstable economic crisis and destructive built
environments in order to seek a regionally responsive architectural identity in the Top End of Australia
in the 1980s.

2.3.1 Definition of contingency

Contingency in this study is defined as unanticipated circumstances, events and activities. It covers
personal matters, business operations, and decisions made in response to unexpected circumstances.
It implicitly bears the connotations of crisis or fortuity depending on the impact of the circumstances, the
nature of events, and the way in which humans respond. The idea of contingency carries a sense of the
ancient Chinese philosophy of ying-and-yang (darkness and brightness) which describes how seemingly
opposite forces are bearing within each other because they are interconnected and interdependent. In
other words, adversities and interruptions can be regarded as opportunities in an unstable situation
(yang bears within ying) and opportunities can be foreseen as hidden dilemmas in a convenient situation
(ying bears within yang).

2.3.2 Contingency, institutional and social contexts

In Till’s perception, the situation of architectural practice remains ‘a social and institutional mess’ in the
inescapable reality of the world because ‘architecture is a dependent discipline.’ 95 Till argues that
architecture is shaped more by external circumstances than by the internal thinking of the architect:
‘Architecture is defined by its very contingency, by its very uncertainty in the face of these outside
forces.’ 96 Till’s statement is clear and straightforward. He simply points out the truism that architectural
practice is unavoidably buffeted by a wide variety of external forces such as people (clients, engineers,
governmental and private agencies), building regulations, and contexts of social, cultural, economic,
political and environmental pressure at every stage of the process. These pressures are a feature of the

95 Jeremy Till, Architecture Depends (Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 2009), 45.
96 Ibid.

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early stage of generation of intuitive and perceptive ideas, of the final production stage of a physical
form, and of every decision made between the two stages. These external forces mediate decisions and
yet they are difficult to ‘teach’ and integrate in design courses as architecture students are usually
detached and placed in an ideal ‘imaginary-real’ world without having to deal with site constraints, people
conflicts, financial issues and real-life circumstances. They often find themselves lost and perplexed
once they join the real professional world yet, unless architecture professionals are ready, the mess
remains and continues to shape the socially constructed world of architecture work. 97 A more informed
understanding of architecture as a dependent profession is now needed, through in-depth exploration
of the relationship between professional institutional and social contexts. Such exploration provides an
insight into the complexity of decision-making processes, and the interactions among architects’ values,
attitudes and disciplinary practices, as well as uncovering the ‘unseen’ forces which act through
dependencies in relation to the survival of their work.

“Architecture is peculiarly exposed to these external dependencies…. Architecture is dependent

on others at every stage of its journey from initial sketch to inhabitation.” 98

Till argues that some particular rituals and certain codes are specifically taught to architects and other
professions in the early years of their professional training for the real world. These rituals and codes
are generally pre-set and architects immerse themselves within them so that they act as boundaries for
‘a black box’ – an isolated place of mental enclosure in which architects exercise creativity and
innovative design ideas without physical limits. This is a state of virtual space where they engage with
stakeholders to work on design briefs and seeking solutions for pre-assumed scenarios, constraints and
conditions, as described by the architectural critic Reyner Banham. 99 Banham points out that architects
continue with their autonomous processes in this safe-guarded world because in it they feel content and
comfortable. Till argues that architects often experience ambivalence and struggle between resistance
to these dependencies and their reliance on others. A ‘black box’ training does not prepare them for the
messy contingency of real-life practice.

97 Eric Cesal, Down Detour Road (Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 2010).
98 Ibid, 45.
99 Reyner Banham, “A Black Box: The Secret Profession of Architecture”, A Critic Writes, ed. Mary Banham (Berkeley:

University of California Press, 1996), 295.

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‘Architecture is never alone’, argued the late Italian architectural historian, Manfredo Tafuri.

‘Whereas architecture, in searching for definitive solutions to the challenges it confronts, realizes
one possibility among many, history places architecture before an open field of possibilities,
exposing the most stable plans to unforeseen forces that inevitably disrupt them.’ 100

Japanese philosopher Kojin Karatani also claims that architecture is

‘An event, it is always contingent. It is thus a form of communication conditioned to occur without
common rules – it is a communication with the other, who, by definition, does not follow the same
set of rules.’101

These statements illuminate the fact that architecture is not only a dependent discipline but also
inevitably contingent as it is completely exposed to a stream of changing rules, external influences and
alternative possibilities.

Till himself, quoting from Joseph Conrad, argues that ‘Architecture as a discipline is thus far from a linear
procedure running along idealized tramlines. It is “a balance of colossal forces.”102 Confidently seeking
this ‘balance of colossal forces’ is suggested by Till as the means to confront contingency with the nature
of its fragility. The same remark is made by both Zygmunt Bauman and Anthony Giddens when they
each define the condition of contingency as being ‘inescapable and need[ing] to be faced’ in light of the
impossibility of prioritizing everything and proposing feasible solutions to all problems in a real world.103
Bauman further emphasizes the fact that we have, ‘for better or worse, to live with that impossibility’ as
‘we are bound to live with contingency for the foreseeable future.’ 104 He goes on to argue that to cope
with this balance of colossal forces one needs ‘nerves of steel’ to overcome the uncertainties derived
from contingency.

100 Manfredo Tafuri, Interpreting the Renaissance: Princes, Cities, Architects. Trans. Daniel Sherer, (London: Yale
University Press, 2006), 16.
101 Kojin Karatani, Architecture as Metaphor: Language, Number, Money, trans. Sabu Kohso, (Cambridge, Mass: MIT

Press,1995), xxxix.
102 Jeremy Till, Architecture Depends (Cambridge, Mass: MIT press, 2009), 46.
103 Zygmunt Bauman, Mortality, immortality and other life strategies (Chicago: Stanford University Press, 1992), 134.
104 Ibid.

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Architects’ attitudes are seen as holding the key to unlock the flexibility and adaptability required for
creatively facing the seemingly impossible contingencies thrown into their everyday professional life.
Their attitudes create certain choices and opportunities in the face of contingencies. This perspective is
strongly held by Buddhist thinker Sogyal Rinpoche, who passionately points out that uncertainty and
freedom come with the realization of latent transformative potential. 105 This implicitly indicates the notion
of freedom of ‘choices’ by the Italian thinker Alberto Melucci 106 who argues that choice makes destiny
in the contingent world. This concept echoes Rinpoche’s perception for the reinforcement of an
alternative approach for confronting the impossibility of contingent forces. However, attitudes of
‘acceptance’ and ‘tolerance’ of our vulnerability in the rapidly changing world of architecture, have rarely
been discussed in the literature or exemplified in architecture theory and everyday professional practice.

“Because we engage with those choices with a degree of intent and vision, there is an end in
sight and a hope driving that end. Where in the modern project, the end is overseen by values of
truth and reason, and thus to a large extent predetermined, in the contingent world the exact end
is uncertain and the choices made along the way are exposed to other forces, and in particular
the hopes and intents of others.” 107

Recognizing the opportunity in the uncertain contingency of architecture promotes a fruitful optimism
which allows us to seek an exemplary form of transformative practice. A progressive approach for
seeking this exemplary form is offered in the concept of ‘Critical Regionalism.

2.3.3 Contingency and Critical Regionalism

Critical Regionalism is a term originally coined by Alexander Tzonis and Liane Lefaivre in a discussion
of theories in modern Greek architecture, published the same year that Troppo’s practice was
established. 108 The discourse of Critical Regionalism that subsequently developed in their work, and
that of Kenneth Frampton in particular, 109 is linked with concerns for the contingency of architecture at
both regional and global levels. Tzonis and Lefaivre argue that to thrive in a coherent and sustainable

105 Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, ed. P. Gaffney and A. Harvey (San Francisco: Harper One,
1992).
106 Alberto Melucci, The Playing Self: Person and Meaning in the Planetary Society (Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press, 1996), 238.

107 Jeremy Till, Architecture Depends (Cambridge, Mass: MIT press, 2009), 59.
108
Alexander Tzonis, and Liane Lefaivre, “The grid and the pathway”, Architecture in Greece, 15 (1980): p 164-178
109 Kenneth Frampton, "Critical regionalism: Modern architecture and cultural identity," In K. Frampton, Modern

Architecture: A Critical History (1985).

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world, one has to recognize the values of community in pursuit of ‘an alternative way of living and unique
human aesthetic experiences.’ 110 Critical Regionalism suggests a way to ‘challenge not only the
established actual world but the legitimacy of the possible world view in the minds of the people.’111

Critical Regionalism is a significant paradigm by which to examine architects’ work in regionally specific
social and cultural contexts through the lenses of time and place. Tzonis and Lefaivre draw dynamic
links between ethical values and an aesthetic perspective for locally inflected manifestations of “world
culture” with like-minded theorists such as Frampton. In their article “Why Critical Regionalism Today?”,
Tzonis and Lefaivre point out that being a regionalist in a globalising world, an individual can be an
interdependent whole with global awareness and possessing an environmental consciousness of social,
economic and technological contexts. Regionalism has been a recurring tendency in cultural and
architectural history, but with different characteristics at different times, from ‘Romantic’ to ‘Picturesque’,
to the ‘Over-familiarizing’ Regionalism of totalitarian and commercial propaganda. 112 They argue that in
the context of the ‘contemporary trend of Regionalist architecture – Critical Regionalism is, in fact, the
resistance to ‘the obsolescence of the region’, a commitment to ‘placeness’,

“…which has come about as a response to new problems posed by contemporary global
development of which it is strongly critical, and that the poetics of this new movement are to a
great extent different from if not antithetical to other architectural regionalist techniques of the
past.” 113

These authors carefully examine the evolutionary movement that defined the Critical Regionalism of the
second half of the twentieth century, beginning with Lewis Mumford, through Walter Gropius, James
Stirling, Kenzo Tange, the work of Alvar Aalto, and Scandinavian architecture. Mumford was seminal for
his fundamental understanding that region should not focus on objects, attributes and territories but

110 Alexander Tzonis, and Liane Lefaivre, "Tropical critical regionalism: introductory comments," Tropical Architecture:
Critical Regionalism in the Age of Globalization (2001), 1-13.
111 Keith Eggener, "Resisting Critical Regionalism: A Postcolonial Perspective," S. Akkach, S. Fung and P. Scriver, eds.

In Self, Place and Imagination: Cross-Cultural Thinking in Architecture, The 2nd International Symposium of the Centre for
Asian and Middle Eastern Architecture, Adelaide (1999).
112 Alexander Tzonis, and Liane Lefaivre, "Why critical regionalism today," A+ U-ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM 236

(1990), 23-33; Alexander Tzonis, and Liane Lefaivre, and Bruno Stagno, eds. Tropical Architecture: Critical Regionalism in
the Age of Globalization (New York: Wiley, 2001).
113 Alexander Tzonis, and Liane Lefaivre, "Why critical regionalism today," A+ U-ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM 236

(1990), 23-33.

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rather look at contexts in relation to economic rationality, ecological sustainability and community. 114 He
emphasized the concept of regionalism by highlighting ‘the actual conditions of life’ and the feelings of
inhabitants which ‘make them feel at home’, in resistance to the lack of humanity in the ‘mechanical
order’ issuing from the ‘international style’ prevalent in contemporary architecture. 115 Thus, there is a
defence of nostalgia for the past and a resistance to enthusiasm for a homogenous International style.
Hertzberger describes this ‘feeling at home’ as a sense of ‘belonging’ or a sense of place - Genius Loci
- that coheres with Mumford’s perception. He states that:

“The architects can contribute to creating an environment which offers far more opportunities for
people to make their personal markings and identifications, in such a way that it can be
appropriated and annexed by all as a place that truly ‘belongs’ to them.” 116

Thus, while Critical Regionalism remains an elusive concept for a style or a theory of design, it has
asserted some validity as a critical concept for human experience in the creation of architecture.

As a progressive approach, Critical Regionalism takes an ethical stance, for understanding a specific
regional-cultural context and expanding the realization of this understanding to a world-realm cultural
context. The term ‘critical’ does not imply constraints or rules for the making of forms, but rather indicates
a high level of self-critical consciousness in the processes of making form for a particular site and its
contexts. In this way, architects have freedom of choice in recognizing the underlying opportunities
presented by Critical Regionalism for adapting the conditions of a site and the richness of regional
culture as sources of patterns. Distinctive characteristics of architectural forms can be created by
utilizing robust materiality and tectonic poetics for creating positive sensual experiences in everyday
living. Critical Regionalism also offers a progressive stance for a ‘hybrid’ or ‘mixed’ architecture in
responding to contingencies by designing from direct environmental concerns and critical awareness for
sustainability. In this respect, there is a need to draw relationships between contingency and
sustainability as interdependent influences on architectural practice.

114 Mumford, quoted in Liane Lefaivre and Alexander Tzonis, "The suppression and rethinking of regionalism and
tropicalism after 1945," Tropical architecture: Critical regionalism in the age of globalization (2001), 14-58.
115 Lewis Mumford, "Utopia, the City and the Machine," Daedalus, (1965), 271-292, Lewis Mumford, Technics and Human

Development: The Myth of the Machine, Vol. I (Washington: Harvest Books, 1971), Lewis Mumford, Technics and
civilization (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010).
116 Herman Hertzberger, Lessons for Students in Architecture, trans. (1991), 125.

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2.3.4 Contingency and sustainability

There are innumerable definitions of ‘sustainability’. The word has been applied to and extensively used
in a broad range of social, economic and environmental contexts at micro and macro levels over the last
three decades. In architecture it started as a critical yet fundamental concept for fulfilling the basic human
need for shelter. 117 In the Dimensions of Sustainability symposium held in 1998, Andrew Scott points
out that prominent researchers, design practitioners, and academics examined the meaning of the term,
seeking feasible ways in which architecture can integrate a meaningful and sophisticated understanding
of environmental change and performance into design decisions. 118

“What it [sustainability] actually becomes is not just an environmental strategy but a means of
making buildings that are more user responsive, more humane places to inhabit, more intelligent
in the way they balance their energy flows, more respectful of nature and the resources it offers,
and more understanding of buildings having a life span during which they undergo substantial
change and adaption. Put together, it simply equates to better designed places in tune with the
environment.” 119

An awareness of sustainability inescapably influences design and construction and beyond the
completion of a building for its future performance. For architects, taking an ethical stance requires a
deep understanding of the long-term importance of sustainability as an essential part of design decision-
making processes. In Understanding Sustainable Architecture, Williamson, Radford and Bennetts refer
to architects performing ‘beautiful acts’ in designing more sustainable buildings. 120 These ‘beautiful acts’
resonate with what Alexander conceives as architects’ responsibility for ‘healing the site’ and also reflect
what Swiss architect Mario Botta envisages as an engagement in building the site. 121

In his book, Design with Nature, Ian McHarg advocates that designers should ‘work with, not against,
nature.’ 122 He recognizes the importance of harmony and responsiveness between nature and material

117 Brundtland Commission (World Commission on Environment and Development), Our Common Future (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1987).
118 Andrew Scott, Dimensions of Sustainability: Architecture, Form, Technology, Environment, Culture (London: E & FN

Spon, 1998), 8.
119 Andrew Scott, Dimensions of Sustainability: Architecture, Form, Technology, Environment, Culture, 3.
120 Terry Williamson, Antony Radford, and Helen Bennetts, Understanding Sustainable Architecture (London: Spon Press,

2003).
121 Mario Botta, "Architecture and Environment'," Architecture and Urbanism 105 (1979), 51-110.
122 Ian McHarg, Design with Nature (New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1969), 126.

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structure when ‘building become[s] one cell in a larger ecological and cultural system.’ 123 McHarg’s
argument conjures the spirit of design consciousness in architects depending on the engagement with
both ‘things’ (living and non-living things) and human desires. This spirit of design consciousness is
recognised as an architect’s ethical concerns, considerations and compassions to constitute their
responsibility for a sustainable living and built environment. The awakening of this consciousness is an
act of faith and reconciliation by an architect who demonstrates his or her understanding of theory about
sustainability and establishes cohesive relationships between nature, building and things. This faith
confronts the contingency of the myriad of challenges and difficulties in the ‘mess’ of architectural
practice by asserting ethical values.

123 Terry Williamson, Antony Radford, and Helen Bennetts, Understanding Sustainable Architecture, 135.

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2.4 Values

For architects to embrace and integrate their ethical concerns in the fulfilment of their responsibility in
the design of buildings, they inevitably confront architecture values. Vitruvius, the Roman architect and
engineer, defined three essential components of architecture values, firmitas (solidity or firmness),
utilitas (functionality or commodity), and venustas (beauty or delight). 124 These components have equal
value in achieving harmonious and responsive design. ‘Values’, as they are conceived in architectural
practice, have no monetary worth but carry emotional currency and are taken to present standards of
behaviours, beliefs and principles. In this way, they influence the priority, worthiness and importance of
an idea or a concept for a design. For centuries, the making of authentic architecture for enhancing life
has been a priority for architects. It is clear that Vitruvius’s three architectural values are primarily taken
from anthropocentric approaches to the human-centred ethics of the time.

Over the years, there has been a gradual shift away from these anthropocentric approaches to human-
environmental ethics towards a non-anthropocentric approach as ‘an exploration of alternative moral’
positions, 125 and eventually to environmental ethics that has expanded since the early 1970s. This trend
follows the published evidence for climate change, increasing population, land development and
exploitation through advanced technology, scarce resources, ever greater extinction and endangering
of wild life, and irreversible damage to living environments. These developments have strengthened the
role of architects’ values in relating their design decisions to work ethics and environmental concerns,
as articulated in Warwick Fox’s philosophical treatment of ‘responsive cohesion.

Fox’s concept of responsive cohesion includes the built environment as a priority. In his book A Theory
of General Ethics: Human Relationships, Nature and the Built Environment, he argues that the most
relevant and fundamental value for a designer deals with the quality of the relations among the internal
components of a ‘thing’ (living or non-living, or an artificial structure, or an organic system), and those
that exist between the ‘thing’ and its contexts. 126 These contexts refer to three environments: the human

124 Vitruvius Pollio, Vitruvius: The Ten Books on Architecture (Cambridge: Harvard university Press, 1914).
125 Baird Callicott, "Non-anthropocentric value theory and environmental ethics," American Philosophical Quarterly, Vol. 24,
no. 4 (1984), 299.
126 Warwick Fox, A Theory of General Ethics: Human relationships, Nature, and the Built Environment (Cambridge, Mass:

MIT Press, 2006).

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environment, the materialised-cultural environment, and the larger natural or bio-physical environment.
Fox’s theory focuses on achieving responsive cohesion between the ‘thing’ and multiple other ‘things’
and their contexts in a mutual state. Responsive cohesion refers to the quality of relations that exists
internally as well as contextually. According to Fox, a ‘relational quality’ of responsive cohesion occurs,

“whenever the elements or salient features of things can be characterised in terms of interacting
(either literally or metaphorically) with each other in mutually modifying ways such that these
mutually modifying interactions serve (at least functionally if not intentionally), generate or
maintain an overall cohesive order – an order that ‘hangs together’ in one way or another.” 127

This order ‘cuts across the literal/metaphorical distinction’, 128 including tangible and intangible ‘things’
in human-constructed and natural environments. Thus the ideal of Fox’s theory of responsive cohesion
embraces the conventional categories of inter-human ethics from the anthropocentric approach, in
balance with the now recognised values of environmental ethics.

In order to fully review the concept of value in an architectural context, the following sub-sections will
begin by defining the existing ethical values developed from anthropocentric perspectives and then
move to consider the perspective from environmental philosophy. This is followed by Fox’s proposition
for a general ethics that embraces the built environment. Drawing connections between Fox’s
responsive cohesion, Alexander’s patterns, contingency and sustainability can, I argue, assist in
understanding the significance of Troppo’s work.

2.4.1 Definition of value

Value can be defined as a set of principles or standards held by individuals who assign certain
importance and worth to things, opinions, events and people. Value possesses no rules and fixed
assumptions but has famously been regarded as an aspect of ‘human consciousness’129 for ‘a
consequence of choices’. 130 Value, in any form of discussion in this study, is taken as the French

127 Ibid, 72.

128 Ibid, 66.
129 Edward Anderson, Lisa Bohon, and Lee Berrigan. "Factor structure of the private self-consciousness scale," Journal of

Personality Assessment 66, no. 1 (1996), 144-152.

130 Jean-Paul Sartre, Existentialism and human emotions (New York: Citadel Press, 1985), Philippe D’Anjou, "An

alternative model for ethical decision-making in design: A Sartrean approach," Design Studies 32, no. 1 (2011), 45-59.

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philosopher, Simone de Beauvoir’s moral freedom to present the full rights, growth, and subjective
responsibility for adopting moral principles and beliefs. 131 It carries no meaning of financial worth but
indicates the particular standards, and social rituals of conscientious mental currency that an individual
upholds. It varies and changes in accordance with an individual’s circumstances and conditions, and
reflects the mental-state of a person at the time of a given situation.

2.4.2 Anthropocentric approaches to ethical values

Architecture is a creative art that seeks meaningful experience for humans with ‘philosophical, symbolic,
social and artistic importance.’ 132 This experience is initially created to fulfil the basic need for shelter
for the body in everyday life. Over time, the basic need is extended and associated with expectations,
dreams, fantasies, desires and the power created by an experience of architecture. Furthermore, Tom
Spector suggests that the expectations and dreams are of improvement for a better way of living.
Pallasmaa’s idea of ‘contour[ing] of our consciousness’ 133 highlights fantasies, desires and dreams
arising from an architect’s innermost mental space; and finally, power is experienced in the innovative
ability to create the aesthetic and meaningful forms which represent ‘visions of social and cultural
frontiers’ in the world. 134 Anthropocentric approaches in design have been adopted in practice for a long
period of time in order to construct a better world in which creating desirable experiences for humans-
centred living environments such as pleasure, comfort and aesthetics is the ultimate goal.

In the earlier anthropocentric approaches, Vitruvius’s three categories of architectural values are
assurances for achieving these intangible objectivities. Here, there is an indication of redefining the
purpose of shelter beyond protection for the body, shifting its basic purpose from physical safeguard to
a sophisticated social and psychological experience. Shelter is no longer addressed as physical
protection but also as a factor in living quality and an expression of cultural significance and historical
installation. The conception of style holds a key to understanding Vitruvius’s architectural values. The

131 Simone De Beauvoir, The Coming of Age (New York: WW Norton & Company, 1996).
132 Tom Spector, Ethical Architect: The Dilemma of Contemporary Practice (New York: Princeton Architectural Press,
2001), 177.
133 Juhani Pallasmaa, The Thinking Hand: Existential and Embodied Wisdom in Architecture (Chichester: Wiley, 2009), 9.
134 Tom Spector, The Ethical Architect: The Dilemma of Contemporary Practice, 177.

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expression of style celebrates the validity of the architectural values of the architects’ work, and yet it
implicitly denotes parochialism in the purity of architectural aesthetics from a material-cultural
perspective. Aesthetic appreciation is fixed, with fixed relationships between humans, buildings and
aesthetic values for architectural appeal.

In the nineteenth century, aesthetics empowered the solidity of a style as it came to form an ethical basis
for constructing a core set of architects’ skills for good architecture. A.W.N Pugin, a prominent English
architect and artist of the time, argued that the key responsibility of the architect is to construct a city
with beautiful buildings in an ethically valuable style. The responsible architect, according to him, needs
to realize the ethical duty and aesthetic sensibility of the time in architecture. 135 In Seven Lamps of
Architecture, John Ruskin, the English art critic and social thinker, emphasizes that the role of the
architect presupposes an obligation to progressively replace appalling buildings with more aesthetic
buildings. 136 There is a conviction of ‘this fusion of beauty and morality’, 137 requiring, as Lagueux argues,
the ‘operation of cleaning the architectural world and of improving the life of its inhabitants.’138 The ethical
values of architects are thus associated with the capability of their aesthetic judgements that defines
them as responsible architects and justifies their aspirations for creating better living conditions.

Karsten Harries goes on exploring the ethical aspects of architectural design. In The Ethical Function of
Architecture, Harries emphasizes the suppression of the ‘human dimension of dwelling’ by the forces of
modernity. He argues that the meaning of ethics is beyond ‘its task to help articulate a common ethos.’139
In his writing, he makes a critique of modernism, the static abstractions of postmodernism, the false
impression of a hope for aesthetics, and the autonomous deterioration of architectural languages in ‘an
ever more disorienting world.’ 140 He suggests that a person needs to learn to express ‘more’ appreciation
and to cultivate his or her differentiations through the works of architecture. He argues that ‘a view of
aesthetic appeal’ in the making of architecture can be achieved when he or she creates a design with

135 Augustus Pugin Welby Northmore, Contrasts: Or, A Parallel Between the Noble Edifices of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth
Centuries and Similar Buildings of the Present Day (1836).
136 John Ruskin, "The Seven Lamps of Architecture. Vol. 5 of The Complete Works of John Ruskin," The Library Edition 39

(1894).
137 Maurice Lagueux, "Ethics versus aesthetics in architecture," In The Philosophical Forum, vol. 35, no. 2 (2004), 125.
138 Ibid.
139 Karsten Harries, The Ethical Function of Architecture (Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 1997), 4.
140 Ibid, 4.

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an ethical approach. 141 He also argues that by doing so, architects could make architecture meaningful
with ‘the interpretation of a way of life valid for our period.’142 Harries employs Pevsner’s conviction in
the power of ‘aesthetic appeal’ that inevitably defines the beauty, functionality and meaning of a building
without imposing any presupposed opinions. He also praises Panofsky’s analysis on experiencing the
pleasure of seeing the intangible attributes of the object. He states that someone who ‘simply and wholly
abandons himself (or herself) to the object of perception will experience it aesthetically,’ 143 and that
ethics are an integral component of this perception.

‘Ethics and aesthetics are mutually dependent’ one upon the other. 144 The fundamental values of
architectural ethics focus on enhancing the aesthetic appeal of buildings from within the dimension of
the material world in which people live. Till argues that architects are regarded as ‘arbiters of aesthetics’
and they are placed as central figures in this human-material ethical process. 145 He points out that the
concept of ‘a loop’ best describes the relationship between ethics and aesthetics, and the danger of
losing the unity of beauty and wholeness arises in the potentially out-of-loop, the ‘place-less’ character
of architectural buildings. He claims that:

“Good aesthetics, in the form of beauty, leads directly to good life, in the form of an ethical society,
and equally that ethical society is the necessary context for good aesthetics.”146

Till raises a different view from this perception of being in ‘a loop’ focusing on a relationship between
ethics and aesthetics. He argues that the core skill of an architect is to develop an understanding of ‘the
other’, an awareness of place and natural environment which is the responsibility of environmental ethics
and of sustainability. He points out that this recognition of ‘the other’ is crucial in architecture as
difference is continuously emerging in the phenomena of daily living, yet are routinely suppressed in our
living environments. 147 The sense of disrespect for ‘the other’, including living creatures and non-living

141 Nikolaus Pevsner, Shropshire: The Buildings of England Series, (1958), Nikolaus Pevsner, "New Architecture and New
Art," New Zealand Listener 40, no. 1010 (1958), 4.
142 Sigfried Giedion, Space, Time and Architecture, 5th eds, (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1974), xxxii.
143 Karsten Harries, The Ethical Function of Architecture, 23.
144 Jeremy Till, Architecture Depends (Cambridge, Mass: MIT press, 2009), 175.
145 Ibid.
146 Ibid.
147 Till, Architecture Depends, 175.

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objects, is often disregarded in the process of seeking unity in the beauty of forms and in the assumed
quality of a culturally material-constructed world. Awareness of place and the natural environment
shapes the space and place in which inhabitants live in profound ways. By extension, this awareness is
a ‘place-based’148 cognition that has invisible impact on the local communities and natural environments
it touches. 149 Recognizing differences and significance of a place influences our social behaviour, action
and connection to the place in which we live. 150 The aesthetic appeal of buildings only becomes pleasant
and cohesive when ethics is included.

An architect working in this ethic focuses on the improvement of the physical quality of everyday living,
facilitating inhabitants’ emotional well-being as well as caring for the fragility of the bio-physical world.151
This is addressed by Warwick Fox in the theory of responsive cohesion.

2.4.3 A general ethics of the built environment

Warwick Fox’s general theory of responsive cohesion offers an understanding of everyday moral
dilemmas that people encounter in that it recognises a value that embraces both inter-human and
environmental ethics in all contexts. Fox declares that this ethical value ‘exists at a deep, general or
abstract level of analysis’. 152 Under most circumstances, people perceive a thing, and position
themselves through an opinion of people, events and matters with a personal judgement based on an
anthropocentric approach to the non-material structure of human existence. They generally try to be
objective and display a freedom of choices, as people innately comprehend the moral significance of
ethical values, but there is no obligation attached to them. These deep and general sources of value,
Fox argues, are worth recognizing and appreciating as principles that we ought to live by in this world.153

148 Greig Guthey, Gail Whiteman, and Michael Elmes, "Place and Sense of Place: Implications for Organizational Studies
of Sustainability," Journal of Management Inquiry (2014).
149 Michael Elmes, Scott Jiusto, Gail Whiteman, Robert Hersh, and Greig Guthey, "Teaching social entrepreneurship and

innovation from the perspective of place and place-making," Academy of Management Learning & Education (2012).
150 David Burley, Pam Jenkins, Shirley Laska, and Traber Davis, "Place attachment and environmental change in coastal

Louisiana," Organization & Environment 20, no. 3 (2007), 347-366.

151 Christopher Alexander, Hansjoachim Neis, and Maggie Moore Alexander, The Battle for the Life and Beauty of the

Earth: A Struggle Between Two World-Systems (London: Oxford University Press, 2012).
152
Warwick Fox, A Theory of General Ethics: Human Relationships, Nature, and the Built Environment (Cambridge,
London: MIT Press, 2003), 56.
153 Ibid.

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Consequently, his theory of responsive cohesion advocates a fundamental and general approach for
seeking these sources of value.

Fox describes fundamental (or foundational) values as those that we ought to ‘live by’. He has developed
an approach integrating both anthropocentric and non-anthropocentric forms of value. This view has
had its critics, who see it as ‘ends-oriented’ and ‘non-anthropocentric’, 154 and ‘‘misanthropy’ and
‘totalitarianism’. It differs from the holistic and relational theories of values for environments in order to
grasp a secular basis for the ideas of human dignity, intrinsic values and individual responsibility.155
However, these values should be understood as a guide rather than a method to teach us what to do in
any situation. There is no fixed rule for how people should act in the world but a deep and general
interpretation derived from what Till refers to as ‘different ways of thinking.’156

A ‘relational quality’ or ‘form of recognition’ is the core principle of responsive cohesion that one needs
to recognise ‘a quality of the relations between the internal components of a “thing” and between the
“thing” and its contexts.’ 157 This notion of an abstract relational quality between the internal components
of a ‘thing’ and between the ‘thing’ and its contexts is linked to the notion of ‘connections’ between
patterns according to Alexander’s description. Fox’s ‘relational quality’ for responsive cohesion and
Alexander’s ‘connections’ for pattern language are also stressed by Zygmunt Bauman as he expands
the earlier thought of Emmanuel Levinas158 that in this quality lies an ethical stance for ‘assume(ing)
responsibility for the Other.’ 159 The significance of upholding the ethical thinking and responsibility is
apparent to make people, things and their contexts work together as a whole.

Thinking for the ‘Other’ represents the fundamental value of an ethics. It is an adhesive that connects
each component of a pattern into a sequence as well as into other patterns to form a ‘whole’. Levinas
proclaims a simple and direct definition of an ethics, originally stated as ‘being-for the Other’. This

154 Carlos Silva, "Urban planning and ethics," Encyclopedia of Public Administration and Public Policy (2005), 311-316.
155 Andrew Brennan, and YS Lo, Understanding Environmental Philosophy (Durham: Acumen, 2010), 138-182.
156 Jeremy Till, Architecture Depends, 164.
157 Antony Radford, "Urban design, ethics and responsive cohesion," Building Research & Information 38, no. 4 (2010),

379-389.
158 Emmanuel Levinas, "Time and the Other. 1947," The Levinas Reader, ed. Sean Hand (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1987),

37-58.
159 Zygmunt Bauman, Globalization: The Human Consequences (New York: Columbia University Press, 2000), 389.

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emphasizes the dynamics of social and cultural space rather than the ‘statics of vision’ that is fixed ethics
when morals are conflated with a universal code of morals, as envisaged by Harries.

Till elaborates further the meaning of ‘Other’, based upon the notion of an anthropocentric ‘Other’ in
terms of social relations. He points out that a crucial relationship exists between the ‘Other’ and the
individual, which is co-related and not mutually exclusive, especially in architectural practice. He argues
that the ‘Other’ is ‘inevitably diverse and unpredictable, and so an ethical stance must accept this
difference rather than attempt to muffle it under a blanket of universal morals.’ 160

The meaning of understanding the ‘difference’ for the ‘Other’ in social and cultural contexts is particularly
well illustrated by a student project carried out in Canada. In Thinking the Other: Towards Cultural
Diversity in Architecture, Tania Martin and Andre Casault have raised an increasingly difficult challenge
for architects facing current problems in designing for diverse communities due to the lack of considering
the ‘Other’ as being ‘different’. 161 In order to investigate the significant difference of the ‘Other’ in
divergent architectural practice, they collaborated with a group of their students and the Innu of Uashat
mak Mani-Utenam, a group of First Nations peoples in Quebec, to develop housing prototypes that
would demonstrate the sense of ‘hybrid’ of traditional and modern values. Through this project, they
emphasize that it is ‘essential’ to understand concepts of differences and divergence in current
architecture as a core value. Martin and Casault express their understanding that a successful project
depend on the fact that:

“People tacitly construct their personal and group identities against the “other” or others as it is
commonly through comparison, a process of figuring out how one differs from and how one is
similar to another that ultimately yields understanding and respect of self and other.” 162

Then, from a regional perspective, understanding the ‘Other’ offers an opportunity to think about the
significance of community values, and, as we have seen, Critical Regionalism shares similar concerns
for the value of linking aesthetics and ethics at both regional and global levels. This linking is emphasized

160 Jeremy Till, Architecture Depends, 164.

161 Tania Martin, and André Casault, "Thinking the Other: Towards cultural diversity in architecture," Journal of Architectural
Education 59, no. 1 (2005), 3-16.
162 Ibid, 3.

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by Anthony Radford in the journal article, ‘Responsive Cohesion as the Foundational Value in
Architecture’, when he argues that ‘the core skill’ of architects refers to a general ethical value applied
to the distinctive field of architecture. He claims that:

“If an ethic of responsive cohesion underlies our design process, the architect’s core set of skills
moves from being purely the invention of beautiful forms through a spatial/material language to
a core aptitude involving the connection of all natural, social, and material contexts surrounding
a construct. In other words, “core skill of an architect is the ability to give effect to a general
foundational value within the specific domain of architecture. This skill distinguishes architects
from other members of society.” 163

For an architect, value must lie in the integration of ethics and aesthetics within the specific frame of
design.

163Antony Radford, "Responsive cohesion as the foundational value in architecture," The Journal of Architecture 14, no. 4
(2009), 532.

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2.5 Summary

This chapter has offered a range of theoretical perspectives on how the design of everyday built space
can be understood in relation to: the creative design of form-patterns; architect’s ethical and aesthetic
values; constructed social experiences; environmental impacts and concerns; and interpretations of
lifestyle in a given place and time. Analysing the process of creating innovative everyday spaces, recent
discourse on the nature of contingent architectural practice draws out the responsibilities that architects
have in confronting the challenges they meet. Their work reflects the distinctive natural characteristics
of the local environment, and interprets the identity of regional culture in a variety of building types and
design forms. Understanding ‘place’ is the means to produce the everyday ’lived’ design of regional
architecture which is rooted in sites, local culture and natural environments. Quality in this process can
be achieved through an architect’s positive mindset for an environmentally-friendly lifestyle and for
recognizing the significance of responsive living in relation to the physical world, that is holding ethical
values for considering ‘others’, living and non-living things, to achieve harmonious co-existence in the
larger ecological system. This chapter has addressed the importance of making everyday space by
linking the creation of innovative patterns of physical built forms to design processes that seek
possibilities, with flexibility, tolerance and acceptance of the constant changes of everyday life, and to
architect’s ethical values for healing undeveloped and damaged built environments. In this way this
chapter has provided a theoretical framework for exploring the design principles, theory and methods
that inspired the aspirations of the Troppo practice. Alexander’s pattern language, Till’s perception in
challenging contingency in architecture, and Fox’s responsive cohesion provide relevant design theories
to make sense of Troppo’s design ideas and values for the design of houses. They will be examined in
Part 2 in relation to Harris’s and Welke’s attitudes towards circumstances, difficult situations, changes
of social, cultural and environmental contexts while Troppo expanded from one to five regional offices.
The following chapter presents the research methodology and procedures through which this study was
conducted.

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Chapter 3
Research Design and Methodology

This study utilises qualitative research on design to investigate the research questions using concepts
of patterns, contingency, and responsive cohesion. The methodology used in this research combines
design-based methods to seek answers, and to accomplish the research aims and objectives. These
methods are based on a theoretical framework established in the literature review in Chapter 2, case
study, interview, and explanatory observation. The methods are specifically used to collect primary data
(visual, written and oral sources), to analyse interview transcripts to extract themes and patterns, and to
compare the designs of Troppo’s built work through the lenses of time and of regional social, cultural
and environmental contexts.

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3.1 Introduction

Chapter 2 provided a literature review background of the theoretical framework for this research: pattern,
contingency and responsive cohesion. This framework comprises three themes that explore form-
making in Troppo’s design processes, seek reasons for certain solutions and decisions made in
response to circumstances and challenges in practice, and examine Troppo’s responses to changing
social, cultural and environmental contexts over time. Since this study is qualitative research, the
methodology used is to investigate various design factors, circumstances and situations affecting the
designs of houses in Troppo’s thirty-three-years of practice from the Top End dispersing to five regions
across Australia. There would be no specific coding program needed for seeking general patterns in
word and language usage in interview as the number of interviewees and the length of interviews were
manageable. Due to the nature of this design-practice-based research, the three research methods
proposed are case study, interview, and exploratory observation. These three methods offer ways to
look in depth at verbal descriptions, written narratives, graphical representation, sense-making decisions
in process, and work and life experiences. By using these methods, the analyses present information
that is meaningful and ‘information rich’ about human experience to capture a thick description164 and
connection between the meaning of architecture, unexpected circumstances and events, and the
architects’ ideology and design philosophy for constructing a vision of a sustainable world.

Case study offers a context-specific-based method to examine collected data in depth and breadth.
Interview offers interviewees a means to position themselves in a situational context to be able to recall
and depict the time of relevant events and activities in a natural-environment. Exploratory observation
gives an observer (the researcher of this study) the opportunity to take notes and gather relevant
information without disturbing the flow of events or activities.

Due to the complexity and number of design works Troppo have done over the years, the scope of this
research focuses on their built houses in Australia. This study concentrates on houses designed and

Clifford Geertz, “Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture,” in Readings in the Philosophy of the
164

Social Science (1994), 213 – 231.

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constructed in the first (1980 – 1990) and recent decade (2003 – 2013) of their practice 165. The primary
reason for only looking at the houses in the first and the recent decade was to seek similarities and
differences in the designs of Troppo houses with a span of a decade apart. Since Troppo and the
regional offices produced over a thousand residential projects at various scales and types, criteria for
the selection process of early and later houses was crucial as they might generate different answers to
the research questions. The primary research question focuses on seeking relationships between
Troppo’s Darwin office and the other four regional offices through the designs of houses they produce
in different times and places, and how contemporary regional designs reflect Troppo’s ethos and
relevance to an everyday lifestyle in particular. Some tactics are deployed to explore the answers for
the secondary research questions.

165
There was an eleven-year gap between the first decade and the recent decade of Troppo’s practice. During this gap,
Troppo mainly received commissioned projects from the Northern Territory government to build medium-density
military housing complex, community centre and school and public housing. There were only a few private residential
projects.

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Observation
Through
participants’
verbal
expressions and
body gestures
that reflect their
dynamic, fluid and
personal
behaviour in any
natural situation
and environment

Figure 3.1 This conceptual diagram displays an overview of how theoretical framework, research methodology
and methods work together for seeking the answers of the research questions.

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3.2 Three Stage tactics

In stage one a corpus of early Troppo houses was examined to seek repetitive forms, commonly used
materials, specific sequences of spatial arrangements, and frequently used architectural components,
details and construction methods. These features can be characterised to form a representation of
Darwin Troppo houses in the 1980s, and be regarded as a Troppo language reflecting their expertise in
Tropical architecture during a decade of practice. In stage two, this language was then used to compare
contemporary regional houses to reveal nuances developed over time. Tactics for stage two investigated
the nature of Troppo’s expansion to five regional offices. Circumstances, unexpected human factors,
and influential situations and aspects were sought for their impact and affect on Troppo’s values,
attitudes, and ethos in contemporary housing design. Tactics for stage three drew interconnections,
relevance and significance of the findings in relation to design themes – patterns, contingency and
responsive cohesion. The thesis concludes by briefly examining how patterns developed in the designs
of Troppo houses over three decades of practice are useful to designers, architects, students and other
professionals in enhancing ways of creating everyday spaces in response to social, cultural and
environmental contexts.

STAGE 2
Changes to Troppo patterns
*Five regional Troppo houses
*Built between 2003 and 2013
*Similarities and differences STAGE 3
Seeking relationships between circumstances (people, Reasons for
The work of place, regulations) and the adaptability of Troppo patterns changes to
Troppo
Architects Troppo Patterns
1980 ~ 2013 * Reasons and facts
Pattern Responsive * Evaluation and
Darwin
Contingency significance
Townsville Language Cohesion
* Implications
Adelaide
Byron Bay
Perth

STAGE 1
Troppo patterns
*20 Darwin houses
*Built between 1980 & 1990
*Hard and soft spaces (Jonathan Raban’s Soft City)

Figure 3.2 The conceptual diagram for the 3 stages of the theories applied in the research.

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3.3 Scope and Limitations

One thousand four hundred and eighty-one houses 166 are recorded in Troppo’s special job-record
notebook up to 2003. A list of criteria was therefore needed to narrow down to an appropriate number
of case study houses. The criteria were based on the merit and significance of houses that suited the
nature of the case studies. The scope of this study seeks the presence of patterns in hard (physical and
architectural) space and soft (psychological and sensual) space, any contingency that causes changes
to the patterns, and the state of achieving responsive cohesion in relation to the quality of lived everyday
spaces. The criteria were:

• the early houses built in the first decade should be in Darwin;

• each selected house must be recommended or endorsed by Troppo, such as Harris and
Welke for the selection of the 1980s Darwin houses, and the regional directors for the
selection of contemporary houses;
• a corpus of early Darwin houses was recommended by Welke for design significance,
supplied by merit demonstrated by awards, and being used as references in publications;
• some accessibility for site visits to take photographs and the surroundings,
• the occupants’ availability for interviews and a house tour for the five contemporary
houses;
• all selected houses have gone through design and construction processes with Troppo,
and are currently occupied and used as a family home.

This set of criteria imposed some limitations on this research, requiring the selected houses to be
designed and built within specific time-frames.

The following section describes how research methods were used to analyse the first-hand data —
written, verbal and graphic materials — for seeking repetitive design features and characteristics of
spatial planning, and the connotations associated with the use of certain building materials, details and

166According to the record of Troppo’s job bookkeeping and Welke’s explanation in an interview in 2010, the number hits
one thousand four hundred and eighty-one number job and the recording is then stopped after the year 2003 due to the
scribbles of children all over the page.

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construction methods. Most importantly, the methods were used to search for the meaning of these
design components in relation to Troppo’s values, attitudes and ethos.

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3.4 Research methods

The methodology is a constructivist hermeneutic approach for interpreting the verbal materials of
‘unheard truth’ and ‘worthiness’ as socially constructed fragments, values and beliefs of individuals. This
approach makes sense of how Troppo, its partners and clients interact in design processes, and the
derivation of design outcomes associated with their understanding and the ways they perceive everyday
living in this world. The analysis of the collected information and the way transcribing the findings is
based from a third-person interpretative perspective. A hermeneutic approach reveals unknown,
unheard, and unseen design patterns and actions through illustrations and narratives.

Case study, interview and exploratory observation were the three methods for getting closer to the
‘reality’ of participants’ views of the world and for exploring the ‘social construction of knowledge’. 167The
case study approach offers an in-depth understanding of the physical making of an artefact. By
analysing designs and the design-making processes of Troppo houses, an insight is offered into the
impact of Troppo’s values and rigor on form and practice. Interview and exploratory observation are
tactics for unravelling the influences of external forces (people, circumstance and policy), unanticipated
events and circumstances. Both offer an opportunity to depict the unseen interactions with the
inhabitants/clients, partners of practice, in-house architects and Troppo through the tone of voice, body
gestures and verbal descriptions of their relationships. Figure 3.3 illustrates how these methods sought
answers to the primary and secondary research questions and offer ways to accomplish the aims and
objectives of this study.

167 Egon Guba and Yvonna Lincoln, “Competing paradigms in qualitative research.” Handbook of Qualitative Research 2,

(1994), 163-194.

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OBSERVATION 1
*site visits
CASE STUDY
*office visits
*seeking Troppo pattern-forms and design language
*the process of design in
*Pattern study: 20 early Darwin Troppo houses
graphics
*5 case studies: five regional contemporary Troppo
*the engagement
The work of houses
between architects and
Troppo working environments
Architects
1980 ~ 2013
Darwin
Case Study Interview Observation
Townsville
Adelaide
Byron Bay
Perth
INTERVIEW OBSERVATION 2
* Two founders of Troppo *emotional responses
* Directors, manager(s), in-house via verbal expressions
architects (former and current) and body language
*residents

Figure 3.4 This conceptual diagram presents the research methods and ways of operation

3.4.1 Case study

Case study is a method for a holistic and in-depth investigation. This method aims to identify the
relationships between participants, real-life contexts, boundaries and contemporary phenomena. 168 It
helps to set up a context for understanding multiple perspectives of ‘insiders’ for real-life contexts, and
retrieve interpretative findings which can be as close as possible to reality. 169

168 Robert Yin, Case Study Research: Design and Methods (London: SAGE Publications, 2008); Robert Yin, “Discovering

the future of the case study method in evaluation research.” Evaluation Practice 15, no.3 (1994), 283 -290; Anthony Orum
and Feagin Sjoberg, “Introduction: The nature of the case study,” A Case for the Case Study (Chapel Hill, NC: University of
North Carolina Press, 1991), 1-26; Winston Tellis, “Application of a case study methodology,” The Qualitative Report 3,
no.3 (1997), 1-17.
169 Robert Yin, Case study research: design and methods, 3rd ed, (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2003). Yin’s four steps of

conducting a case study are 1) Design the case study, 2) conduct the case study, 3) analyse the evidence collected and/or
found from the case study, and 4) Develop the conclusions, recommendations and implications from the case study.

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Case study in this research consists of collecting first-hand data, analysing these data, seeking repetitive
design features and characterising them into patterns. Through this method sensual experiences offer
a feel of how everyday life is lived in the house. Physical-spatial experience can be gained by site visits,
taking photographs, and a tour of the selected house. They are intended to experience spatial
arrangements and see Troppo’s architectural components and elements in detail. The case studies also
help grasp the outcomes of Troppo’s design principles by analysing floor plans, section drawings and
publications. In this way design and construction processes, influential decisions that change design
principles, theory and methods, and the impact on the design outcomes of external forces (people,
building codes, situations) can be revealed.

Two stages were implemented to collect graphic data and analyse them to provide an overview of design
processes, decision-making situations, contextual relationships between drawings, the architect, and
clients, and other design-related factors that lead to final productions. Timeframe was a factor in setting
up two stages as it divided Troppo’s practice into a ‘developing design phase’ and a ‘stability design
phase’. They are as follows.

Stage One focused on a corpus of twenty 1980s Darwin houses. These houses were specifically
selected with Welke in the Perth office as the Perth office holds the archive of Troppo’ early
projects up to the year when Harris moved and set up the Adelaide office. In stage one, collecting
first-hand data encompasses original full sets of working drawings and old photographs, early
and developed manuscripts for publications, news articles, conference papers, party invitations,
sketches of objects, people, houses and landscapes, and flyers for public speaker series and
lectures. They offered an insight into how Troppo developed their design principles, theory and
method, and implemented them in real life projects, and how they used their spare time to enrich
their local experience, knowledge and interaction with the local communities. The use of unedited
old photographs in the later chapters was intended to retain their originality, express history and
draw contrast between old and new photographs.

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Troppo’s sketches and drawings are key media to understand the authenticity of their architecture
and a means to observe the inner world of their thinking. Troppo’s ideas and dreams reside in
the lines of their drawings. These are the origin of many of the forms that have become
characteristic of their architecture. They also express their architectural values, and reflect their
understanding of how ‘place, people and stuff’ 170 work as a whole. 171

Stage Two focused on five contemporary regional houses built in the recent decade of practice
(2003 - 2013). These were chosen according to the regional directors’ recommendations. These
recommendations were based on the significance of the house to the director in terms of its
architectural merit and their judgement of the appropriateness of the project to this study. Each
regional house was relatively close to the location of its regional office as they are the
representative of each regional Troppo practice. The first-hand data was collected at all five
regional offices. The data was mainly digital graphics in 2D and 3D drawings as there was very
little writing about these houses. The collected materials cover sets of working drawings, 3-D
computer models, sketches, and relevant information such as design project posters prepared
as part of work portfolios for future clients. The design language found in stage one was used to
examine similarities and differences between the 1980s Darwin houses and the five regional
houses. Form, materiality, texture, detail, technology and construction were design aspects
looked at in drawing links between the Troppo founders and the regional directors’ design
objectives, perceptions, and intrinsic values, particularly in relation to sustainability.

3.4.2 Observation

Observation on site and office visits was crucial as it allowed a spontaneous recording of real-life events
and activities. The note-taking approach was used as design processes and conversations in Troppo’s
office environment are vibrant and fast-pace. These descriptive notes captured actions in terms of
Troppo, directors and in-house architects producing sketches for preliminary design concepts, engaging

170 ‘Place, people and stuff, in that order’ was an expression Sydney Architect Paul Pholeros used to categorize
architectural characteristics in design with the consideration of environmental factors, such as levels of human comfort, the
consumption of energy use and material in response to the local and global contexts.
171 In Understanding Sustainable Architecture, the authors further extend this expression to make sense of housing design

fit cohesively and responsively into the multifaceted aspects of the reality world people live in.

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themselves in interaction and dialogue for design problems and details with each other on office-visit
occasions. Most importantly, the trace of Troppo’s office culture identified their natural responses to
each other and detected the sense of mentorship in their everyday work environment.

Observation of participants’ behaviour was also made while conducting interviews with them. It was
important to take notes of their tone of voices, verbal and facial expressions and body gestures as they
were indicators of their psychological and natural responses, such as excitement, delight, frustration,
consent, disagreement, contemplation and satisfaction. With the occupants of Troppo houses,
responses yielded a previously unknown and yet vital expression of their values, attitudes and beliefs
about the quality of the designs of their houses.

3.4.3 Exploratory interview

Face-to-face interviews offered in-depth descriptions of the architect’s design concerns for typology and
ecological issues, external criteria, and ethical values. They also provided an opportunity for engaging
in the visual reality for residents of their physical and emotional experiences with, within and around
space and nature. An intriguing insight was articulated through architects’ words about the processes of
spatial arrangements, of the relationships between spaces, breezes, lights, sound, movements, and
changing outlooks. Immersing oneself within Troppo’s space through words was a way to explore and
feel the resident’s ‘inner soul’ in connecting with their living space, community, nature and the world.

Interviewees were the founders of Troppo, Phil Harris and Adrian Welke, and the stakeholders
associated with the selected Troppo houses. Three interviews were scheduled with both Harris and
Welke between 2010 and 2016. The first interview focused on the first decade of their practice and the
history of their practice development and the second interview focused on their reflections on thirty-
three-years of practice with variations of design projects and the expansion and development of regional
offices. The last interview focused on their personal reflection on the success and/or shortcomings of
their practice in five regional offices. For interviews with Harris, Welke, the regional former and current
directors and in-house architects, an hour was scheduled each time with semi-structured questions via
office phone, Skype on-line and personal contact if the interviewee was unavailable at the time of the
fieldwork. For interviews with the occupants of the selected early and contemporary Troppo houses,

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they were conducted once during the site visit of the field work or via the researcher’s office phone when
the occupants of the house were not available at the time of the visits in 2011, 2012 and 2013. For
interviews with the former regional directors and former in-house architects, the interviews were
conducted via emails and video-conferences on Skype in accordance with their availability between
2011 and 2014.

Troppo founders:
• Adrian Welke (Founder of Darwin office, now practising in Perth)
• Phil Harris (Founder of Darwin office, now practising in Adelaide)

The first interview with Welke was on the 11th of December, 2010 while conducting the field work
collecting the first-hand information (sketches, news articles, conference papers, working drawings for
the projects built up to 1998) at the Perth office, and followed by another interview with Harris scheduled
on the 12th of February, 2011 as well as to collect some first-hand information mostly on the projects
built in Adelaide after 1999. The second interview with Harris was scheduled on the 18th of March, 2013
followed by another second interview with Welke on the 5th of April 2014. The final interview with Harris
was scheduled on the 1st of March, 2016 followed by the interview with Welke on the next day 2nd of
March, 2016 to conclude the process.

Directors of regional offices:

• Greg McNamara (deceased former director of Troppo in Darwin)
• Geoff Clark (former director of Troppo in Townsville and now Senior Lecturer in the University of
Tasmania)
• Terry O’Toole (current director of Troppo in Townsville)
• Cary Duffield (co-director of Troppo with Phil Harris in Adelaide)
• Dan Connolly (manager of Troppo in Byron Bay)

Cary Duffield was the regional co-director of the Adelaide office with Harris and was interviewed first on
the 15th of April, 2011. Greg McNamara was the regional director of the Darwin office, interviewed on
the 11th and 12th of July, 2011. Terry O’Toole was the regional director of the Townsville office,

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interviewed on the 11th of May, 2012. Dan Connolly was the regional manager (Welke specifically
defined his role in the Troppo’s practice) of the Byron Bay office, interviewed on the 11th of July, 2012.
Geoff Clark was the former regional director of the Townsville office, interviewed on the 14th of
December, 2012 via Skype. Clark was working and living in Tasmania at the time.

Selected residents of early Darwin houses (1980 – 1990) and contemporary houses (2003 – 2013):
• Residents of a cluster of Troppo houses in Troppoville, Coconut Grove, and Palmerston, Darwin
• One contemporary house in the locale of each of the regional offices: Darwin, Townsville,
Adelaide, Byron Bay and Perth

The residents in Troppoville, Coconut Grove were interviewed during the first field trip to Darwin between
the 10th and 14th of July, 2011. The residents in Palmerston were not available during the time of that
visit. The residents in each regional contemporary house were successfully interviewed mostly in
person, except those living in Perth who were interviewed via a phone call in 2013. The dates of these
interviews were on the 13th of July, 2011 in Howards Spring, Darwin; on the 13th of July, 2012 on the
Magnetic Island, Townsville; on the 5th of June, 2012 in Torrens Park, Adelaide; on the 13th of July, 2012
in Brighton, Byron Bay; and last on the 5th of May, 2013 to the residents who lived in Perth respectively.

Former and current in-house architects:

• Andrew O’Loughlin (Troppo’s associate in both Darwin and Adelaide)
• Joanna Rees (Former architect in Darwin office who now runs her own practice, Jar Architect, in
Darwin; associated particularly with the Rozak House with Welke)
• Victor Ci (a senior architect who is in charge of CAD system in the Adelaide office)
• Aftab Khasmina (former architect in the Townville office who now works in Dubai)
• Zammi Rohan (former architect in the Townsville office and now the director of his own practice
– 9 point 9 Architect)

Andrew O’Loughlin was an associate of both Darwin and Adelaide offices and the very first person who
was interviewed on the 6th of June, 2010, followed by an interview with the senior architect, Victor Ci,
who was in charge of CAD system in the Adelaide office on the 18th of June, 2010 in the researcher’s

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office in the University of Adelaide. Aftab Khasmina was the former architect of the Townsville office
interviewed on the 12th of May, 2012. Joanna Rees was the former architect of the Darwin office
interviewed on the 12th of July, 2012. Finally, Zammi Rohan was the former architect of the Townsville
office interviewed via several email exchanges on the 26th of September, 2014.

All interviewees received an email about the convenient time and date. After conducting each interview,
the content of the interview was documented as a transcription and sent to the interviewee for
confirmation. Dwelling clients/occupants were asked to complete a survey about their feelings and the
process of involvement with the architects after the interview. This survey was distributed by email.
Completion of the survey signified willingness to participate. Participants, according to the agreements,
could withdraw from interviews at any time.

Before conducting interviews, applying for human research ethics approval was mandatory. Approval
through The University of Adelaide Faculty of the Professions Human Research Ethics Committee
process for conducting interviews was sought because the nature of this research was classified as ‘low
risk’. The approval was received in July 2010, the first six months of the researcher’s candidature prior
to the scheduled dates of interviews. All consent forms and relevant information for the objectives of this
research were sent to all participants two weeks to one month in advance before the field trips were
planned. Most participants agreed to the terms and conditions of the interviews that the researcher was
given the permission to use full names, the location of the house and office, and the members of the
households as well as to quote and publish the content of the conversations in the thesis, conference
papers and journal articles. General descriptions, such as the residents, were used instead of full names
because most residents of the 1980s Troppo Darwin houses and contemporary Troppo houses made
the request of remaining anonymous. A few participants in the Coconut Grove, Darwin, proactively
asked to participate in this research voluntarily without contact prior to the trip. They signed the consent
forms and retrieved the relevant information before the interview was conducted.

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3.5 Summary

The theories, research methodology and methods aim to seek the objectives and influences that lead
to Troppo’s design forms and compositions by:

1. Collating and analysing the distinctive built forms, details, materials, construction methods,
and daily living-routines in the space of the early Troppo houses in Darwin, allowing the
articulation of a design language consisting of architectural forms (vocabulary for visual
features) and patterns (syntax for configurations);
2. Seeking the significance of Troppo’s visual forms and spatial patterns in correspondence to
the design of physical movements in space, of functionality of spaces, and of interactions
between occupants and indoor space, outdoor space, changing views, senses, sounds,
wildlife and their surroundings for everyday life as well as recognizing the embedded meaning
of these forms and patterns for an interpretation of the richness of regional culture and of
distinctive tropical climate in the Top End of Australia;
3. Investigating any intangible elements associated with these forms and patterns that distinguish
the design of Troppo from the work of other architects;
4. Collecting relevant information and evidence that make noticeable changes to the work of
Troppo over time and drawing correlations between changes, processes and products in
practice;
5. Identifying changes to Troppo’s values and attitudes during the expansion to different
branches;
6. Examining changes in design strategies and adoption of technology in response to different
climates, and regional social, cultural and environmental contexts in contemporary
architectural practice;
7. These six research components are built on Alexander’s theory of A Pattern Language, Fox’s
concept of responsive cohesion in his Theory of General Ethics, and Till’s highlighting of
architecture as a contingent practice in his Architecture Depends. Through this multifaceted
methodology, the work and experience of Troppo has been examined as a possible exemplar

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for developing a personal design language for responsive practice in the inevitable ‘mess’ of
life.

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 CHAPTER 4: IDENTIFYING PATTERNS

Chapter 4
Identifying Patterns

This chapter focuses on the first decade of Troppo’s residential houses (1980-1990) in order to identify
their distinctive architectural features and design elements. It has been suggested that a professional
takes 10 years of practice to become an expert. 172 Through an analysis of a corpus of twenty Darwin
houses over 10 years, the development of Troppo’s design ideas and concepts will be revealed. Some
important connections will be drawn between Troppo’s design ideas and four fundamental principles,
identifying the variations of forms to make sense of their values and their practice ethos. These
connections can be sought by looking closely at a collection of sketches and old photographs, working
drawings (plans, sections and details), interviews, and written documents which, taken together, are a
record of Troppo’s design processes and their responses to site and climatic conditions, as well as to
social, cultural and environmental contexts. Form patterns are identified by seeking similarities in the
designs of the Darwin houses. The presence of a Troppo language will then be identified through these
similarities in spatial planning, form, materiality, detail, and construction. Through this language the
significance of a symbolic line – ‘the tenth line’ – is understood as a key to the design of Troppo’s early
houses. This tenth line is a crucial line in a drawing of a cubic space which visually transforms a solid
and enclosed space into a transparent and open space. The descriptions of the tenth line, as mentioned
in Chapter 1, are included in Philip Goad’s books, Troppo 173 and New Directions in Australian
Architecture. 174 This chapter will finally show how Troppo’s tenth line manifests itself in a variety of
Troppo houses that reflect a laid-back lifestyle. Most importantly, connections will be drawn between the

172 Anders Ericsson, Ray Perez, David Eccles, Laura Lang, Eva Baker, John Bransdord, Kurk Vanlehn, and Paul Ward,
“Development of professional expertise: toward measurement of expert performance and design of optimal learning
environments”, The Measurement and Development of Professional Performance: An Introduction to the Topic and a
Background to the Design and Origin of this Book (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), 1-25.
173 Philip Goad, Troppo: Architecture for the Top End (Balmain: Pesaro Publishing, 1999), 90.
174 Philip Goad and Patrick Bingham-Hall, New Directions in Australian Architecture (Singapore: Periplus, 2005), 246.

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idea of this tenth line, the Australian slang of ‘Going Troppo’, and a tropical lifestyle characterised by
qualities of delight and excitement.

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4.1 Introduction

To Harris and Welke, ‘the tenth line’ represents infinite opportunities for innovative designs; it becomes
a symbol for shelter, and the means for creating everyday living space. This simple line that sits between
two-dimensional and three-dimensional drawings offers a perspective for understanding plans, forms,
and spaces in relation to styles of everyday living. The meaning of this line, which Harris and Welke
sought to explain both in popular local newspaper articles as well as academic conference papers (as
will be examined below), is embedded within the design of Troppo’s early Darwin houses. They were
inspired by the sequence of dwellings from Australian Aboriginal humpies and built-on-site shelters to
complex regional vernaculars in what Harris called ‘The shelter numberline’ (Figure 4.1a).

Figure 4.1a Harris’s ‘The shelter numberline’ as an inspiration for ‘shelter for everyday living’. Sketches by Harris.
Date unknown.

In their first conference paper Relevant Housing: An Historic Overview of Tropical Housing in the
Northern Territory, with Implications for Future Solutions, shelter was conceived as the way to
‘everyman’s decision to live or partly live in the North’ and showed ‘responsiveness to both climate and
place.’175 This paper demonstrated their intent to define and espouse the significant heritage of regional
housing in the Tropical Top End (Figure 4b). Their local knowledge and experience were accumulated

175Phil Harris, and Adrian Welke, “Relevant Housing: An Historic Overview of Tropical Housing in the NT with Implications
of Future Solutions,” Menzies Foundation Conference, June (1981), 63.

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through their observation of the relationships between past and present lifestyles, the availability of
resources, and the opportunities that climate, site, place and the local community could offer.

Architecture is the study of shelter. It all consciously began with the exploration of geometry and
its lessons of relationships between lines, shapes and space, in the early Egyptian and Greek
days (3000-500BC)… Between then and now architects have come to know a fair bit about what
shelter can achieve for us… so that we might function a little better in sharing it, might feel just
right in it and looking at it, and notice afresh aspects of a location and site.’176

Troppo were advocates for establishing relationships between appropriate built forms, affordable
lifestyles in the tropics, the diversity of built environments, ecological balance, easily accessible
resources, and local cultural identity. They attempted to rectify the misconception of heritage in ruins,
such as seen in Australian Aboriginals’ shelter and humpies, and they took the simplicity of this built
form as inspiration for fundamental principles for passive design. They also found exemplars of both
climatically appropriate and affordable housing designs the structure on stilts and construction materials
(bamboo and palm leaves) of Southeast Asian vernacular architecture associated with the ‘Macassan’
fisherman (from Makassar and other ports in the Indonesian archipelago), who had been seasonal
visitors to Northern Australian shores before and during the era of European colonial contact 177 (Figure
4.1b). Other regional vernaculars and climatic conditions were used as the foundations of design
concepts for spatial arrangements and configurations of geometric form for expressing their knowledge
and awareness of physical impacts on the environments and as interpretations of regional cultures and
social patterns. The award winning ‘Green Can’ house of 1981 and the ‘Troppo Type Five’ house
designs of 1990 became some of the most recognised statements of Troppo’s gestures towards
Australian regional architecture in the Top End and their advocacy of low-cost and low-energy
approaches to house design. Troppo continually learned from historical and regional buildings,
integrating their lessons into innovative designs and go-with-the-flow attitudes relating to the heat, the
rain, and the harsh built environments of the Top End. Their ambition for a sustainable living lifestyle
was not impacted by the increasing presence and pressure of boxed homes but was rather strengthened
by their active role in publishing their practice ethos both locally and nationally.

176 Phil Harris, and Adrian Welke, “Relevant Housing: An Historic Overview of Tropical Housing in the NT with Implications

of Future Solutions,” 18.

177 Charles Macknight, "Macassans and the Aboriginal past," Archaeology in Oceania 21, no. 1 (1986), 69-75

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Macassan Shelter: ‘Macassans at Victoria drawn by Chinatown remnant humpy, Pine Creek Goldfields
Melville in 1845

Aboriginal shelter for rain, wind and shade

Figure 4.1b Troppo’s architecture begins with the concept of shelter and heritage, which is evident from their
collection of images, old photographs and sketches drawn for a joint paper presented to the Northern Territory
Secondary Schools Year 12 Geography Conference at the Northern Territory Museum, Bullocky Point, Darwin
on 14 June, 1984.

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4.2 The contexts of the Top End

Understanding the contexts of the Top End gives an insight to understand the development of Troppo’s
design principles, theory, methods and ethos for their tropical house design in response not only to
climate but to social, cultural and environmental aspects of the northern region of Australia as well. The
following sub-sections offer an overview of the geographical setting, climate, social, cultural and
environmental contexts of Darwin. They provide important contextual information to draw links to the
development of Troppo’s four fundamental design principles, as well as to the process of creating their
theory and design methods, especially their philosophy for sustainability and simplicity. An overview of
the contexts of the Top End offers an understanding of how Troppo design elements and features were
shaped by their own research, observations, living experiences and publications, especially for a lifestyle
that suits the site, the climate, the residents of the local communities, the diversity of regional cultures,
the dynamics of social structures, and the living environment of the tropics.

4.2.1 Climatic conditions and built environments in the Top End

Darwin’s weather offers residents and travellers unique living experiences with its distinctive Wet and
Dry seasons of tropical living conditions. This schizophrenic Wet and Dry weather creates some extreme
conditions which houses need to accommodate. The average temperature in Darwin is 28.0 °C and the
average temperature range is 4°C. The highest average temperature is 34 °C in October and November.
The lowest average temperature is 20°C in July. The monthly average rainfall is 124mm with an average
rainfall of 0mm in July as the driest month and 411mm in January as the wettest month. The average
annual relative humidity is 56% and the average monthly relative humidity range is from 44% in July to
72% in February. 178 The weather is described as a tropical savannah region (Figure 4.3.1a). An
elaborated and detailed description of the Wet and Dry weather in this climatic region is presented in
David Bridgman’s book, Acclimatisation: Architecture at the Top End of Australia which documents early

178The Australia map is accessed via Bureau of Meteorology website online link
http://maps.unomaha.edu/peterson/funda/MapLinks/Australia/Australia.htm and viewed on 4 July, 2013. The diagram of
Darwin temperatures and rainfall is taken from Weather zone website online link
http://www.weatherzone.com.au/climate/station.jsp?lt=site&lc=14015 and viewed on 17 April, 2016.

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domestic buildings constructed by the government, individual architects and church groups throughout
the Northern Territory. 179

Darwin

Townsville

Byron
Bay

Perth

Adelaide

179David Bridgman, Acclimatisation: Architecture at the Top End of Australia (Melbourne: Royal Australian Institute of
Australia, 2003. Bridgman’s book illustrates a series of domestic scale buildings from the beginning of European settlement
(1788) in the eighteenth century up to the turn of the twenty-first century (2003). Those buildings are selected in particular
because they were designed by prominent and influential architects of the tropical northern region throughout the transition
of defining Australian architecture, particularly the ones responded to climatic and environmental constraints such as Edwin
Henderson, John George Knight, Glenn Murcutt and Troppo.

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Figure 4.2.1a The climate groups in Australia (Top) and the climate graph (Bottom) of Darwin.

In Troppo’s 1981 research report, Punkahs and Pith Helmets: Good Principles of Tropical House Design,
they placed central importance on the issues of climate and setting. They emphasized the significance
of sun paths and wind directions in both Wet and Dry Seasons through relevant illustrations (Figure
4.2.1b). These diagrams show their awareness of the climate of the Top End as the basis for considering
the orientation of floor plans, spatial arrangements, construction materials and the necessity for
architectural elements such as verandahs, positions of windows, shutters, and louvres in conjunction
with a building’s natural settings of site and surroundings. Furthermore, Darwin’s savannah tropical
climate and distinctive landscape settings (sandstone plateau, escarpment and forests) is home to many
unique flora and fauna, 180 which Troppo included as part of considerations for their design ideas.

180 The source of information was taken from the Savanna Explorer, North Australia information resource website online

link http://www.savanna.org.au/al/al_landscape.html, viewed on July 9, 2012.

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‘Site features: trees and landforms are positively used for climatic – sun and wind
control.’181

Figure 4.2.1b Diagrams of wind roses (Left) and of sun paths (Right) display Troppo’s rigor in establishing
a fundamental understanding of the local climate and sensitivity of the place.

Thus climatic conditions played a crucial role in influencing the Troppo approach to responsive
architecture. However, the evolution of Troppo’s principles and concepts in design was also integrally
connected to the social and cultural contexts of their early work. The following section gives an overview
of how their design philosophy reflects the vital importance of regional cultural identity and gives an
appropriate interpretation of tropical design.

4.2.2 Social structure and cultural references

These two important technical-report-based documents, Influences in Regional Architecture in 1978 and
Punkahs and Pith Helmets in 1981, were not only presenting Troppo’s knowledge in acclimatised
designs but also demonstrating how the major cultural aspects of the region, notably the significance of
foreign cultures and historical settlements, impacted on their thinking in the first decade of their practice.
Here they provided detailed descriptions of archetypal vernacular dwellings – Aboriginal peoples’

181
Phil Harris, and Adrian Welke, Punkahs & Pith Helmets: Good Principles of Tropical House Design (Darwin:
Professional Services Branch, Northern Territory Department of Education, 1981), 15.

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humpies, Macassan fishermen’s elevated huts, ‘southern and western-world-everywhere’ 182 cottages of
colonial and early post-colonial and hybrid vernacular – in sketches and in writing. They documented
the diversity of forms, the sources of local materials and the reasoning behind elevated constructions.
Their sketches and descriptive narratives of native and colonial life show the nuances of form and details
of tropical housing associated with social patterns and economic situations in the Top End since the
early 1800s.

These Troppo writings track the historical movements and conditions of life of Darwin’s diverse
inhabitants. Apart from the original Aboriginal inhabitants, the second group of settlers were Macassan
fishermen, who came from the South Celebes in search of their food resources of trepang (sea slug)
along the Top End shores in the 1830s. 183 The stilted constructions and steep pitched roofs of their
bamboo and palm dwellings brought in a unique and exotic model of ‘island architecture’ 184 to northern
Australia. Elevated floors on stumps, steep-pitched roofs, lightweight cladding and open planning were
then adopted by English settlers and progressively integrated and adapted by later British migrants
during the 1800s.

Along with British Military settlements between 1824 and 1849, there were Singaporean, Pacific and
Indian settlers carrying a ‘totemic image’ of tropical dwellings to Top End housing. There was a tendency
to integrate foreign design features with the Top End vernaculars, showing a sense of respect and
acceptance for cultural differences. The act of ‘conscious borrowing’ indicated a critical thinking in
enhancing the practicality of regional architecture at the time.

“One could have hardly expected these settlers (British) to learn about habitation of isolation and
environmental hostility… it is not impracticable to suggest that a conscious borrowing of
‘architectural’ principles, form and detail did occur… though naturally always in application to a
‘civilised house’. Architectural evidence does in fact suggest this to be the case.” 185

182 A paper, “Climate as a Determinant in Tropical Architecture with Particular Reference to the Top End”, was presented to
the NT Secondary Schools Year 12 Geography Conference on 14 June, 1984.
183 Charles Macknight, "Macassans and the Aboriginal past," Archaeology in Oceania 21, no. 1 (1986), 69-75.
184 Charles Macknight, The Farthest Coast: a Selection of Writings Relating to the History of the Northern Coast of

Australia (Melbourne: Melbourne University, 1969), 69.

185 Phil Harris, and Adrian Welke. Punkahs & Pith Helmets: Good Principles of Tropical House Design, 10.

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In the Punkahs and Pith Helmets report, Troppo elaborated in detail the early Australian links between
the Northern Territory and South Australia which were made in two expeditions by McDouall-Stuart in
the early 1860s. The first attempted settlement was near the Adelaide River in 1865 but this was
unsuccessful. The second attempt was in Palmerston in 1886, proclaimed to be the first ‘impetus for
civilian settlement’. This first site of combined activities was identified as a cosmopolitan and culture-
rich settlement with the subsequent development of the Overland Telegraph line from Adelaide to
Darwin, gold mining around Pine Creek, and the planned construction of a rail link from Adelaide to
Darwin, begun in 1889 but not completed until 2004. Further activity brought Singaporean, Malay,
Chinese and Japanese people to be employed in a northern pearling industry at Broome in the north of
Western Australia. Thus the Troppo interest was to show how, during this period between 1865 and
1897, a progressive display of diverse building designs was made in response to a combination of
Eastern and Western lifestyles and how this led to the distinctive characteristics of some residential and
commercial buildings.

Government House in Darwin in 1883 was an early example of what became a ubiquitous northern
Australian housing style with Oriental architectural features in a symbolic expression of cultural
acceptance in the dwellings of white settlers.

“This diversity was expressed in buildings of the time, too. Administrative buildings of stone,
suggestive of pretension and permanence, borrowed architectural form and detail directly from
contemporary southern colonial building; galvanized iron streetscapes of Chinatowns offered a
rich, alternative aesthetic of proportion, decoration and form; and weatherboarded, front-
verandahed stores and canvas clad hotels were reminiscent of their southern frontier
counterpart…cross-cultural adaptions to traditional building forms began to be manifest –
adaptions perhaps wrought of regional climatic and landscape peculiarities.”186

186 Phil Harris, and Adrian Welke. Punkahs & Pith Helmets: Good Principles of Tropical House Design, 11.

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Figure 4.2.2 Adapted architecture was obvious with ‘iron roof …shaded with bark’ (Left) and early
architect J. G. Knight’s bungalow (Right) of ‘wood and iron and laced bamboo’ for ‘a tropical paradise.’
Sketches by Harris, date unknown.

Another point of interest identified by Troppo was that there were two distinct phases in the
development of the Top End housing styles and these were characterised by two features: the
first being the Australian cultural symbol of the verandah, 187 and the second, the use of materials
and spatial planning. The first phase was in the period between 1913 and the late 1920s and the
second phase was after the 1930s. The dominant housing style in the first phase had a simple
building form with ‘enclosed’ verandahs with slatted walling and shutters of timber or bamboo,
with kitchen and bathroom in an outbuilding (Figure 4.2.2). Internal light canvas blinds were
installed to offer additional protection from heat and excessive sunlight. Roofing was of
corrugated iron and invariably ridge-vented. After the 1930s, floor plans and roof forms became
more complex with innovative designs and robust materiality of asbestos-cement sheet for
internal walls, corrugated iron roof cladding, and casement windows. Most importantly, houses
were elevated on stumps or stilts for gaining ‘under-the-house’ space for cooling, storage and
alternative living space. The ‘post-and-beam’ construction with steel and timber became the
construction norm for its lightweight, easy construction and portability. They were characterised
as a distinctive residence style of the Anglo-Asian Bungalow in the tropical north. These features
were later modified by the then government architect, B.C.G Burnett and promoted by the
Department of Works for generating a series of twenty-two Anglo-Asian Bungalow types (Type A
to Type W) with a ‘Department of Works tropical style’ for housing Commonwealth officers
residing in Darwin. 188 These government housing designs became the inspiration for tropical
housing more generally, and were influential much later in Troppo’s designs for houses in the
Top End which, as Bridgman has noted, were ‘evocative of the tropics and reminiscent of a long-
distant colonial past’ associated with ‘leisure, pleasure and prosperity’. 189

187 The word, verandah, came from India and became a culturally significant feature in Australian vernacular architecture in

colonial buildings during the 1850s. It is not an Australian invention and yet extensively used for a prominent
‘Queenslander’ style for residential construction in particular. This style is characterised by large verandah spaces in order
to adapt subtropical climates in Queensland, Australia. Over time, verandah has become a ‘climatic necessity’ and ‘always
an honest expression of the land, its climate, and its people’ (Moffit 1976, 5-6) across Australia.
188 David Bridgman, The Anglo-Asian Bungalow, PhD thesis (Melbourne: RMIT University, 2006), Abstract.
189 Ibid, 3.

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‘Sleeping verandahs’ were referred to as ‘sleepouts’ and became popular by the late 1950s. 190
These were a primary feature in the designs of Government housing in which verandah space
was used as living and bedroom space. Banks of louvres, metal and glass windows, simple linear
planning and stilts gave the houses a tropical feel. Unpainted grey asbestos-cement sheet
emerged as the primary outside finish to external walls. For the first time steel columns became
supports and cross-bracing exemplified an engineering understanding of design for cyclonic
conditions. The simplicity and adaptability of post-and-beam construction was the primary feature
of tropical house design in the time of war and was regarded as a regional tropical vocabulary
progressing through to the 1950-60s. With booming mining and pastoral industries, the Top End
slowly became a source of cattle and raw materials for the nation. By 1959 Darwin had officially
become the capital city of the Top End and Northern Territory mining promoted the use of new
materials such as steel, which was actively encouraged in this period.

Further significant influences on Top End housing between World War II and the later 1960s were
identified by a renowned Australian architect and architectural historian, who coined the term
‘stylism’ for describing this process and categorizing the commonly seen housing styles which
could be called as Australian housing styles at the time. These Australian housing styles could
be identified through the series of Type D houses and Stuart McIntosh’s responses to building
houses in Darwin. In his book, Australia’s Home, Robin Boyd identified various distinctive styles
of Australian housing such as Italianate, Boom Style, Queen Anne, Californian Bungalow and
Spanish Mission. 191 The emergence of these housing styles in the southern states was apparent
to the local communities of the Top End in the 1970s because of the influx of new European
immigrants and the increasing numbers of people who had moved up from southern regions. As
a result, especially during the redevelopment of the housing industry after the devastation caused
by Cyclone Tracy in 1974, the monolithic brick box imported from southern states came to
dominate the designs of tropical housing in the Top End due to the fear of natural disasters as
mentioned previously. In these brick box styles, heavy thermal-mass materials were used to take

190 Ibid, 16.

191 Robin Boyd, Australia's Home: Its Origins, Builders and Occupiers (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1952).

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advantage of the use of air-conditioning (AC) in the hot summer. The use of AC prompted
significant shifts in social behaviour and became a selling point for offering controllable and
comfortable indoor-living spaces with security and safety. The distinctive characteristics of
tropical stilted lightweight housing disappeared as they were replaced by the monolithic and,
arguably, claustrophobic brick box houses. The aesthetic quality of unique tropical house designs
in response to place, people, culture and the built environment for the Top End gradually faded
away.

By 1980, most of the new houses in Darwin were monolithic brick or concrete boxes with air-
conditioning devices which were similar to those found in the moderate climate of southern
Australia. Troppo challenged this irrational design for the Top End and it was at this time that their
design principles, and methods were developed into their theory of The tenth line. The following
section unfolds the process of their search for redefining the regional expression of Top End
architecture.

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4.3 Sources of contemporary reference to Troppo’s work

Troppo’s energy and enthusiasm for rejuvenating simple, open and easy lifestyles from the past in their
continuous design research and publications over the first decade of their practice have been noted by
both journalists and academic commentators. 192 Their level of design confidence and knowledge
developed as they recognized the tropical climate as the ‘easiest climate to design for’. 193 At the
beginning of their start-up practice, they had plenty of time to write and publish their thoughts. In these
writings, they emphasized the significance of regional buildings and their concerns for climatically-
inappropriate and impractical designs, such as concrete blockwork and double-brick houses, which
made no sense in the tropical climate, social organization, and environmental contexts of the Top End.
Troppo were prompted by the Indigenous humpies, and the minimal enclosure of shelters made of
readily available on-site materials epitomised for them the temporary living arrangements of most Darwin
local residents. There is a sense of dynamism, and a momentum of moving in and out of Darwin which
fits in with a pleasure-seeker and itinerant lifestyle in the tropics. As Harris recalled:

‘Everyone is an outsider in Darwin. It is a multi-cultural city with lots of immigrants and workers
from Asia and people like me from other states… People here come and go… (laughing) It’s an
Aboriginals’ lifestyle that expects you to do so – come and go.’ (Interview with Harris in 2011)

The pleasure-seeking and energetic nature for exploring the old and discovering the new was rooted in
Troppo’s passion. Their diligent attitude to seeking appropriate and responsive designs was displayed
by continuously studying and enriching their understanding of local vernaculars and the ways people
lived in the past in response to time, place, other people, and contexts. This attitude could be seen in
their early student years. With their advocacy, they undertook a six-month journey which offered them
an opportunity to seek to understand ‘Influences in Regional Architecture’194 by experiencing and
observing communities, towns, cities, wetlands, bush and outback life on the planned coastal routes of

192 These journalistic and academic observations range from Philip Goad’s monograph Troppo Architects and Troppo’s
own publications published in the 1980s and 1990s, to local news and magazine articles by others. These will be illustrated
in more detail in the following sub-sections of this thesis.
193 Both Harris and Welke mentioned this fact in the separately arranged interviews.
194 Phil Harris, Adrian Welke, James Hayter, and Justin Hill, Influences in Regional Architecture (Adelaide: Architecture

Department, University of Adelaide, 1978).

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Australia. The findings of this journey were a joint research report as one of the requirements for
accomplishing their final architecture student year in the Department of Architecture, at The University
of Adelaide in 1978 (Figure 4.3a).

The findings from this journey gave Troppo a broad understanding of external influences on regional
vernaculars in Australian architecture: overseas immigrants, settlers and workers, financial recessions,
booming businesses, local infrastructures of railways and housing construction, and geographical
settings and climatic conditions. Their study also presented them with a basis for starting a professional
practice in Environmentally Sustainable Design (or Ecologically Sustainable Development) (ESD), whilst
‘no one else was doing it’ (interview with Harris in 2011). Punkahs and Pith Helmets: Good Principles of
Tropical House Design (Figure 4.3a) was another important report that had its origins in the findings of
that initial research trip. In this document they formalised a set of design principles and methods
specifically for tropical climates, as a result of a commission to conduct further extensive research on
tropical house design in the Top End. Both design-research-based studies strengthened their knowledge
and enriched their experience of inland and coastal lifestyles. Most importantly, these works exhibited
the unseen hedonist attitudes that defined Troppo designs of Darwin houses, advocating a tropical
lifestyle characterised by delight and enjoyment.

Figure 4.3a ‘Influences in Regional Architecture’ (Left) was written in 1978 by Harris and Welke and their
classmates Jim Hayter and Justin Hill as a research project on regionalism in Australian architecture. ‘Punkahs
and Pith Helmets: Good Principles of Tropical House Design’ (Right) was written in 1981 as a technical report on

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pragmatic principles from vernacular architecture that could be set as exemplars for tropical architecture in the
Top End in 1982. It was commissioned from Troppo by the Department of Education in Darwin. It became a
stepping stone for Troppo’s development of their climatically responsive design theory of The tenth line.

‘No one else was doing it [ESD] and we thought a lot about that after touring around Australia
and writing a commissioned report on investigating local vernaculars for the Department of
Education for tropical housing design.‘ (Interview with Harris in 2011)

History, nature, and humans were the key Troppo references in the designs of their Darwin houses.
They were developed further into design concepts for ‘regional expression’, ‘relevant housing’, ‘backyard
architecture’ and ‘save our history’. They reflect Troppo’s ethos of simultaneously retaining the tradition
while inventing new ways to embrace the uniqueness of regional cultures. Catch-phrases were
developed, such as ‘climate as a determinant in tropical architecture’, ‘hedonist handbook’, ‘turn down
the heat’, ‘eco-housing’, ‘responsive housing’ and ‘weaving a new cloth’, to draw links between history,
nature, and humans in Troppo’s critical regionalist architectural practice. Their goal was to embrace the
co-existence of living and non-living things, objects and people in a cohesive and sustainable living
environment.

These concepts were developed in engaging narratives that document Troppo’s ethos in the built forms
of Darwin houses in the 1980s. They were reflections on the contextual sensitivity of regional culture
and their everyday local experience. Troppo’s design ideas expressed their concerns for the impact on
built environments of inappropriate materials and construction methods, and for unjustified socio-
economic development in demolishing old buildings and heritage for new and homogenous boxed
housing design. These analyses were mostly in newspaper columns, conference papers, and articles
published in local architectural and housing construction magazines at the time. They were informative,
straightforward and descriptive, reflecting the contemporary social structure, the housing development
industry, and prevailing economic climate. They not only pinpointed what they regarded as the
inappropriate use of ‘new wonder materials’ 195 such as precast concrete and masonry, which were
routinely used to mimic the southern Australian experience, but also highlighted the diversity of Top End
housing and Australian historical building styles. Troppo’s house designs emphasized the adaptability

195 Phil Harris, and Adrian Welke, “Relevant Housing: An Historic Overview of Tropical Housing in the NT with Implications

of Future Solutions’”. It was their manuscript for the housing conference. No page number.

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of Top End housing, incorporating ‘pre-existent regional patterns’ to defy the monolithic box housing
style with heavy thermal mass materials and minimal openings that was infiltrating from the southern
states.

The occurrence of Cyclone Tracy on Christmas Eve 1974 destroyed major infrastructure and city fabric
in Darwin. Seventy percent of Darwin’s buildings were badly damaged or destroyed. Cyclone Tracy
brought severe impacts on both social behaviour and economic stability for the next decade of
redevelopment of the city. One significant change in social behaviour was an increasing fear in local
communities for the reoccurrence of unpredictable natural disasters. The post Tracy-trauma house
design of the monolithic box style was promoted by the local government to ease this fear and
suffering. 196 A restructure of housing construction and a rapid production of thermal building
development were encouraged and widely accepted by the local communities with seventy percent of
Darwin’s buildings being destroyed, including eighty percent of its houses. Local residents lost their faith
in the old way of living in vernacular buildings and accepted southern house designs. Troppo argued
that inappropriate designs failed to reflect the identity of regional culture and local environment (Figure
4.3b). They prompted the preservation of heritage and natural landscapes. With the endorsement of
Christopher Alexander’s body of social housing projects and his theory of a pattern language, 197 Troppo
took on an explicit Australian attitude to life – laid-back – for the emerging design theory of the tenth line
as the backbone of their design methods in response to the heat and humidity of tropical climate in the
Top End.

196 Phil Harris, and Adrian Welke, “Relevant Housing: An Historic Overview of Tropical Housing in the NT with Implications
for Future Solutions’”, Darwin 1988.
197 In a public lecture hosted by the AIA and presented in Melbourne in 1990, Harris and Welke used Christopher

Alexander’s theory of a pattern language as a basis for explaining the infinite possibilities when each design works well on
its own at a micro-level in its physical context, whilst connecting with other parts to form a cohesive network at the macro-
level in social, cultural and environmental contexts. Refer to previous discussion and details of Alexander’s influence in,
Chapter 2: Literature Review.

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Figure 4.3b Three newspaper articles (Top) were published as a call to gain public awareness on the demolition
of local vernacular architectural housing designed by B.C.G Burnett. Dates unknown. An early Troppo conference
paper (Bottom) was written in 1988, reflecting Troppo’s seriousness in valuing the uniqueness of historical tropical
housing in Darwin.

Troppo’s writings of this time not only confronted the negative trends in architectural practice in the Top
End, but also publicised the vital and positive potential of climatically responsive building design in the
tropics. Their developing theory epitomised the Troppo design strategy for seeking full personal
enjoyment and delight in connecting region, climate, nature, humans and ‘everything else’ in their
context. ‘A Hedonist’s Handbook to Full Enjoyment of the Elements’ was a conference paper published
in 1987, which was comprised of texts and various kinds of sketches from the floor plans to the analytical
drawings for construction detail and technical devices. This paper elucidates Troppo’s persuasive
argument for being responsible hedonists after ten years of experiencing the tropical heat and humidity
of living in the Top End. It makes sense of the ‘behind-the-scenes’ design of Troppo houses with a hint
of that larrikin attitude the can be found in traces in Troppo’s writings and drawings.

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Altogether the Troppo archives contain fifty-nine written items that were published on Troppo’s design
projects between 1980 and 2000. They cover a spectrum of residential design discourses and urban
and regional planning considerations in design conference papers, lecture notes, speaker series talks,
newspaper and magazines articles, and periodical writing for professional practitioners, plus twenty-nine
lectures and public addresses. Publications by others also described the distinctive characteristics of
the design features and construction methods of Troppo’s significant projects in relation to their focus
on sustainability, including their passive design concepts, regionally responsive schemes, robust
materiality, and functionality of space. These sources cover a wide variety of discursive contexts and
styles (Figure 4.3c) and many of them show handcrafted detailing and incorporation of artistic work.
These writings were predominantly written about visual characteristics and building techniques of
Troppo’s award-winning commercial and residential projects, and design theory, construction and
materials of these buildings, how spaces function as wholes as well as how the general performance of
these buildings was perceived from a professional’s or an architectural critic’s perspective. These
writings were written from a subjective perspective of a professional or an academic to evaluate and
determine how well Troppo’s buildings perform in accordance with their knowledge, social and cultural
experiences and expectations. There was little written about the ‘ordinary’ or ‘everyday’ use of residential
space in terms of the interactions with the occupants, the living experience, the natural setting of the
site, and unconsciously or consciously changing psychological behaviours in response to the social and
cultural contexts of community and the world as a whole. On the other hand, the significance of
psychological influences on the occupants’ behaviour and thinking by the design of houses was
overlooked in particular.

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Figure 4.3c A report published by the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA) (Top row) was written on
Troppo’s award-winning collaborative project with renowned architect Glenn Murcutt, the Bowali Centre in Kakadu
National Park, south east of Darwin. A poster for a public talk in 1992 by Harris and a magazine article (Bottom
row, date unknown) demonstrate the variety of sources dealing with Troppo’s work between 1980 and 2000.

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4.4 Aspirations for design principles, theory and methods

Many of Troppo’s clients possessed the typical Darwinians’ larrikin attitude 198 – a laid-back and easy-
going mindset, enjoying the tropical lifestyle that the Top End has to offer. They were not wealthy and
yet wanted distinctive houses. Understanding the character of Troppo, the needs of their clients, and
the socio-economics and socio-cultural situations at the time helped to draw connections between the
development of Troppo’s design principles, theory and methods and the design of the early Troppo
houses. Troppo’s design responses were to use local northern Australian resources, adapt their tropical
house designs to local microclimate and retain the social and cultural expressions in form. Four design
principles for doing this were set out in the government-funded research project report, Punkahs and
Pith Helmets. Harris illustrated and summarised these same principles in an article entitled Four
Principles of Climatically Responsive Housing in the Top End, later published in a special issue of Artlink
in 1991/1992 (Artlink is an Adelaide-founded international periodical about contemporary art,
architecture and environment). These four principles were as follows: promoting cool breezes,
interacting with the outdoors, natural ventilation by creating potential barriers to control the paths of
breezes, and reducing heat radiation by incorporating rotary vents and wind traps. These principles
could be followed with the use of lightweight materials and incorporating features from tropical
architecture, Aboriginal shelters, and post-and-beam building construction.

Punkahs and Pith Helmets illustrated the four fundamental principles’ typology shown in Figure 4.4a.
The first principle focused on appropriate orientations, breathing skins, and a thin-shape of a house
toward prevailing cool breezes. The second principle focused on spatial relations with its surrounding
contexts for shading and cooling reasons. The third principle focused on dynamics between adjustable
exterior walls and semi-open interior walls allowing the free-flow of breezes at all times. The fourth
principle focused on the aid of simple technology to allow hot air to escape.

198In the interviews, Troppo’s clients who were local residents or had lived in the Top End for a long time unanimously
characterised Darwinians generally as having an easy-going attitude and laid-back lifestyle.

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Figure 4.4a The illustrations of Troppo’s four fundamental principles for tropical house designs.

To Troppo, this Australian cultural symbol, the shed, indicated that understanding an Australian’s
informal way of everyday life started with a close look inwards to one’s backyard. Intimate connections
were sought and understood between lifestyles, space, people, culture, and built environments with
Troppo’s specific interpretation of Top End vernacular – Backyard architecture.

4.4.1 Backyard Architecture

In promoting these four principles, Troppo called for an unpretentious ‘backyard architecture’. 199 In local
newspaper columns and conference papers; 200 a style that accentuated the notion of belonging and
embraced the goal of leaving nature undisturbed. ‘Backyard architecture’ was their way of expressing
their concern for the faded local tradition of living with less, and the loss of historical building types with

199Phil Harris and Adrian Welke, ‘Responsive Housing’, The Star, March 21, (1981), 18.
200This concept was implicitly referred to in the conference papers The History of Regional Expression in Top End
Housing’ and ‘Relevant Housing: An Historical Overview of Tropical Housing in the Northern Territory, with Implications for
Future Solutions’ in 1981 and 1982. Troppo’s backyard architecture was referred to as an idiosyncratic expression for ‘the
stereotype of the Northern Territory yobbo’ (Vogue Living 1995: 146).

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their climate-sensible design responses. Harris and Welke were advocates for Christopher Alexander’s
concept of ‘healing the site’, as this had been explicated in A Pattern Language. 201 It demonstrated their
sensitivity for conserving historical building types, their awareness of sustainable issues in the built
environments and respect for co-existence with the ‘others’ as a whole. In their view, Aboriginal humpies
and arrangements of sites were inspirations for non-material everyday living (Figure 4.4.1a).

Figure 4.4.1a A shed as an inspiration for Troppo’s backyard architecture. (Drawn by Welke, date
unknown)

Troppo’s backyard architecture responded to the natural environment by offering inhabitants access to
cooling breezes, the picturesque presence of flora and fauna, and the sensual experiences of seasonal
changes to ‘the nuances of natural setting, the improbable vagaries of climate and the present 24 hours
that will never be again’. 202Troppo’s conception of backyard in the designs of houses symbolized the
concept of scarce resources, the simplicity of minimalism in form and the portable constructed
frameworks. It was their interpretation of simple living. Their characteristics of backyard architecture
were lightweight houses on stilts, timber and glass louvres and shutters, open-indoor spaces, banks of
windows, roofed sleep-out verandahs and corrugated steep-pitched iron roofs (Figure 4.4.1b). ‘Backyard
architecture’ reflected Troppo’s aim to maintain the ‘moral high ground whilst having a bloody good time’
(the title for an unpublished manuscript) 203 in the tropics.

201 Christopher Alexander, Sara Ishikawa, and Murray Silverstein, A Pattern Language.
202 It was an unpublished draft for a newspaper article written by Harris and Welke, Northern Territory in 1980. Date
unknown.
203 Some unpublished manuscripts were found in the Perth office. In one of these manuscripts this quote is the title next to

the definition of ‘hedonism’ extracted from the dictionary (unknown dictionary).

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Figure 4.4.1b Articles by Harris and Welke published in local NT newspaper in the 1980s.

Troppo’s design approach for responsive housing was summarised and developed into a formal design
theory in Harris’s manuscript, A Hedonist’s Handbook for Full Enjoyment of the Elements: Housed in the
Top End Australia (ca. 1986). Troppo envisioned a hedonist sitting on the edge between a solid and a
frame of space with the full freedom of interplay between enclosure and openness. The edge between
solid and wireframe, inside and outside space, enclosed and open, and private and public was blurred.
This particular Troppo text indicated important connections between their hedonist attitude for everyday
living, their rigor in architectural design and their awareness of a need to sustain the significant building
knowledge that was captured vernacular tropical architecture, as well as a vision for how they could
create diverse and exciting new Tropical architecture in the northern region exploiting opportunities at
the time.

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4.4.2 Architectural hedonism

A hedonist is understood to be ‘a person who believes that the pursuit of pleasure is the most important
thing in life; a word for a pleasure-seeker.’204 This was the mindset that Troppo was prepared to promote
publicly, at least among their peers, by the late 1980s. Harris’s unpublished manuscript A Hedonist’s
Handbook for Full Enjoyment of the Elements, prepared for the annual conference of Australia and New
Zealand Association for Architectural Science (ANZAAS) conference in 1987, was the first time that
Troppo drew explicit connections between their design ideas and philosophy, and hedonistic attitudes.
However, this concept of architectural hedonism remained unstated in other published articles and
papers of that period that focused mainly on the highly visual architectural features, layouts and design
construction of their award-winning projects. The significance of hedonism among Troppo’s design
inspirations remained unfamiliar, therefore, to both former and current senior in-house architects and
regional directors of the Troppo practice – as recent interviews conducted for this study have revealed
– who expressed surprise and interest to know more about the ‘responsible hedonism’ of the early
partnership. 205 Nevertheless, Troppo strongly asserted this attitude with architectural rigor in the design
of the layouts, detailing and construction of their early tropical houses.

Harris described how Troppo interpreted hedonism as a conceptual approach for people who sought
pleasure and quality in everyday living. People who were like-minded with Troppo found ‘further stimuli
in our architecture: diversity, profound and subtle, in texture, colour and layers of detail; rooms to amplify
all moods, all seasons; spaces that flaunt definition of inside and outside, a precarious architecture.’206
The nationally and internationally renowned architect, Glenn Murcutt, 207 compared and contrasted their
outrageous-and-yet-seriously-responsive attitude with that of most other Darwin architects at the time:

[Troppo’s] whole philosophy may have seemed renegade, outrageous even to some, but it was
Troppo who were focused on an authentic architecture for the tropics. It was most of the other

204 ‘Hedonist’, as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, 2012.

205 Interviews with Reeves, Cai, Khamisa, McNamara, Connolly, Duffield, and O’Toole.
206 Phil Harris, and Adrian Welke, A Hedonist’s Handbook for Full Enjoyment of the Elements: Part 1 Housed in the Top

End, 1.
207 Murcutt was the winner of several prestigious awards including the 1992 Alvar Aalto Medal, the 2002 Pritzker Prize and

the 2009 Australian Institute of Architects Gold Medal. This reference was taken from e-architect website online link
http://www.e-architect.co.uk/architects/glenn-murcutt and viewed on 9 July, 2013.

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architects in Darwin who were so unresponsive to their special place […] Phil and Adrian clearly
understood their place, their clients and their way of building, and the budget. 208

Despite such notable exceptions, however, Troppo’s responsible hedonist attitude has remained largely
unexposed as the conceptual source of the design forms, spatial arrangements, and expression of
tropical lifestyles characteristic of the 1980s Darwin Troppo houses (Figure 4.4.2). Experiencing better
living in specifically arranged outdoor verandahs, for example, gave way to Troppo’s intended hedonistic
way of everyday living with nature and the great outdoors.

Figure 4.4.2 Interactive and dynamic indoor-outdoor movements are intentionally designed with an integration
of generous verandah space between and around main living spaces and long breezeways. Sketches by
Harris. Date unknown.

4.4.3 Greater-than-the-indoors-will-ever-be-outdoors

Experiencing ‘greater-than-the-indoors-will-ever-be-outdoors’ 209 was one way of being a Troppo’s

responsible hedonist. This experience was only gained emotionally when occupants felt physical and
psychological connections to the outdoors while being in protected spaces (Figure 4.4.3). Verandahs
created a shift in the conventional concept of separation between internal living enclosure and external

208Foreword to Goad’s book Troppo written by Glenn Murcutt, 7.

209This is the sub-title for a subsection of the Troppo’s conference paper Hedonist’s Handbook for Full Enjoyment of the
Elements. Phil Harris, and Adrian Welke, A Hedonist’s Handbook for Full Enjoyment of the Elements: Part 1 Housed in the
Top End, Harris wrote it in 1986 for the ANZAAS Conference, Townsville, 1987.

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outdoor nature. The feeling of ‘greater-than-the-indoors-will-ever-be-outdoors’ encouraged a carefree

lifestyle with ‘a great reservoir of spirit.’ 210 In an impromptu conversation with Welke during the first visit
to the Perth office in late 2010, he explained Troppo’s thoughts about an authentic architecture achieved
through sketching and observing compositions of landscapes and buildings to grasp the intimate
connections between buildings, people, and nature. The aims to leave a site as undisturbed as possible,
or to heal it if already disturbed, were essential to retain tranquillity and harmony in the context of the
largest bio-physical world. In their sketches, the sensual experience of great outdoors-in-living is seen
to infuse Troppo’s impulse to conceive and improvise distinctive forms in their design ideas.

Figure 4.4.3 Troppo’s understandings of the relationships with nature, the conventional view about man-made
space, and an inhabitable space with harmony and cohesion. Sketches by Harris. Date unknown.

4.4.4. The tenth line for verandahs and inside-outside

The ‘tenth line’ creates a vision of everyday experience of the ‘greater-than-the-indoors-will-ever-be-

outdoors’. 211 Elsewhere, Harris offers a more technically explicit explanation of the tenth line as ‘the
theory that encapsulated the act of visual perception of the image of a cube’. 212 Referring to the
inspiration of the Greek and Roman atrium house for its architectural credibility, Troppo offered this
theory to combat the unresponsive design of southern-style monolithic boxes in the tropical climate of
the Top End. In it, the tenth line broke through the skins of solid boxes to reveal an inner edge (Figure
4.4.4a). It signified continuity between interior and exterior space. It symbolized the cubic space

210 Philip Drew, Leaves of Iron: Murcutt, Glenn, Pioneer of an Australian Architectural Form (North Ryde, New South
Wales: Harper Collins Publishers, 1994), 102.
211 This explanation of the ‘tenth line’ is given in another unpublished manuscript written by Harris and Welke in 1986. The

original title on the cover page was “The Troppo Method of Participation in the Climate and Thereby Creating an
Architecture of Hedonist Attraction (Fun) Whilst Being Ideologically Sound”.
212 Phil Harris, and Adrian Welke, "A Hedonist’s Handbook for Full Enjoyment of the Elements: Part 1 Housed in the Top

End”, 8. Evidently, it was this source, as listed in the bibliography of the 1999 first edition of Philip Goad’s Troppo:
Architecture for the Top End, from which Goad derived his explanation of the ‘tenth line’ theory.

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becoming ‘extendable and adjustable’ and thus gaining access to the ‘Great Outdoors’. 213 As Harris
states,
“It is my belief that architects all too commonly only consider the potential of space in terms of
‘encapsulated’ space and as a solid to be viewed from outside, and so miss out on creating an
architecture prompting a rapport with the Great Outdoors.” 214

Figure 4.4.4a The tenth line breaks through the skins of a cube to reveal an internal edge between exterior and
interior space (drawings on the left and in the middle by Harris and Welke). Date unknown. A man sits in a
continuum space created by a tenth line looking out to nature (drawing on the right by the researcher of this study
in July 2012).

Troppo’s tenth line created sensual experiences by enhancing transparency towards everyday living in
the tropics. Visual satisfaction was achieved because ‘a view through one will always include the
other’. 215 The feeling of psychological belonging to the site was promoted by accessibility, through
moving freely between the indoors and the outdoors, and enjoying constantly changing views and cool
breezes. The tenth line embraced an Australian cultural symbol – verandahs – by creating thin,
transparent and breathing exterior walls of houses. Because the line crossed a transitional space
between inside and outside, it created a multi-functional living space for everyday activities (Figure
4.4.4b). Troppo transcended the typical ‘sleeping verandah’ to make this multi-functional space, a ‘living

213 Philp Goad, and Patrick Bingham-Hall, Troppo: Architecture for the Top End, 2nd Ed, (Sydney: Pesaro Publishing,
2005), 104. The tenth line was clearly stated and given a definition in both of Goad’s books Troppo: Architecture for the
Top End and New Directions in Australian Architecture.
214 Phil Harris, and Adrian Welke, “A Hedonist’s Handbook for Full Enjoyment of the Elements: Part 1 Houses in the Top

End”, 8.
215 Phil Harris, and Adrian Welke, A Hedonist’s Handbook for Full Enjoyment of the Elements: Part 1 Housed in the Top

End, 8.

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verandah’ or simply a ‘roofed outdoor space’ 216 which was integrated as a vital part of everyday
experience in Troppo Darwin houses.

Figure 4.4.4b Welke’s sketches (Top left and right) of local residences built with a range of materials from
corrugated iron cladding finish to a mix-use of stone, timber and corrugated iron roofs. Troppo’s collection of
1980s photographs (Bottom left and right) of their early housing designs indicates their preferences for
incorporating large verandahs as an outdoor-indoor living space in order to highlight this Australian cultural
expression and reflect their understanding for the land, the local climate and a tropical lifestyle in the Top End.
The tenth line was the means to create the living verandahs of Troppo houses.

Despite the conscious significance of this theory in their early work, it is interesting to note that in the
context of the present research neither Harris nor Welke mentioned the ‘tenth line’ during their initial
interviews. The only person who elaborated the significance of the tenth line in the design of houses
was the director of Troppo Architects in Adelaide, Cary Duffield. This was during a conversation carried

216 Justin Clark, Phil Harris and Adrian Welke, “Design gone Troppo: Justine Clark visited Adrian Welke in Troppo’s Darwin
office and Phil Harris in Adelaide to talk about their life and times as the Troppo team, and the projects that have put their
brand of Top End Architecture on the map”, Houses, (May 2002): 93 – 108. The online link for this article –
https://business.highbeam.com/482/article-1G1-86505234/design-gone-troppo-justine-clark-visited-adrian-welke, was
viewed on January 25, 2016.

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out in an informal lunch-meeting with Duffield about his insights from working with Troppo in the day-to-
day world of architectural design. He explained how the tenth line was taught implicitly as a key feature
of any design. The potential quality of indoor-outdoor living verandahs, according to Duffield, depended
on accessibility, arrangements and the juxtapositions of bedrooms, kitchen and living rooms with
verandahs

4.4.5 The improvisation of forms

‘The architecture is really insignificant in the land’ Harris claimed in his first interview, and this resonates
with the Troppo conception for the designs of houses without a style. Style was an informal concept to
Troppo, as Welke concurred with Harris in a separate interview. 217 Inspirations for designs of form and
spatial planning were derived from a manoeuvre on site in response to the grandeur of the different
settings of the landscape. To them, capturing the essence of a place was imperative and an immediate
challenge as the conditions of site vary in accordance with climate, wind, sun paths, orientation and the
constraints of surrounding contexts. In other words, the improvisation of forms was the design outcome
of Troppo’s second fundamental design principle – the interaction with the outdoors (Figure 4.4.5). They
determined the designs of houses in form and floor planning based on identifying the place as the
inspiration for ‘where the mind touches the world’. 218 This impelled Troppo to shape their distinctive
forms to capture the spirit of the place where they stood or moved through. In other words, each form
was specially created as an individual interpretation for everyday experience of a site that highlighted
Troppo’s beliefs in ‘caring for the surrounding residential environment – either actively or
intellectually’. 219

‘You just have to consider the environment first when you design a house for a client. You need
to be familiar with the site by walking around and experiencing the space.’ (Interview with Harris
in 2011)

217 In their first separate interviews (conducted with Welke on the 11th of December, 2010 and with Harris on the 12th of

February, 2011), both Welke and Harris were asked about the existence of any particular style that could represent the
character of Troppo’s projects. Both replied that the perception of style was an informal concept in their designs and they
did not intend to design buildings with a fixed style, but rather to respond to the site and climatic conditions of each
building.
218 Simon Unwin, Twenty Buildings Every Architect Should Understand (London: Routledge, 2010), 9.
219 Phil Harris, and Adrian Welke, Punkahs & Pith Helmets: Good Principles of Tropical House Design, 29.

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Figure 4.4.5 Harris’ on-site sketches (Left) drawn in September 2000, the photo of the exposed timber framework
of the house (Middle) taken in August 2002, and the photo of the completion of the Cape du Voltigeur House
(Right) taken in December 2003 perched on a ledge of Kangaroo Island, South Australia.

4.4.6 The instrumental ordering of spatial experiences

‘Design from within and work out’ (interview with Harris in 2011) was the tactic for creating the
instrumental ordering of spatial experiences in the design of Troppo houses. Layout of spaces was
initially created through the process of ‘designing with sections’ (Interview with Harris in 2016) which
clearly explained Troppo’s logic and beliefs in making building designs work from inside out. ‘Designing
with sections’ was the source of their manifestos for a diversity of their creative work in tropical housing.
The images in their sketches were presented in section. Simple details of steel and timber joints formed
the responsive coherence and spatial experience between interior and exterior space, indoors and
outdoors activities, and individuality and wholeness. Troppo’s section drawings were the means to draw
connections between the aesthetic of their improvisation of forms and the instrumental ordering of spatial
experiences.

Section drawings for Troppo were the visual representation of their architecture, as they believed that
these were the media to connect with reality. It has been said that ‘Architecture exists, as a creative
moment only in representations’, 220 and Harris pointed out that he continued hand drafting to complete
sets of working drawings until the early 1990s. To him, utilizing computer modelling to simulate spatial
experiences created a disconnection between the magical creative moment and the real world

220Jorge Silvetti, "Representation and Creativity in Architecture: The Pregnant Moment," Representation and
Architecture, Ed. Akin, Omer and Weinel, Eleanor (Silver Spring, Maryland: Information Dynamics, 1982), 184.

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(interviews with Victor Cai in 2012 and 2014). 221 Through the sketching processes, Troppo connected
themselves with the rhythms and movements of everyday activities, the flow of breezes, the penetration
of sunlight and the exciting interaction with everything else in the vicinity of individual sites (Figure 4.4.6).

Figure 4.4.6 Section drawings of a house extension (Top images) and of an office (Bottom images) represent
innovative-thinking in action from ‘designing within and working out’. Sketches by Harris found in the Perth office.
Date unknown.

Understanding specific construction methods adopted in Troppo practice offered ways to comprehend
the importance of designing with sections. To Troppo, construction was ‘a means to an end’ 222 rather
than seeking specific ‘style’ or the necessity of ‘aesthetics’. Beauty and pleasure in a house was simply

221 Victor Cai is an in-house architect of the Adelaide Troppo office, who is closely working with Harris in small and medium
scale of residential and commercial projects as he is primarily reproducing his free-hand sketches to 3D computer models
for clients and 2D working drawings for building approval and documentation. Harris refuses to produce any computer
drawings as he firmly believes best designs are produced in eye-hand-mind design processes in a stress-free environment
(lying in bed, on the couch, on the floor, in the café and in the airplane) on any available materials such as napkins,
tissues, and scraps and recycled papers within research.
222
Phil Harris, and Adrian Welke. Punkahs & Pith Helmets: Good Principles of Tropical House Design, 45.

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achieved by simplicity of a working structure which gave ‘personality’ to the house. 223 Section drawings
offered them a way to ensure a working structure during which they saw layers of detail and space in
depth, possibilities for compositions of joints and visual satisfaction through materiality, texture, density
and colour. The design sketches created a realm where Troppo could anticipate dynamics, interactions
and experiences, from seeing them within the imaginary spaces and projecting them out onto the real
world. The sense of scale, contrast, engagement and connection between human-made and natural
entities in their drawings created meaning by presenting the instrumental ordering of spatial experiences
in physical form as well as in the minds of individuals.

223 Phil Harris, and Adrian Welke. Punkahs & Pith Helmets: Good Principles of Tropical House Design, 45.

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4.5 A Pattern Language for a Gone Troppo lifestyle

For the purpose of understanding the previous key aspects of the Troppo philosophy and gaining
insights into the process of connecting forms and spatial experiences in Troppo’s everyday architecture,
twenty 1980s Darwin Troppo houses will be closely examined in this sub-section. These houses were
selected with Welke’s recommendation 224 for their merit in winning sustainable design awards, special
architectural elements and features in form, or historical events (first client-commissioned project, first
built project, first winning project, first time using new materials) representing their practice. Research
materials were collected during the first visit to the Perth office in December, 2010. Data included
working drawings, sketches and relevant articles about these houses. Pattern-forms were identified
through the sketches recording Troppo’s ‘intuitions and impulses’ derived at the site (interview with
Harris in 2011) in relation to an everyday lifestyle which they imagined their clients would be living. Floor
plans were examined through the lenses of geometry and rules of configurations for seeking an order
in space organization through the concept of space syntax. Section drawings and on-site photographs
of the houses were studied to draw connections between the intended qualities of physical spaces on
paper and the real-life experiences of those spaces in response to climate, nature, the built environment
and cultural contexts. Interviews with occupants related the pattern-forms to their feelings, values, and
behaviours.

Shaping built forms is a significant action in design processes, and geometry has always been an
important attribute in this process. For Harris and Welke, geometry provides a fundamental basis for
their responsive architecture, as is clearly implied in their conference papers and newspaper articles.
The twenty Darwin houses in the study are Troppo’s very first unbuilt house design (Figure 4.5a), and
the following nineteen houses: Coleman House, Lawler House, Green Can House, Butcher House,
Draper House, Kaiplinger House, Pitt House, Spazzapan House, Gerovich House, Rossetto House,
Rhodes House, Gettings House, Barkus House, Addison House, Lyne House, Hazeldine House,
Kakadu Rangers House, Troppo Type Four, and Troppo Type Five House (Figure 4.5b). Troppo’s first
commissioned but unbuilt house was important and included because it demonstrated their early design

224 Twenty 1980s Darwin Troppo houses were selected with Welke while conducting the first field work at the Perth office in

2010. Welke listed a list of distinctive 1980s Troppo houses in a 2-hour discussion.

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approach characterised by a simple and stark geometry for economical affordability in construction as
a response to the economic downturn in the Top End. The study focused on form-patterns from nineteen
built Troppo houses. Interviews were conducted with both Troppo founders, former in-house architects,
and those occupants and neighbours225 who were available and willing to participate in the study at the
time of the fieldtrip in 2011. The remaining houses were either visited externally or viewed in
photographs, floor plans and section drawings provided by Troppo and Professor Antony Radford, who
visited many of these houses and took photographs.

Elevation Floor plan

Figure 4.5a Troppo’s first commissioned unbuilt house. The floor plan concept was characterized by geometry in
form and formal system – square and symmetry (original sketches collected in the Perth office in 2010).

225 There were some residents and neighbours of the occupants of the early Troppo houses voluntarily requesting an

interview as they firmly believed their houses were one of the Troppo houses in the area.

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Figure 4.5b Nineteen elevation designs of the early Darwin houses built in the first decade of Troppo houses
chronologically demonstrating a sense of order in repetitive form and of simple geometry in symmetrical pattern
with subtle nuances (drawings are not to scale and are taken from the Troppo poster).

Subtle nuances in symmetrical patterns were identified in the elevations of these houses. These are the
following: addition of more windows (Coleman House, Lyne House and Troppo Type 5); subdivision of
window frames (Butcher House, Pitt House, Spazzapan House and Troppo Type 4); timber lattice
shading (Rossetto House); contrast between enclosure and open space (Lawler House, Butcher House,
Addison House and Lyne House), and addition of new elements/modules to the house (Pitt House,
Gerovich House, Addison House, Kakadu Ranger House, Troppo Type 4 and Type 5). These designs

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break the traditional concept of architectural symmetry, reflecting Troppo’s sense of playfulness (Figure
4.5c).

Figure 4.5c Design nuances were identified for breaking classical symmetrical appearance and creating an
inventive asymmetry in these houses. They embraced the beauty of order and symmetry in geometry with a twist
in contemporary expression.

Subtlety between symmetry and asymmetry was achieved by inserting new elements on elevations,
floor levels and spatial entities (such as enclosure, semi-enclosure and open space). This subtlety
created a pattern in the complexity and sophistication of tropical forms that deviated from the rigidity and
formality of traditional geometry and architectural expression. Special roof features were particularly
identified: the discrete gable roofs in the Coleman House, Lawler House, Barkus House and Troppo

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Type 4 House; the pull-apart and open roofs in the Green Can House, Draper House and Kaiplinger
House; the combination of a gable roof and a mono-pitch roof in the Pitt House; the descending shape
of the roof in the Gettings House; the cascading and mix-match-shaped roofs in the Rhodes House; and
the pyramid roof in the Troppo Type 5 House. Each house design displayed a sense of originality and
uniqueness to reflect the individuality of the occupants.

From the elevations, Troppo’s early houses were distinctively characterised by robust materiality and
elevated construction. The commonly used materials were corrugated iron sheets for roofs and external
claddings, timber shutters, glass louvres, bi-folding doors, criss-cross patterns of timber balustrades,
plasterboard internal wall finish, timber lattices, steel frames and steel-rod cross-bracing. Lightweight
and elevated construction was the primary design theme of all these early Darwin houses. Post-and-
beam construction was extensively used in all early Troppo houses, either a major steel frame with steel
columns and beams as the primary structure with timber as infill or a major steel frame with steel
columns as the primary structure with timber for floor joists and beams as the secondary structure and
infill.

Distinctive zones for private and communal spaces are noticeable in some of the houses (Figure 4.5d).
Other shared patterns that can be discerned in the elevation designs are as follows:
• the use of bi-folding doors and wall-length louvres/windows opening up to the outdoors;
• separating two spaces by breezeways, verandahs, and entrances to create a distinctive
communal space for living, kitchen and dining areas, with private space for bedroom and
bathroom/shower/toilet;
• repetitions of window designs indicating the position of bedrooms;
• communal and private spaces separated by levels.

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Private space
Communal space

More wall-length louvres/ windows/doors indicate communal space such as living room, kitchen and dining

Communal
spacespace Private space

Separated spaces indicate distinctive

communal and private areas of the
house

Communal space
Private space

Repetitions of window designs instantly express the position of private areas for bedrooms with an attached form
indicating the bathroom facility

Private space

Communal space

Communal and private spaces are zoned by the levels of the house (public spaces below and private ones above)

Figure 4.5d Shared patterns for the spatial designs of public and private spaces can be discerned in the nuances
of window placements, separation of zones by open breezeways, entrances and verandahs, repetitions of window
designs, and different levels.

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The configurations of the floor plans offered another way to understand the Troppo’s design thinking of
these early houses. The irregular geometrical forms in Gerovich House, Rhodes House and Troppo
Type 5, once again, reflects Troppo’s playful attitude toward experimentation in design (Figure 4.5e).

Figure 4.5e Troppo focused on simple and economical geometry in creating various compositions of shapes for
the floor plans of these nineteen tropical houses, displayed here in chronological order and not to scale (re-
productions of the original working drawings).

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Simple forms in geometry (square and rectangle) and compositions of stretched rectangular forms were
used in these floor plan designs. There was a gradual increase in the complexity of the geometry within
a single form from a simple square or rectilinear form to irregular, multi-angled and discrete forms. The
space of verandahs was generously incorporated within the changing geometry to retain a visual
wholeness in form. This was seen in the rectangular shape of Troppo’s first commissioned unbuilt house
(Figure 4.5a). Troppo utilised this simple rectangular shape to create an upside-down V-shape floor plan
for the first built Coleman House in which they opened up the central volume of living spaces. The
positions of verandahs thus played a significant role in creating surprising geometry. Transforming the
traditional use of outdoor verandah (Figure 4.5f) into a part of indoor living spaces became Troppo’s
approach for new design ideas that will be illustrated with a series of shape transformations with the
notion of their flirting with symmetry.

Figure 4.5f Verandahs of colonial farmhouses wrapped around the central living space to provide shading and
protect the occupants of the house from rain, excessive sunlight and harsh heat in the tropics (Drawings by Welke
on the left and Harris on the right). Dates unknown.

4.5.1 Flirting with symmetry

The design of Troppo’s first unbuilt commission (Figure 4.5a) offers compelling evidence that a simple cube was
the creative starting point for the distinctive range of innovative forms that Troppo devised in these early house
designs and, as described, for their fundamental design theory of the ‘tenth line’. The form of the basic geometry
was retained to express simplicity and cost-effectiveness. In analysing these nineteen early Darwin houses, a
pattern was identified forming variations of spatial arrangements with a mathematical order of operations.
Operational rules for order were used intuitively by adding subtracting, multiplying, dividing, and rotating a basic
square to generate a new form. A simple form was transformed to become an irregular form in these early houses.
Troppo began to explore simple geometry and symmetry in composition of spaces and design of elevations. They
continuously adopted the simplicity of a grid system in developing diverse configurations of floor plans by
manipulating simple geometric forms to create a variety of irregular forms and of compositions of separate spaces

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connected by decks, bridges and verandahs. Moore points out that the ‘psychic wholeness’ only makes sense
when the parts are seen as individuals yet all parts fit together to create a new and meaningful whole. Troppo’s
early houses resonated with Moore’s concept of psychic wholeness through the progressive transformation of a
square with a specific sequence of operations. The configurations of singular and multiple forms were created
directly according to the conditions of sites, clients’ wishes and the affordable budgets. (Figure 4.6.1a, b, c, d, e,
f, g and h). In these transformations there is a clear indication of Troppo’s developing endeavour in breaking the
classical and simple geometry by articulating a basic shape with extended angles, layers, splits and add-ons.
Unlike these, the forms of later house designs have become so much more complex that the order of operations
cannot be identified, as they were guided by Troppo’s diverse intuitions (‘gut feelings’) and life experiences in the
late 1980s.

Figure 4.5.1a Transformations of forms of the Coleman House: multiplication, rotation, mirror, and
extension.

Figure 4.5.1b Transformations of forms of the Lawler House: multiplication, division, pulling and addition.

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Figure 4.5.1c Transformations of forms of the Gettings House: multiplication, pulling, and scaling to a
new form.

Figure 4.5.1d Transformations of forms of the Green Can House: multiplication, addition, division, mirror
and shifting.

Figure 4.5.1e Transformations of forms of the Butcher House: multiplication, addition and extension (or
can be seen as stretching to articulate the simple rectangular form).

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Figure 4.5.1f Transformations of forms of the Draper House: mirror, multiplication, division, pulling and
extension.

Figure 4.5.1g Transformations of forms of the Pitt House: mirror, rotating, division, pulling and addition.

Figure 4.5.1h Transformations of forms of the Gerovich House: dividing, subtracting/cutting for creating
an angled form. This was Troppo’s first attempt to work on an angled design.

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The final form of each Darwin house was intended to be innovative with a deliberate order of operations
and responsiveness to the context of the individual site. The variation of forms analysed reveals Harris’s
and Welke’s playful and adventurous spirit in exploring free forms while maintaining the architectural
rigor of their academic discipline and training. Bending (articulating the form) and breaking (cutting out
space to form angled-corners and multi-angled forms) rules were means to create opportunities and
restate the regional expression of an authentic architecture in the Top End. Troppo initially articulated a
simple rectangular form in the Butcher House; cut-away and created a sharp-finish corner in the
Gerovich House; boldly cut away enclosed interior space to draw in malleable exterior space in the
entrance, verandahs, stairs and decks of the Rhodes House and Gettings House; and pulled the main
living space apart to create a central courtyard for a reversed lifestyle (spending more time in the
outdoors) and open living experience – outdoor-indoor-outdoor continuum - in the Hazeldine House.

Figure 4.5.1i Troppo flirt with symmetry in the Butcher House, Gerovich House, Rhodes House and Gettings
House in order from left to right. All have symmetrical or near-symmetrical parts, but the overall form is
asymmetrical. Verandahs were used as outdoor-indoor living space in connecting with nature and the world.

Figure 4.5.1j Troppo adopted the Bali central courtyard concept for the Hazeldine House for the first time to
emphasize the outdoor-indoor-outdoor spatial experiences in the daily activity of the occupants.

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A new expression for tropical architecture evolved in the process of flirting with symmetry in the design
of the 1980s Troppo houses. The dynamic and protruding free forms for the floor plans and roof designs
were the precedents of Troppo’s distinctive elements which marked their diverse architectural design as
an expression for a contemporary regional architecture. The blurring of the interior space with special
outdoor-indoor verandahs was created by zoning the living areas of the house between private and
communal spaces, and this became characteristic of Troppo designs. Over ten years of tropical design
practice, these early design concepts became the precedents for their award-winning houses in their
later practice.

In order to unravel the design of early Darwin houses in detail, it is important to analyse the frequent
and daily movement between physical spaces and verandahs. This is achieved in the following sections
by studying these houses through re-drawn plans, original section drawings, some 3-dimensional
computer models, photographs, personal site visits, interviews with occupants about their experiences
of living in the houses, and interviews with Troppo about their concept of designing-in-action-with-
intuition. Terms from Raban’s Soft City, hard space and soft space, will be adopted to describe the
arrangement of physical space (hard space) and the influences of psychological spaces (soft spaces)
on the occupants. In particular, ‘hard’ space will describe the physical elements, space usage and
functionality; ‘soft’ space will describe the impact of hard space on the occupants’ feelings. By integrating
the findings of both kinds of spaces, shared patterns will be identified for forming a pattern language for
a Gone Troppo lifestyle in the Top End in the 1980s.

4.5.2 Hard and soft space

The nineteen houses under consideration displayed geometric forms in elevations and floor plans. There
was an order in semi-symmetrical elevations and punctuations of architectural elements such as
positions of windows, a central flight of stairs, and entrance. Their indoor-outdoor movement extended
not only between interior living spaces and the multi-purpose verandahs but also flowed to under-house
car ports, outdoor showers, semi-open laundries and outdoor storage. Most spaces were designed with
a fixed-functional use (kitchen for cooking, bedroom for sleeping) but with the possibility of adaptation
for other uses, such as eating, dining, cooking, reading and sleeping in one space. Consequently, these

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spaces in the early houses were often unnamed as an outdoor relaxing space could be used as a
sleeping and napping space or a dining area or a study. Spaces were arranged to be open to catch the
air-flow and sunlight in accordance with the specific conditions of individual sites.

A general connectivity graph was created by analysing the designs of the twenty floor plans and section
drawings, following the approach of Bill Hillier’s space syntax diagrams 226 for representing spatial
hierarchies (Figure 4.5.2a). This general connectivity graph was important as it not only translated one
of the ten design themes, ‘The house is’, to a graphic representation but also revealed the shared pattern
of everyday experience in the spaces of the houses. The links in the connectivity graph reflected the
daily activities of the occupants in the house, access to specific spaces, connections between indoor
and outdoor spaces, ‘a hierarchy of privacy.’227 Six houses have small differences: the Spazzapan
House, Gerovich House, Rhodes House and Gettings House have split levels to segregate communal
and private areas in one enclosure; the Hazeldine House has a mixed-spatial arrangement of split levels
and discrete zones with distinctive communal and private spaces scattered around a central courtyard;
and the Troppo Type 5 House has a compact entrance connected with a flight of stairs, bathroom, toilet
and one bedroom.

Figure 4.5.2a A general connectivity graph representing typical patterns of spatial arrangement in the houses.

226 Bill Hillier, Adrian Leaman, Paul Stansall, and Michael Bedford, “Space syntax,” Environment and Planning B: Planning

and Design 3, no.2 (1976), 147-185, Bill Hillier, Richard Burdett, John Peponis, and Alan Penn, “Creating life: or does
architecture determine anything?,” Architecture et Comportement/Architecture and Behaviour 3, no.3 (1987), 233-250, Bill
Hillier, “The hidden geometry of deformed grids: or, why space syntax works, when it looks as though it shouldn’t,”
Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 3, vol.26 (1999), 169-191, Bill Hillier, Space is the Machine: A
Configuration Theory of Architecture (London: Space Syntax, 2007) is an electronic publication.
227 Phil Harris, and Adrian Welke, Punkahs & Pith Helmets: Good Principles of Tropical House Design, 28.

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During the analysis of these houses, more shared patterns of ‘hard’ space are identified in terms of
space and form, construction, and spatial arrangement. They are as follows:

In space and form:

• Simple rectangular or square form is used for affordability through its technical simplicity and
economical construction (Figure 4.5.2b);

Rectangular forms Non-rectilinear forms based on

Rectangular forms

Figure 4.5.2b Rectangular and non-rectilinear forms in the group of 19 houses.

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• There are additional bedroom verandahs for outdoor sleeping with privacy (Figure 4.5.2c);

Figure 4.5.2c Additional bedroom verandahs for outdoor sleeping areas.

• The positions of verandahs/breezeways/walkways/bridges complement the wholeness of the

geometry;

• There is an architectural order expressed in symmetrical forms, with eccentric expressions in

asymmetrical forms and a hybrid design of combined symmetrical and asymmetrical forms
(Figure 4.5.2d);

Symmetry Asymmetry A hybrid of symmetry & asymmetry

Figure 4.5.2d Three representations of symmetrical, asymmetrical and hybrid forms in geometry.

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• The simple geometry of a whole is pulled apart (into parts) connected by verandahs to allow
ventilation, sunlight and easy access to each space, facilitating response to the outdoors and
additional uses for sleeping, dining and studying (Figure 4.5.2.e). Four floor types are identified
in terms of the configuration of forms and connections with the outdoors. They are Type A (one
integrated big space), Type B (separate spaces connected by bridges/passage ways), Type C
(one central space connected with one or more verandahs), and Type D (central courtyard design
with separate spaces connected by passage ways/bridges).

Figure 4.5.2e 4 types of floor plans (A, B, C and D228) are identified in terms of the configurations of spaces
and their connection with nature through verandah, bridges and passage ways.

Type D, a central courtyard design for Hazeldine House was the precedent for the iconic work of Troppo designs - Thiel
228

House, Cullen Bay in Northern Territory in 1999.

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In construction:

• A post-and-beam structure is extensively used in the design of the early Troppo houses,
recognising the practicality of post-and-beam vernacular buildings as a response to regional
climatic conditions. Steel is the primary element of this post-and-beam construction for the
structural frame of all selected houses with timber as the secondary structure and infill. Its
lightweight structure offers the functionality of portability, flexibility for openness of space and
free-air movement, durability in inclement weather, lower indoor temperature, and reduction of
physical damage to the built environments by minimising the footprint on the surface of the earth
(Figure 4.5.2f);

Figure 4.5.2f Houses have simple volumes in most cases and post-and-beam structures with an elevated
main floor, as in the Coleman House (Top left), Lawler House (Top right), Gettings House (Bottom left),
and Kaiplinger House (Bottom right). (All 3-dimensional models were generated by Cai and Huang based
on Troppo’s 2D drawings.)

• The floors are elevated either above the ground or by a whole storey which offers usable and
additional under-house liveable space for outdoor shower, storage, laundry, entertaining space
and car-ports;

• A covered verandah and the under-house space are provided for outdoor living (sleeping, dining,
reading and entertaining) in the Dry Season;

• A general 35 degree, steep pitched roof with openings is used for the balance of internal and
external pressure to avoid suction between indoors and outdoors for cyclone reasons;

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• Extensive long overhangs provide shade to walls (reducing direct heat from sunlight) and cope
with heavy rainfalls and tropical storms;

• Whole interior volumes are open and exposed with ceilings following the roof slope and an
exposed roof structure (purlins and rafters for open roof trusses). This gives a larger open volume
for the temperature gradient with hot air collected and expelled at the highest level by the vents
and banks of sky-windows or louvres;

• Internal partition walls stop short of the ceilings for reducing the obstruction of hot air-flows
internally;

• Permeable outer walls have manually operable roof-high timber shutters and awnings, and glass
louvres for ventilation, daylight and rain;

• A steel structural framework with hardwood sub-frame and cross-bracing rods is used for strength
in a cyclone area, also offering extra open-living spaces and economy;

• Corrugated iron cladding is used for walls and roofs, which is economical and maintains the local
building traditions.

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Figure 4.5.2g The early Darwin houses demonstrated a sense of lightness, openness and transparency,
with free air flow, sunlight and interactions with wild life coming in and out. Examples are seen in the Troppo
House (Top left) Troppo Type 5 House (Top right), Kaiplinger House (Middle left), Green Can House (Middle
right) and Hazeldine House (Bottom). Taken on-site in 2011, except the last one was taken by Antony
Radford in 2008.

In spatial arrangement:

• There is a formal invitation to an entrance by a flight of stairs or a platform of verandah or deck

space, which indicates a transitional space between public and private zones (Figure 4.5.2h);

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• Communal and private spaces are separated and connected by a

breezeway/verandah/walkway (bridge), making necessary daily transitions between interior
and exterior spaces for occupants;

• There is an intermediate space, either a verandah or a breezeway or a bridge/walkway,

between the flight of stairs for the entrance and the main living spaces. This intermediate
space provides a transition between public entry and private spaces as a security check-point;

• Common additional uses of the under-house space are storage, car-ports, outdoor laundry,
shower and entertaining rooms;

• A shared and semi-open bathroom and toilet are provided on the bedroom level (adjacent to
the bedrooms as a separate space in most cases) for economy;

• An outdoor semi-open or open shower on the ground level (under-house) proves economical
and offers a quick-refreshing outdoor activity in the Dry Season as a second shower,

• An outdoor laundry is located close to the outdoor clothes hanging areas and the outdoor
shower.

Figure 4.5.2h These old photographs of early Darwin houses display a flight of stairs as a formal
invitation and a transition between public entry and private spaces as seen in the Rossetto House (Left)
and Troppo DHA Palmerston House (Right). Taken by Antony Radford in 2008.

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Soft space

The concept of soft space is used to understand an adaptation occurring between the houses
and their occupants over the years. The significance of identifying soft space in the 1980s Troppo
houses was to reveal how the occupants lived, experienced, altered and changed their
perceptions of the uses of spaces. It was evidence of how they saw the quality of the living spaces
(interior and exterior) and their emotional responses and psychological attachments to their
houses. The site visits to the houses and interviews with the occupants confirmed the significance
of this adaptation.

In the conversations with occupants a spectrum of emotional responses emerged. Twelve

residents of six houses willingly participated in the interviews. Some occupants had privacy
concerns and gave no responses during three visits in 2011, while others had concerns about
potential trespass. The participants of the interviews were occupants of houses in what is known
as ‘TroppoVille’, Coconut Grove. A significant number of the residents of the early Troppo houses
refused to participate in interviews due to their past experiences of frequently unexpected visitors
and requests by students and academics for interviews because of the popularity and promotion
of Troppo’s work in social media such as newspapers, magazines and national and international
periodicals. They indicated their wishes to be left alone. Nevertheless, among the interviews
conducted with occupants, the ‘badge of honour’ of a genuine Troppo house was felt strongly and
shared by the community. In two instances neighbours sought to set up a time for an interview as
they firmly believed their own houses were designed by Troppo, although they were not Troppo
houses. In general, the Troppo house dwellers interviewed offered a warm welcome, an
enthusiastic attitude and offers for a house tour, future visits and correspondence for further
information.

According to the interviewees, the span of residency was between three and eighteen years. Two
families had initially planned to stay only for a few years, an elderly couple who had originally
moved from Adelaide to Darwin for a work contract and a single mother with a young adult son.
With the growing emotional response and the psychological attachment they had developed

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towards their house over the years, they had decided to live in them much longer than they had
intended. They explained this as due to ‘inseparable attachment’, ‘childhood memory’, ‘falling in
love with the open spaces of the house, nature and the wildlife creatures’, ‘growing together’ and
having ‘been through good and tough times together’ at the time of the interviews (the occupants
of the Green Can House had stayed for twelve years and those of the Kaiplinger House for
eighteen years).

Building additions were made to the houses for additional family members or new occupants.
According to Troppo’s job records and the interviews, some of these were external and separate
spaces for a storage/working shed, music room, master bedroom, spare bedroom/guest room
and entertaining room. These separate spaces were either standing on their own or connected
by an open walkway or a bridge. The Lawler House had the biggest building changes to its original
design and renamed to Jarvis Lawler House in accordance with the request of the current owners
of the residence. Formerly known as the Lawler House, the current male resident asked that it be
renamed to acknowledge the new additions that Troppo had made to the house after the new
owner, Jarvis and his partner 229 purchased it in the mid-2000s. This was the only house modified
with an internal plasterboard finish and ceiling-height internal walls to accommodate new born
children and his career as an academic and musician. Some glass louvres and timber shutter
windows were replaced with solid timber-framed windows, shutters and doors. An enclosed
under-house space with tiled floor finish was created as an additional family room for
accommodating the frequent visits of extended family members from overseas. Apparent at the
time of the site visit was a separate addition to the main house which had been designed and
built in the late 2000s by Troppo’s then director in Darwin, Greg McNamara. This was a 2-storey
high addition without an internal stair case. It contained a music room on the ground floor and a
master bedroom with an open bathroom on the first floor connected to the main house by a bridge
(Figure 4.5.2i). The extension retains Troppo’s simple rectangular form but adopts enclosed
spaces with timber shutters and glass louvres to allow sunlight and ventilation. Enclosed and

229 Jarvis is a professional musician and an academic teaching at the local university. His partner is also a professional

musician. Both enjoy perform music for family and friends on the weekends and special occasions.

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folded patterns of timber surfaces are the highlight of the extension with timber-framed windows
and doors on the one external wall to create better acoustic and reverberant sound quality for
family concerts. Air conditioning was installed in the extension for better thermal comfort and the
care of the musical instruments.

Figure 4.5.2i Adaptations to the Jarvis Lawler house include internal sealed-walls in the children’s
bedroom (Top left), enclosed under-house space for storage (Top middle), and the master bedroom in the
additional building connected by a bridge to the main house (Top right). Bridges connect all parts of the
living units (Bottom left), with plasterboard-finish internal walls to the ceiling height (Bottom middle), and
folded patterns on one external wall and timber-floor finish to the extension for better acoustics (Bottom
right). Taken in 2011.

The Kaiplinger House was modified when a family member became ill as well as to provide a
cooler and dryer space for entertainment. The internal walls of one guest bedroom were sealed
for the installation of air-conditioning to provide cooler thermal comfort. A portion of the under-
house space was enclosed for a semi-open laundry, a semi-open shower (with timber lattice seen
in Figure 4.5.2j) and an entertaining room for reading, listening to music and watching television.
Colours on the balustrade and posts were repainted a vibrant red with the consent of the former
owners of the house (it was mentioned as part of the agreement for selling the house initially).
The original muted range of browns was considered to be dull and out of date by the current
occupants.

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Figure 4.5.2j Adaptations to the Kaiplinger House include vibrant red posts (Left), enclosed under-house
space for entertainment (Middle) and internal walls built to the ceiling height (Right) for the ill family
member. Taken in 2011.

The under-house space of the Green Can House was turned into a completely open living space
for a single mother and her young adult son, who had rented out much of the house for the
financial support of her family in the late 2000s. This under-house has been used as a secondary
home for them with semi-enclosed spaces for a bedroom, a bathroom and toilet. A completely
open living space is in sight for living, studying, cooking, dining and laundry areas (Figure 4.5.2k).

Figure 4.5.2k The Green Can House now includes a flight of stairs to the main house for the sub-tenants,
an open under house space for the single mother family (Left), an open living floor plan (Middle), and the
transitional and open space of an entrance between public and private space (Right). Taken in 2011.

There are recurring patterns of soft space in the way the houses and their spaces are used. They
can be characterised in terms of functionality and adaptability as follows:

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• In all the houses, verandahs are not only used as outdoor sitting area but for cooking,
dining, studying, and sleeping. (Figure 4.5.2l) There is an intimate connection between
living space and the verandah and/or between the bedroom and the
verandah/bridge/breezeway. As an extension of the indoor living space connected with
the outdoors, the verandah is an extendable space of the interior living of a house.

Figure 4.5.2l Verandahs are used as open outdoor living spaces. They are extendable spaces of the living
room and of the bedroom. Their multi-functional purposes are apparent in the Kaiplinger House (Left),
Green Can House (Middle), and Troppo House (Right). Taken in 2011.

• With the exception of the Jarvis Lawler House with young children, bedrooms are not
conventional private cells for sleeping. There are neither curtains nor fully enclosed
partition walls separating a bedroom from other spaces. Thick and dense vegetation as
high as the bedrooms in most of the houses provides visual privacy from the outside on
the street front. The lack of acoustic privacy between the bedrooms and the sounds of
the toilet was not a concern for the occupants after a period of time. They accepted its
normality in daily living in a family. Sound had become a part of life.
• The multi-functions of the under-house space created by a high-elevated structure offer
a variety of uses and alternative living spaces (Figure 4.5.2m). The Green Can House is
an exemplar of this alternative living lifestyle in the owners of the house using the under
house space as their main living space and renting out the main first floor space.

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Figure 4.5.2m The under house space created by an elevated structure is used for parking, storage and
an alternative way of outdoor living in the Lyne House (left), Kaiplinger House (middle) and Lyne House
(right). Taken in 2011.

• The verandah, staircase and breezeway act as a transition zone and a point of security
for these houses. Over time, the bushes and trees that have grown thick and tall around
the houses have, according to the occupants, successfully conferred privacy and
deterred unnecessary intruders such as architecture students, design professionals,
tourists and other passers-by. However, with the decreasing visibility of both house and
occupants from the street, security had become an issue. Occupants of three of these
houses had experienced intruders (thefts and wandering people residing in the sacred
land next to the area), who were spotted and left after being interrogated by neighbours.
Intruders could also be easily seen, however, from the open entrance which is built with
a flight of stairs that connects to a breezeway or verandahs (Figure 4.5.2n).

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Figure 4.5.n Verandah, staircase and breezeway act as a transition zone and a point of security. Security
doors and fences were built for the occupants who wished to have complete privacy in the Gerovich House
(Middle left). The Addison House (Top left), Kaiplinger House (Top middle) and Lyne House (Top right),
Gerovich House (Middle left), Jarvis Al Jarvis Lawler House (Left), Green Can House (Middle) and
Kaiplinger House (Right) are early Troppo Houses in ‘Troppoville’, Coconut Grove, Darwin. Photographs
were taken in 2012. The elevations were taken from the Troppo poster.

• Showering in a semi-open space in nature, with a three-quarter partition wall and lattice
panels (which some occupants leave open), is an act of pleasure and enjoyment in the
Dry Season. This was an inspiration for the design theme of an open Bali bathroom in
Troppo’s later practice.
• The under house space is often used as an alternative outdoor living space in the Dry
Season as it is cooler than the main space of the house.

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• An outdoor laundry near the outdoor shower adds a sense of outdoor fun to an ordinary
household chore as the cross-bracing bars are used as clothes hangers.
• The occupants commented that the majority of the time they spend is on the outdoor
verandahs and out in the gardens. Opening all windows and doors is the first priority as
soon as the occupants come home from work or other activities. Louvres remain opened
most of the time unless there is heavy rainfall with strong winds.
• The living outdoor-verandah is 30% or more of the total interior space of the houses. It
demonstrates Troppo’s intention of encouraging the occupants to spend more time in the
open outdoors than in the enclosed indoors.
• The female occupants displayed much higher tolerance to the maintenance aspects of
the interior spaces of the house as they are often the ones to open all windows and doors,
and clean the droppings and cobwebs in the house.

Occupants described experiencing a progression from feeling irritated by inconvenience,

uncomfortable, uneasy and insecure to resilient, comfortable, relaxed, content and secure.
Female residents expressed similar emotional changes and growing attachments to the house
from ‘hate’, ‘dislike’, and ‘very insecure’ emotions for the awkwardness of acoustic sounds from
the ‘open toilet’ and conversations, to ‘love’, ‘want to get home after being on holidays’, ‘being
home is better than staying at a holiday resort’, and ‘living here forever’. (Interviews with the
Troppo House, Green Can House, Jarvis Lawler House and Troppo Type 5 residents in 2011)
Affections, emotional responses and deep attachments these occupants had for their house grew
stronger over time. These psychological feelings overcame their fear for flood, heavy rain,
damage and mess after cyclones (the occupants of the Troppo Type 5 Houses, Kaiplinger House,
and Jarvis Lawler House). Four recurring patterns in the responses emerge from the influences
of soft space in and around the houses. These are: resilience to the tropical heat, rain and
inconvenience, an acceptance of shared space, a change of attitudes and values; and an
appreciation of the breathing skin and under house storage-space of the houses. Both male and
female occupants gave comments about the physical and psychological boundaries for space
and daily living becoming translucent and open.

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The analysis sought responsively recurring patterns between the hard and soft spaces of house
design and occupant values. They are as follows.

1. Shared space: the means for tolerance and thinking of others.

The Troppo house challenged traditional priorities of security and privacy, encouraging a
mentality of sharing, openness, transparency and thinking of others. Occupants found
that there was little sense of privacy as there were open conversations through openings
in the internal walls and open roof structure. Most occupants adapted to the uneasiness
by understanding Troppo’s design in response to climate. Each house has a shared
bathroom and toilet and their use had to be informally negotiated between the family
members. It was a way Troppo met the tight budgetary constraint while achieving a high
quality of living. Most importantly, the mentality of sharing went beyond human-human
relationships to encompass human-creature and human-ecology relationships, with
these also being flexible, tolerant, and adaptable. Occupants developed responsive
awareness and concern for people, place, building, and a sustainable environment. This
awareness was a vital influence on growing children.

2. A change of attitudes to life: thinking outside the box

These occupants required a strong mind to break through psychological boundaries in
order to be resilient and leave themselves open to dealing with their initial discomforts. A
common theme was how a change of attitudes was necessary in order to fully enjoy the
‘hedonist’ pleasures the houses offered. Some occupants referred to themselves as
‘bogans’ or ‘feral’ (commonly used terms for care-free Australians with connotations of
wild, plebeian, and anti-authoritarian) to be able to live in a Troppo house. They
commented on the sense that the building feels unfinished (‘the house is never finished
and we just love the way how it is’), or its being like a tree house to both the children and
the adults themselves, as there were no solid partition walls between spaces. They
believed that the design of their house had influenced their internal responsiveness to
inconvenience in a dramatic way by offering them the experience of being with nature,
and the sensation of cool breezes all year around. The couple in the Kaplinger House
who said they had originally intended to stay for a few years would not now consider

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moving out; they claimed that an unbreakable bond had developed with the house over
time:
“I find it hard to live on ground level after being living in the pole house […] it is
like heaven. It is like holiday living in this house […] we don’t like to live in an
apartment. We just cannot do it anymore […] it is a love-hate relationship we
have had with the house over the years as this type of design isn’t for everyone.
We just love it even though you have to deal with bird poo everywhere and every
day.” (Interviews with the Kaiplinger House residents in 2011)

3. The breathing skin: being psychologically flexible

In order to cope with heat in the Dry Season and humidity in the Wet Season, the houses
have walls that breathe. The breathing quality of the walls challenged occupants’
preconceptions of cleanliness and convenience. Moreover, residents had to go outside
on to the verandah or bridge in order to re-enter the main living spaces. A feeling of
belonging and identity was felt through this moving between inside and outside spaces,
hearing the sounds of nature (rain and wind) and wildlife (frogs and birds), and seeing a
glimpse of light beams through thick and weaving greenery moving in gentle breezes.
Feelings of ease and a laid-back attitude gradually rejuvenated the minds of residents,
and brought out feelings of contentment and nurtured a sense of forgiving harsh
environment conditions: ‘I just love hearing the rain drumming on the roof’; ‘you just feel
so relaxed to hear the rain and the sound of wildlife sitting in the outdoor space [the
verandah].’ (Interviews with the Troppo House and Green Can House residents in 2011)

4. Physical and psychological boundaries for space and life becoming translucent and open
With neither curtains nor solid doors, there were many unexpected ‘visitors from the wild’
during day and night. Occupants came to appreciate the connection with animals and
insects, and associated the spatial openness of the rooms with serenity, and a feeling of
being immersed-in-nature. Over time, their conventional belief in the need for an
enclosed living space dissolved. ‘It depends where you draw that line [between interior
and exterior spaces]’. (Interviews with the Green Can House residents in 2011) For
most occupants, there were no physical or psychological boundaries for everyday
spaces, daily activities, and life. Everyday spaces became fluid and transparent, blurring

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with nature and surroundings, representing the metaphor of Troppo’s tenth line for
completely opening up the interior space outwards to exterior space. There were many
expressions of delight in this dissolving of spatial boundaries. ‘Waking up with a slithering
sound of a snake on the pillow’, ‘stepping on birds’ droppings’, ‘rescuing birds caught in
the roof’, ‘chasing possums and squirrels’, ‘sharing the space with the wildlife’, ‘insects
and birds […] flying in and out when we open up the house every morning’, ‘running
soaking-wet to go to the loo’ [Australian informal term for toilet] and ‘running between
rooms on the bridge just like being in an open amusement park in the forest to children’
are comments that project a life in which residents fell in love with living as one with their
environment. The Troppo comment that ‘a view through one will always include the other’
was understood by residents who experienced first-hand these physical and
psychological spatial boundaries as translucent and open edges for both living space and
life itself. The intimate link that a home has between people, spirit, value, mind, and
nature was enhanced.

For the occupants who were interviewed, the apparent inconveniences and discomfort of
humidity and heat in the houses became a part of their daily living. Expressions of envy
from family, friends and visitors came out in the conversations inquiring into the so-called
inconvenience of living Troppo. Other often-used metaphors in the interviews described
the house as ‘a holiday resort’, and ‘a camping tent in the outback’, confirming the
relaxed, open and natural features of the Gone Troppo lifestyle.

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4.6 Summary

Troppo’s early Darwin houses demonstrated adaptability to the social changes and the people of the
time. These houses have been adapted to their occupants and the occupants have adapted to the
houses. The physical form of the house (hard space) offered the occupants the possibility for change in
response to lifestyle change, growth in family and unexpected personal circumstances. The
psychological space of the house (soft space) shifted the occupants’ mindset from negative and socially
imposed emotions to positive and appreciative attachments to their house. Numerous extensions to the
early projects were the evidence of the occupants’ trust and assurance in their alignment with Troppo’s
values and attitudes towards living like environmentally responsible hedonists.

Troppo’s variation of innovative designs was built upon their understanding of vernacular architecture
and of the quality of everyday living in the tropics. The innovative designs of the houses embraced the
concept of responsive cohesion, that is, the ethics of adaptation in the design of parts and wholes to
accommodate to each other and to mutually respond to the designs’ tangible and intangible contexts.
Most importantly, these designs were inventive and relevant to the climatic conditions, regional culture
and local environment. Troppo’s commitment to make everything work together was clear in this study
of nineteen houses, with their design concept of the tenth line and ‘designing from within and working
out’. This fundamental concept conveyed a characteristically Australian essence of overtly optimistic
enthusiasm for everyday living. Identifying the recurring patterns in these houses exhibits their
responsive tropical design cohesion across many contexts. A significant finding was of the interplay
between Troppo’s hedonistic laid-back attitude and the rigor of their architectural discipline creating
delightful and effective tropical shelter in a harsh environment. Their four fundamental design principles,
theory and construction methods made the Troppo practice distinctive among other architects who were
pursuing a similar climatic-design approach. Their work even became a model for imitations that became
claimed by their occupants as genuine Troppo houses. 230

230 An impromptu conversation was carried out over a coffee meeting with the Director of the Adelaide office, Cary Duffield

who retold the story about Harris. He highlighted his observation about some architects who attempted to mimic Troppo’s
features by tweaking form, the design of verandahs, types of windows, and usage of shutters and louvres.

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The form of the early Darwin houses reflects the presentation of place. The incentive of built form
emerged from the feelings and immersion of the people and the house as a whole within the place.
Welke himself described this wholeness as the process of ‘opening out a building so that the interiors
relate to outdoor areas’231 and integrating ‘wafting breezes and a sense of what’s happening with the
birds and the bees outside.’ 232 The immersion with the place was described as ‘It (the house) perches
on its site and avoids the preoccupation with cut, fill and terrace.’233 In his interview with the Townsville
Bulletin, Harris mentioned, ‘It’s imperative to understand the place in the continuum of history. You don’t
have to slavishly regurgitate, but simply apply the right principles and develop those to suit contemporary
practice, materials and lifestyle”.

However, this study shows that it is the attitudes of the occupants that were the crucial factor for making
the design of Troppo houses work. These early Darwin houses would not succeed elsewhere, as their
success depends on their location and on the attitudes of the occupants of the house. Troppo’s
embracing of ‘the great outdoors’ in a tropical lifestyle would only suit some particular people who
appreciated the pleasure and human experience and fulfilment of life in the tropics, and were deeply
acclimatised to the ‘camping in the outback’ lifestyle. This distinctive lifestyle lies behind the typology of
Troppo houses with their set of expressively architectural symbols, simplicity of building detailing and
recognizable Tropical features. The identified form patterns and distinctive characteristics were
translated into a collective set of 16 design vocabulary elements of a Troppo language which
encompassed ‘banks of windows’, ‘breathing and adjustable skin’, ‘elevated structure’, ‘simple geometry
and forms’, ‘lightweight structure’, ‘symmetry flirting with asymmetry’, ‘elegance in repetition’, ‘living
verandah’, ‘shared space’, ‘connecting with nature’, ‘one exit’, ‘transition space’, ‘inside-out and outside-
in experiences’, ‘expandable spaces’, ‘cross axis’ and ‘hierarchy in spaces’. Four types of floor plan of
these early houses translated the Troppo language by giving the residents the ‘greater-than-the-indoors-
will-ever-be-outdoors’ everyday experiences for a responsive hedonist lifestyle.

231 This quote was extracted from an article of the local Business magazine, Territory Business, which Troppo collected as
a part of publication collections about their built work. Author and date were unknown.
232 This quote was taken from a newspaper article by Peter Ward, The Weekend Australian (1998), July 31- August 1, p16.
233 This quote was taken from Architectural Steel Innovation (2005). Author unknown.

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In the following Chapter 5, the Troppo language identified in this chapter will be used as a basis to
compare five contemporary Troppo houses. These houses will be looked at through the lenses of the
recurring patterns; contingency, circumstances and situations that arose while expanding the first
Darwin practice; the partnership of regional Troppo practices; the mindset of Troppo’s wealthier clients
and the typological conditions of the five regions – Northern Territory (Darwin), Queensland (Townsville),
South Australia (Adelaide), New South Wales (Byron Bay) and Western Australia (Perth).

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Chapter 5
Five Case Studies

The designs and form-patterns of Troppo houses changed with the addition of partners, in-house
architects and regional offices to the Troppo practice over the years. Chapter Five is focused on how
the practice responded to regional context, local socio-cultural structure, climatic conditions, and the
different needs of a wider range of clients such as holiday-seekers and incoming retiree-investors as
well as established local residents. This chapter describes five case studies from the five regions of the
Troppo offices – Darwin, Townsville, Adelaide, Byron Bay and Perth in the chronological order of their
establishment. The Troppo regional patterns are compared with the typical patterns of early Troppo
practice in Darwin to discover the resemblances and changes in the pattern language as well as to
reveal how contingencies were played out and effected Troppo’s design philosophy, ethos and values
in the regional practices.

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5.1 Introduction

A commonality most of the regional Directors share is that they had several years of experiences as in-
house architects with Troppo before becoming a partner, except the later Director of the Townsville
office who had his own practice before joining Troppo. Presenting these case studies in chronological
order helps understand the events and circumstances behind Troppo’s expansion from Darwin to other
regions. This order offers an insight into the initiatives of each branch practice and the transition of
ownership. The five case studies then look at any significant influences that lead to different design
approaches and business operations in regional offices. Subsequently, the ways in which these
influences caused necessary changes to Troppo’s early pattern language are discussed.

The analysis of each case study involved two steps. The first step was to identify the characteristics of
Troppo’s domestic projects on various scales – large houses, smaller residential houses, design
collaboration with the developers of apartments and resorts – for each branch in order to draw out
specific patterns which were not seen in the early Troppo patterns in Darwin. Posters of design projects,
old and recent photographs of some built works, and sets of working drawings were collected whilst
conducting the field work over the span of 18 months. One specific residence was nominated by each
partner of a regional branch for its significance and representativeness of Troppo’s characteristic form-
patterns. The second step was to map the similarities and differences between each pattern and the
early patterns in order to draw connections and have an insight into the process of pragmatically
adapting a general pattern to the specific regional contingencies of climate, landscape and socio-cultural
milieu.

The location of Troppo’s regional offices was determined by the availability of commissioned projects
and personal circumstances. In commissioned projects outside of northern Australia, Troppo and the
regional directors were challenged to adapt the principles and methods they had developed for tropical
house design for different climate zones. These projects provided them with opportunities to examine
the practicality of their acclimatized design and develop their tropical-form patterns to be regional-
responsive design. In an interview with Harris, he mentioned that the distraction of a formal office space
works against the quality of a good design due to constant staff movement, noises from phone calls,

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typing, photocopying, and group discussions, and other administration tasks 234. A comfortable home
space, by contrast, creates the sort of warm, peaceful and calm ambient atmosphere from which Harris
draws the emphasis that home space is the place of innovative ideas.

A home-like working environment is set up in the offices of Darwin, Perth, Townsville, and Byron Bay,
though not in the branch in Adelaide. The number of staff in those four offices ranges between 2 and 4
people. The small number of staff constrains the work of the practices and offers an opportunity to work
collaboratively across the offices. The Adelaide office is the only office space that has to accommodate
10 full-time staff and some part-time staff (between 2 and 5 temporary staff – as contracted architects
or internship architecture students) depending on the availability of incoming projects and the scale of
commissioned projects by local or state governments.

Most former staff left Troppo’s practice after a few years of working for Troppo. A few former staff
established their own practice yet remain in contact with Troppo for large-scale design projects
(Interviews with Duffield in 2011 and Cai in 2011). This trend was a key reason for the multiple small-
size offices of the Troppo practice in recent years. The home-like office space elevates productive
creativity, invigorates the in-house architects with brisk design ideas and easy communication, and
establishes a dynamic collaboration between the offices for ‘constantly bouncing off ideas’ and having
‘colleagues as the sounding boards and the source of ideas exchange’ (Interview with Connolly 2012).
Details of the processes of creating ideas and of collaboration between staff in different offices are
discussed through interviews with the regional directors, senior and/or graduate architects, and former
architects in each case study.

Troppo’s approach for multiple offices offers an insight into the intended business model developed
during their expansion in the 1990s. The challenges of passing on Troppo’s ethos and design philosophy
unfolded through the dynamics among the regional offices. During the process of Troppo’s expansion,
a pattern in partnership was sought that was based on a financially independent model with an intimate

234 Harris mentions a couple of times in interviews that he found the best place for being innovative on a project was on the
living room floor, on the couch or in bed at home. A few award winning design ideas were even sketched on a napkin on
the flight to the work destination.

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relationship in design collaboration. There was a mixture of business-orientated arrangements

established in 1995 235 and a mentoring tie for keeping in alignment with Troppo’s climatically responsible
practice, architectural ethos and design principles. 236 Other factors were found to change the dynamic
of this relationship. These were unanticipated situations, legal responsibility, and the development of a
mutually beneficial relationship. Unanticipated situations were encountered and these played a role in
changing the dynamism of the mentoring tie in terms of the fallout of business arrangements and a
change of design philosophy. These situations included the cancelling of a commissioned project, a
health issue, the integration of different business models, 237 and personal reasons. Legal responsibilities
involved the control of major decision-making for the final products of regional projects, the quality of
newly recruited staff, the sources of projects, and financial accountability. A ‘mutually beneficial
relationship’ referred to adaptation of Troppo’s ethos for an ecologically sound design as a selling-factor
across all offices to be known by the public for the simple, laid-back, and informal lifestyle Troppo had
endeavoured to prompt since the 1980s. The factors and situations mentioned above were the crucial
aspects of contingency that determined the divergence or the consistency of Troppo pattern-forms
exhibited in the regional Director’s design of contemporary Troppo houses. In the new relationships, the
regional offices generated diverse business models through changing Directors and different design
approaches for their survival in competitive contemporary practice.

The selected Darwin and Byron Bay case study houses were projects completed in each case by the
regional Director. Those of Townsville, Adelaide and Perth were collaborative efforts between two
architects (the regional Director and a project architect) who worked on different phases of the project.

235 According to former Director of Troppo Geoff Clark in Townsville, the regional branch of Troppo’s practice in Townsville
was the very first one set up in 1995.
236 Clark mentioned that the turning point of his Troppo practice from an in-house architect to a Director was because of his

willingness to stay in Townsville instead of returning to the Darwin branch when the divergent design issues occurred
between their client DHA (Defence Housing Authority) and Troppo in late 1994. He was called to close down the operation
of the development of the housing project in Townsville due to insufficient financial stability, lack of familiarity with local
needs and differences, and the difficulties of the far-distant business management from Darwin. He decided to propose a
business partnership to Harris for running a financially independent and yet coherent design practice registered under
Troppo Architects’ name. It was called Troppo Architects (Queensland). Hence the first regional Troppo branch in the
Eastern coastal region established a totally financially independent business model in alignment with responsive design
principles.
237 Former Director Geoff Clark and current Director Terry O’Toole in the Townsville branch, as well as Manager Dan

Connolly in Byron Bay, have mentioned these factors that contributed to the changes in the emergence of divergent
Troppo practices.

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The selection of each residential project as a case study was recommended by the regional Director, as
in their view, the ‘closest’ representative example or the ‘most’ significant contribution to Troppo’s
regionally responsive design. The analysis of each case study was intended to identify the new form-
patterns, different materials, and construction methods that were not seen in early Troppo patterns in
Darwin. The general connectivity graph in Chapter 4 represented the characteristics of the early Troppo
form-patterns (Figure 4.6.2a). The graph was used to compare the floor plans of contemporary Troppo
houses in five case studies in order to identify any changes to the early Troppo patterns. Similarities and
differences between the design of the early and contemporary houses were sought in terms of
functional-spatial planning, design in forms and volumes, the use and availability of materials, advanced
technology and building construction, the means to meet budget requirements, and different building
regulations. Furthermore, the ways in which each contemporary house achieved responsive cohesion
through the discovery of similarities and differences were sought and discussed at the end of each case
study. Seeking these ways revealed the reasons for the necessity of change and the importance of
persistence in the Troppo practice because of their understanding that ‘architecture is subject to the
contingency of its time and place’. 238

The following subsection, ‘The Expansion of Troppo Practice’, elaborates the background, the transition
to setting up a branch, and the networks of sharing information and design inputs amongst offices.

Antony Radford, Selen MorkoÇ and Amit Srivastava, The Elements of Modern Architecture: Understanding
238

Contemporary Buildings (London: Thames and Hudson, 2014), 12.

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5.2 The Expansion of Troppo practice

Troppo’s regionally responsive design was advanced by Harris’s and Welke’s excitement239 and
confidence in designing tropical architecture in Darwin. Their design principles, theory and construction
methods were developed with an understanding of Darwin’s climatic conditions being ‘the easiest
climate for house design’240 and in line with their observations on life and work patterns. Harris recalled
that

‘Everyone is an outsider in Darwin. It is a multi-cultural city with lots of immigrants and workers
from Asia and people like me from other states…People here come and go…[Laughing] It’s an
Aboriginals’ lifestyle that expects you to do so – come and go.’ (Interview with Harris in 2011)

The opportunity for on-going government commissioned projects and personal circumstances were the
motives for the Darwin office to branch out to four new offices. Troppo opted to operate a multi-branch
practice as ‘a shoestring operation.’ 241 Troppo’s climatically responsive design had progressed into
regionally responsive design in five cities across Australia by the end of 2009.

The first expansion of the Troppo practice evolved from a project from the Defence Housing Authority
(DHA) for a medium-density housing project in Townsville in 1994. 242 This was a great opportunity for
an in-house architect, Geoff Clark, who later became the Director of a Troppo branch in Townsville
between late 1995 and early 1996. Clark initially took on this opportunity because he was the only person
in the office who was single without family or many friends in Darwin. He had only to adjust himself to
the new environment. However, the process of negotiating with the DHA for the project did not go
smoothly due to the fact that ‘we couldn’t see eye to eye’ according to Clark. With very few sources of

239 In the interview with Welke in 2016, he pointed out that the success of their early practice in Darwin was built upon their
realisation on accepting the climatic conditions of a place not working against it. ‘We didn’t have a particular environmental
awareness but we did see the best place to live in the tropics was the best way to make uses of the climate not fight
against it and then design buildings that did that for you… if you want to participate and enjoy the place, you have to be
working with it and not against it! Therefore, you save lots of energy and also indulge yourself with materials, local craft and
culture if you like.’ (Interview with Welke in 2016)
240 Both Harris and Welke mentioned this fact in the separately arranged interviews.
241 Philip Goad, Troppo Architects (Sydney: Pesaro Press, 2005), 21.
242 Geoff Clark, the former Director of the Troppo branch in Townsville spoke about the opportunity that was offered by

Harris for him to be based in Townville in order to oversee the whole process of the commissioned project offered by the
DHA.

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projects from local and neighbouring regions, the financial stability of the Troppo practice in Townsville
was in jeopardy. Clark was called to close the project and return to Darwin. A working business model
for Townville seemed to be foreign to both Harris and Welke due to the unfamiliarity of local social and
cultural contexts. However, for Clark, it was a better location than Darwin as it was closer to major cities
like Brisbane and his home city of Sydney. It was much easier for him to remain in contact with others.
He was single and ready to take on challenges. 243 It was an opportunity to try something different,
expand and test Troppo’s design principles in the East Coastal region. He boldly proposed to Harris that
he would take over the practice solo without financial liability from Darwin. In this way, with the necessary
legal agreements, Troppo’s first regional branch was set up in Townsville. It started with only owning a
phone line in someone else’s office in 1994 but went on to reach a peak in 2002 of operating as a
practice with a group of 7 professional staff in an office in downtown Townsville.

Success and change in an architectural practice are importantly affected by unpredicted situations in
relation to factors such as financial stability, family, and physical well-being. Due to declining health,244
in 2008, Clark had to leave his heavy workload and found a potential new Director for the practice. Terry
O’Toole, a local practitioner with twenty-five years of experience in the building industry, expressed an
interest in a partnership with the Troppo practice and purchased the Townsville branch. At the time, he
also ran a mixed commercial and residential architectural practice named North Point. O’Toole was well-
known locally for his public projects such as offices, school facilities and other commercial buildings in
the region of Townsville. Clark moved to an academic position in the University of Tasmania in
Launceston, but has continued to have regular contact with both Harris in Adelaide and Welke in Perth
as well as with O’Toole in Townsville for occasional cooperation in design projects. In 2012 he still
considered himself a member of Troppo. 245 The work in the Townsville Troppo office gradually shifted
under O’Toole from being predominately domestic to having a diverse mix of commercial and domestic
projects with two independent practices: North Point and Troppo Architects (Queensland). There were

243 A Skype online interview with Clark was conducted on December 14th, 2012.
244 Clark was diagnosed with a serious illness and was strongly recommended to have a change of lifestyle.
245 During the online interview with Clark in December 2012, he still identified himself as a Troppo architect in conference

papers, public media and talks.

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two distinct client groups and some clients were initially perplexed by the integration of the two practices
in the same office (Interview with O’Toole in 2012).

Family reasons played a role for both founders in Troppo’s expansion. After almost twenty years of
practising architecture in the Top End, Harris and Welke both felt that it was time to return to their home
cities. In late 1999, Harris decided to return home to Adelaide to set up a southern regional branch,
Troppo Architects (South Australia), seeking better education for his children and for other family
reasons. It was the first branch located in a non-tropical climate zone and Welke fully supported Harris’s
decision as ‘a brave call’ that promoted the reputation and currency of the Troppo name nationwide,
and their ‘underpinning philosophy’ (Interview with Welke in 2016). Repositioning Troppo’s climate
responsive design into the moderate climate of Adelaide and neighbouring states was the first priority
for Harris to fulfil his ‘succession plan’ for their practice (Interview with Harris in 2016). He did several
domestic projects before the official announcement of setting up a small studio-based Adelaide office.246
Harris’s and the in-house architects’ simple, informal, and laid-back attitudes were well-received. A
reputation was established with the intriguing slogan of ‘no bow tie’ at work and a daringly different
design for suburban houses, with a hint of a tropical architecture with thermally appropriate materials,
completely exposed structure, mono-pitch roof form, a combination of open and enclosed spaces with
banks of high windows and large glass doors, verandahs and decks, and long overhangs. These
features gradually became familiar to the southern clients who resonated with the colloquial slogan of
Going Troppo as an expression of a hedonist lifestyle and their sustainable design.

Another important factor was Harris’s ‘greater interest in… getting a name’ out, according to the interview
with Dan Connolly in July 2012, the regional manager 247 of the Troppo branch in Byron Bay. ‘Phil has

246 The first studio-office was located in the bustling retail zone of the Central Business District of Adelaide city. The studio-
office was above a retail shop on Rundle Street that had accessibility to daily activities and events - working, studying,
dining and shopping – and had the advantage of exposing Troppo’s practice to the general public.
247 During the second interview with Adrian Welke in early 2014, he stated Connolly’s role in the operation of Troppo’s

architectural practice as the regional manager rather than the regional Director of the Byron Bay office.

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greater interests of getting the name [Troppo Architects] out of Darwin. He’s got media to help him do
so. He always focuses on looking for regional jobs.’ (Interview with Connolly in July 2012)

According to Goad, 248 the Byron Bay office had a ‘soft start’ in 2002 and was officially set up in 2003.
Connolly started as a graduate architect in the Troppo Adelaide office in 1999. Then an opportunity was
offered to Harris to design a group of ten distinctive beach houses in Byron Bay, New South Wales in
2002. This proposition of being offered a far-away medium-size housing project was similar to the one
in Townsville back in 1994. Connolly was the project assistant to Harris and accompanied him to Byron
Bay in 2002. During the on-going negotiations for the project, Connolly nominated himself to oversee its
completion. He stayed as the first-point-of-contact in Byron Bay and remained a close design
collaborator. He set up a financially-dependent office with Harris in Adelaide. Troppo Architects (New
South Wales) was formally established as a fourth Troppo office in 2003.

The successful operation of an architectural practice in a new region depends on some ‘local knowledge’
of the socio-cultural background as well as of the needs of local residents and climatic conditions. For
Connolly, the Troppo office in Byron Bay began with some promising projects such as various housing
jobs, club houses and a spa facility building. As time went by, the number of staff declined due to the
practice’s remote location, with too few local clients from a small population, and restrictive planning
codes that aimed to preserve the old building types and the natural environment of the region. According
to an observation made by Connolly, many sole architects and practitioners had attempted to stay in
Byron Bay but failed to survive after a couple of years. The coming and going of ambitious architects
from interstate became a common feature of local practice. During this research field work in Byron Bay
in July 2012, Connolly was working alone and struggling to have sufficient projects 249 to expand the
practice. A new work-pattern for joint and collaborative design work was formed by requesting support

248 Philip Goad, Troppo Architects (Sydney: Pesaro Press, 2005), 85.
249 The very first commissioned project for a medium-sized housing development was still under negotiation after ten years
of settling the regional branch in Byron Bay, according to Connolly. With several ownership changes and other confidential
business agreement, he was still requested to make time for meetings, negotiations for design proposals and any design-
related and building permission associated meetings. At the time of interviewing, it was still an on-going and unforeseen-
end-result project for Connolly.

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from the Adelaide office from time to time with various kinds of assistance, such as a CAD technician
and the involvement of senior staff, including Harris, for fresh and innovative design ideas. A network of
information and resource sharing was gradually formed between regional offices. A closer relationship
brought the exchange of creative ideas, regional knowledge, and the building of a steady cross-state
work flow. Such design collaboration sharing human and information resources formed the core of
Troppo’s office culture and it became the means to retain Troppo’s ethos over the years.

‘He (Harris) is a person who loves travelling and it makes sense. If you look at the Troppo blurb,
that stuff we write about ourselves, that is the local knowledge factor and it is very important…
So it is great to partner up with the local architect.’ (Interview with Connolly in July 2012)

The year 2003 was significant for Troppo as another regional branch was set up by Welke in Perth,
later, but in the same year as Byron Bay. This was the fifth regional practice and the first located on the
west coast of Australia. Interestingly, Troppo’s regional practices were now almost evenly distributed
around Australia – from far north Darwin, the Top End of the Northern Territory, to Townsville, on the
eastern coast of the ‘Sunshine State’ of Queensland, to Byron Bay, on the eastern coast of New South
Wales, to Adelaide, the capital city of the ‘Festival State’ of South Australia, – and finally to Perth, the
capital city of Western Australia with its booming mining industry. There was no regional office in either
Victoria or Tasmania at the time of this research.

Family reasons 250 were the motivation for Welke, to relocate from Darwin back to Perth. Once again, its
socio-culture, climate, economic situation and the built environment shaped the practice in many ways
as Welke varied the building design while keeping the same core principles251. The selection of
materials, the methods of construction, and the passive design theory were developed by Welke in

250 Welke’s family and his wife’s are in Western Australia. They decided to move back home and settled the Troppo
practice there for the same reasons that Harris had moved to Adelaide in 1999. Children’s education and being close to
family and friends in Perth were the first priority for him at that point. Welke set up the regional branch in the downtown city
of Perth in late 2003 and in 2007 relocated his home and practice to Fremantle, the port of Perth and the second largest
city in Western Australia. His wife, at that time, was interested in setting up her business in importing-and-exporting goods
and ceramic merchandise from nearby countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, India and Thailand. Her workshop and retail
shopfront were located in the same building as the Troppo branch in the mixed zone of an industrial, commercial and
residential area in Fremantle.
251 Heavy tilt-up concrete panel walls, enormous footprints of living areas, large portions of glass, and installation of

evaporative air-conditioning have been commonly used components in the design of houses in this regional branch of
Troppo practice in Perth/Fremantle.

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response to local knowledge and the observation that local residents sought grander and more luxurious
housing. Welke had to quickly settle in a state with a fast-growing population, a booming economy,
Mediterranean climatic conditions, and a multi-faceted built environment with different and complex
building codes.

In the following subsections, five contemporary houses in five states will be examined by looking at the
spatial arrangement of each floor plan in comparison to the 1980s houses. By identifying differences
and similarities in floor plan between the 1980s Troppo houses (Figure 4.6e) and each contemporary
house, Troppo’s ideas, values and attitudes are revealed. Comparing design elements and features
investigates the consistency of Troppo’s ethos and the departures of the regional practices, as well as
the continuities of Troppo’s environmental and climatic design principles.

The five regionally-distinct case studies of recently-designed Troppo houses are presented here in
accordance with the historical sequence of establishment of Troppo’s five regional offices – Darwin,
Townsville, Adelaide, Byron Bay and Perth, respectively – rather than by date of construction. Each of
them traces a different design response to the client’s requirements at the time, the constraint of climate
and site conditions, and the interpretation of regional culture, social structure and built environment.

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5.3 Darwin: Mortlock Residence, Howard Springs, Northern Territory

A contingency of the Darwin office was the new partnership with Greg McNamara and his practice
partner and wife, Lena Yali, because of the relocation of Harris from Darwin to Adelaide in 1999 and of
Welke from Darwin to Perth in 2003. The success of the change of ownership was crucial to both Harris
and Welke as the work of the Darwin office symbolized the core values of their ethos. Opportunities
were emerged for a new phase of the Darwin practice by integrating innovative concepts of new design
partners McNamara and Yali. Challenges were remained to Troppo when they ventured out to relocate
two main operational offices in Adelaide and Perth while leaving their root behind. Mentoring McNamara
in Troppo practice and culture and his respect for the significant work of Troppo in Darwin were the keys
to a smooth transition.

In early 2000 following Harris’ and Welke’s planned departure from Darwin, appropriate new partners
were needed for the Darwin office. By chance, Welke was in contact with Greg McNamara who was
born in Darwin and graduated from The University of Sydney in 1992. After graduation McNamara
worked in a medium-size firm in Sydney for ten years. In the late 1990s, there was an economic
recession in Sydney and he felt it was time to return home to Darwin. 252 An opportunity presented itself
as a job offer by Welke. After working and corresponding with him, Welke put forward the offer for
McNamara to take over the key Darwin office in 2002. McNamara decided to accept Welke’s proposal
in 2003 and run the practice with his Co-Director and wife, Lena Yali, who was also a Sydney graduate.
They became the Directors of the Darwin office in 2003. Both McNamara and Yali, sadly passed away
in a motor accident in July, 2011. 253 At the time of writing (2014), the Troppo office is now run by the
new Director, Jo Best, with the close assistance and support of Harris.

252 ‘I was born in Darwin and I had the connection back in Darwin. We finished [architecture degrees] in 1992, that was a
time when Sydney went through a recession. We bumped around and we quickly decided to move back to Darwin as it’s a
good place to start. As an architecture student, Troppo was out there - there were the architecture and the words what
architecture really was.’ (Interview with McNamara in 2011)
253 Their significant contributions to Darwin architecture and their generous time and assistance in supporting this research

are mentioned in detail in the acknowledgements before the body of this thesis.

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2003 was a challenging year for both McNamara and Yali. Although McNamara was familiar with
Troppo’s ethos as an architecture student, 254 he had little chance to apply Troppo’s underlying design
principles into his projects while practising in Sydney as he mainly worked on a mix of commercial office
buildings and contemporary suburban residential projects. Before taking up the role of Director, he put
himself in a position in which he had to learn ‘seeing through the process’ (quoted by McNamara 2011)
with Welke and Harris (mainly Welke as Harris was in the Adelaide branch unless there was a
collaborative project), and to run the practice as a separate financial business. Through the process
McNamara learned and observed Troppo’s arrangement of ‘hard’ and the intent of ‘soft’ spaces in their
Darwin house designs. The design of the indoor-outdoor living verandah was adapted to express
McNamara’s interpretation of Going Troppo for tropical lifestyles in Darwin. His perception of ‘being
more Darwin’ embraces the Troppo concept of everyday spaces being more transparent with openness,
lightness, sunlight, breezes, warm heat, monsoon rains and the coming-and-going of wild life.

‘They [Darwin buildings] are always a bit heavy and this is not quite Right, the sense of public
isn’t quite Right and the life of that space isn’t quite Right…. The sustainable issues are intricate
and [dealing with them makes the design of buildings] more Darwin.’ (Interview with McNamara
in 2011)

According to McNamara, designing residential projects and doing them exceptionally well was the key
to the Darwin practice’s success over the years. 255 He continued with the goal of excelling in domestic
projects exploring his interpretation of the nature of ‘Darwin Architecture’ with innovative variations of
details (Figure 5.3a) in response to the availability of materials and up-to-date construction technology
at the time of each project. 256 He used his experiences with an understanding of Troppo’s values for a
house to be ‘what it wants to be, evolve and change over time’ (Interview McNamara in June 2011).
McNamara regards details as necessary but should not be excessive. ‘One of our works is that we do it

254 McNamara mentioned that lecturers and tutors were very attracted and influenced by both Glenn Murcutt’s and

Troppo’s fundamental principles for responsive design in regional contexts. However, he could see the imitations of some
architects’ work in which there were resemblances mimicking the characteristics of Troppo design. There was a hint of
duplications that created fallacies and impersonal characteristics in their designs.
255 ‘Troppo is very good at what they do. This is because they insist on only working on residential projects but rarely

anything else. I believe that this is the main reason behind their success in regional responsive design in houses’ (Interview
with McNamara in 2011).
256 ‘I think it has been a fantastic 10 years developing the nature tendency of materials and technology. You cannot repeat

and constantly explore the details and materials and try to understand the climate.’ (Interview with McNamara in 2011)

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minimalist. We only put in what is necessary and don’t put in things you don’t need’ (Interview with
McNamara in 2011). He conceded that details were initially inspired by Troppo’s basic beliefs in
‘architecture appropriate for Australia’ and the ‘nature of architecture’. ‘Seeing through the processes’
in detailing was with the guidance of Welke before he moved to Perth in 2003’.

Figure 5.3a 3-dimensional physical models are the media McNamara used for expressing spatial experiences
of form and visual aesthetics of detailing of a structure or a building. 3D model for the pavilion of the city mall in
Darwin (Top left); the actual built pavilion (Top right) visited on the 11th of July, 2012; 3D model for the proposed
gallery space (Bottom left); new location of the Troppo Darwin office with an additional outdoor kitchen and an
open sitting area under a steep 6 metre long verandah (Bottom right). Taken in 2011.

The Mortlock Residence (2011) (Figure 5.3b) on a secluded site in the woods of Howard Springs,
Northern Territory, was selected for the case study. McNamara strongly recommended this project as

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the clients not only participated in the design process but also witnessed and were completely involved
in the construction process because they built their dream house piece by piece over a period of 2 years.

Figure 5.3b Articulated space is created for experiencing the vibrancy of the spatial arrangement. A composition
of different materials manifests a feel for the functionality of space and inner contentment for everyday life. A view
looking into the entrance of the house (Top). A view looking into the rear of the house from a slightly sloping
downhill (Bottom). Taken in 2011.

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5.3.1 Troppo language in the Mortlock Residence

A wide open gesture and a gentle-step rise of cross-patterned timber floor mark a welcoming and visible
entrance. The distinct and integrated wings for private indoor-and-outdoor living spaces intersect with
the roofline and suggest intimate spatial experiences. A cross form presents two distinct axes for public
and private access. Independence (in two wings), interaction (the intersection of the two wings) and
interconnections (outdoor-natural and indoor-living spaces) are spatial features of the design of the
Mortlock Residence.

Figure 5.3.1a Prominent roof line covers an open breezeway (Left) as an invitation. It expresses the horizontality
and the continuity of the sky-line. A strip of translucent window (Right) intersects the horizontality of a visually
continuous verandah with the subtlety of verticality creating the unity of the sky and the ground as a whole. Taken
in 2011.

An intimate connection with nature is felt while walking through the breezeway directly beneath this long
roofline (Figure 5.3.1a), linking the land, house, residents, wildlife, nature, and sky. A visual sensation
is felt deeply as the interplay of feelings for personal and social space. These feelings are directly
experienced through the constantly changing views through semi-open, translucent walls, glass
windows and sliding doors, and through the open breezeway to outdoors giving access to a natural
wildlife symphony.

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McNamara’s concept of a minimalist style can be seen in the walls and suspended cable rods for the
eaves looking as though floating in the air. 257 Suspended steel posts fixed to the floor joists instead of
to the ground is one way in which he denotes ‘touch the earth lightly’ by reducing the damage made by
the footprints of the residents’ inhabitable areas. Different patterns for the purlins of the long verandah
show McNamara’s playful mind for breaking the rules of an orderly roof structure 258 (Figure 5.3.1b). A
visual impact is made by the layers of exposed and articulated external walls and verandah. A feel of
excitement for the space is engendered by the vertical and angled slender steel posts, the orderly
fashioned timber rafters with two formations of purlin arrangement and a composition of timber floor,
wall and roof in various colours, different textures and compositions of patterns. An irregular roof form
and the twist of an angle for the bedroom wings have given the conventional shape of a rectangular roof
a playful appearance. A separate and suspended steel-post framework for overhangs demonstrates
McNamara’s interests in expressing innovative details and lightweight construction.

257 McNamara describes his design of houses to be a ‘minimalist’ style. He only includes design elements and details
which are necessary. He strips off excessive materials from walls and ceiling if they are not necessary.
258 He mentions that it is difficult to come up with variations in the designs of houses. The only way to do this is to ‘break

the rules’ for the need of change.

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Figure 5.3.1b Compared with Troppo’s 1980s Darwin houses, there are resemblances of design elements such
as corrugated iron panels for walls and roof, glass louvres, timber deck, posts, and floor in the Mortlock Residence
with a new feature – metal poles for supporting long timber structure overhangs (Top) which are connected to the
main steel structural framework of the house (Bottom).

A natural element – water – is introduced (Figure 5.3.1c). The ripples and reflections around it soften a
semi-enclosed space wrapped by man-made and naturally malleable materials (hard textual materials
against the malleable space around). The combination of still water, natural timber, and corrugated iron
cladding with adjustable timber louvres adds a feeling of reviving calmness and coolness for the space
in the hot weather in the Top End.

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Figure 5.3.1c Exclusively new design elements are the water box around the bathroom (Left), timber louvres,
plastic translucent roof sheeting, angled posts, the steel cross-brassing on the windows, and minimum areas of
construction materials meeting the ground. An element of nature – water – suggests a calm and peaceful place
outside bustling urban city life of Darwin with a pool (Right).

Patterns

New patterns are identified through an analytical process of comparison with patterns found in the early
Troppo houses. Here, and in each of the four other case studies that will follow, respective physical and
qualitative aspects of these new patterns are then discerned and ultimately classified and examined
through the lenses of ‘hard space’ and ‘soft space’. 259

The connectivity graph of the Mortlock Residence (Figure 5.3.1d) offers a visual understanding of the
circulation and movements of the residents between spaces. The graph also provides a spatial map to
comprehend relations between indoor and outdoor as well as public and private spaces. The following

259As was established in the preceding analysis, in Chapter 4, of a cluster of the 1980s Troppo houses, ‘hard space’ will be
used here to refer to physical spatial arrangements and the episodic ways in which space is laid out. ‘Soft space’ refers to
feelings and behaviours that are affected by spatial experience such as hedonist/larrikin experience, or inside-outside
experience, in a dynamic dialogue between residents, the house and nature, and gradually changing life patterns.

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connectivity graph shows the sequence of moving through spaces of the Mortlock Residence, with the
routes that follow the 1980s patterns indicated in black print and new routes indicated in red.

Figure 5.3.1d The connectivity graph shows internal links between private living spaces without access to the
outdoors. Elements in the typical 1980s Troppo Darwin houses that are not present in the Mortlock Residence
are shown as deletions.

Episodic space
Breezeways are important features in the 1980s Troppo houses, serving as wind channels, circulation
corridors, transitional zones between interior and exterior spaces, and intermediate areas between entry
and rear parts of the houses. A breezeway is the primary axis of spatial planning for the early Troppo
houses.

In the Mortlock Residence, a thirty meter long breezeway is the primary axis between the two wings. It
connects the entry and the rear deck and is an outdoor-indoor living space for leisure and work, access,
an open-air passage way, a transition zone, a playground and verandah all in one. This simple exposed
post-and-beam structure creates a contrast with two distinctive patterns of timber battens and rafters for
highlighting an extravagantly long mono-pitched roofline. Here, with an extensively long roof over this
completely open-outdoor breezeway, a sense of the outdoors is experienced – a playground for adults
to run free and wild, recalling fun times of childhood, and for children to have the opportunity to learn
and be in nature. Inter-personal contact is also a priority in the design of the Mortlock Residence as
master bedroom is separate from the other 2 bedrooms to ensure adults, children and guests have their

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own intimacy and privacy in the house. This feeling creates the illusion of making a space look ‘bigger’,
when coupled with the high roof of the runway-like breezeway (Figure 5.3.1e).

Figure 5.3.1e Concentration of one long breezeway also used as verandah is an innovative concept of the
Mortlock Residence. Reproduction of the floor plan by the author.

‘… in our mind, the conventional mind, Greg turns it [the breezeway] into a single access
to a multi-access house. It makes it [the house] look bigger. It is not a big house. It [the
roof of the breezeway] goes up to quite high. It looks a very big house when the footprint
isn’t big and it is about 85 square metres. People would think 200 [square metres].’
(Interview with the Mortlock resident in 2012)

The distinguishing features in the design of Mortlock Residence in form and space, construction and
spatial arrangement are as follows.

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In form and space:

• Verandah space (in blue) is the spinal and predominated axis for the access of all internal
spaces as well as the only passage way connecting the interior and exterior spaces (Figure
5.3.1f);

Figure 5.3.1f The central axis offers the residents easy access to the interior and exterior spaces.

• Bedroom spaces can be used as ‘a nursery room or a home-office or even an entertaining

room’ (Interview with the Mortlock resident);
• Verandah space becomes the primary living space used most of the day as the residents
prefer staying in the outdoors for daily activities and work;
• The ratio of Outdoor verandah space (85 square meters) to the indoor space (75 square
meters) is 1.13 to 1;
• All spaces are shaded by the extensively long overhangs of the skillion roofs;

In construction:
• There is no front or back door as it is a design of a complete open plan to the outdoors;

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• The roof of the bathroom lifts up from the external walls creating open space (Figure 5.3.1m)
becoming a semi-open bathroom that allows the escape of hot air and steam of warm showers,
and provides better ventilation of this wet area;
• There are no interior doors for bedroom 2 and 3 for a flexible planning of integrating both
rooms to a nursery room in the left wing;

In spatial arrangement:
• Verandah space becomes one exclusive entry/exit;
• An outdoor laundry is located next to the semi-open bathroom;
• Verandah space is interlocking with the indoor living spaces (Figure 5.3.1g);
• Combined semi-open bathroom and a toilet with an open shower facility;
• The multi-functional outdoor decking area is the primary axis for the circulation of interior
spaces as well as an open inside-outside space for dining, reading, working, napping and
entertaining;
• An irregular shape breaks up a linear form;
• 2 separate skillions roofs with a two-story height and a steep angle;

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Figure 5.3.1g The central verandah space interlocks with two wings of living spaces where privacy is given fully
to the master bedroom as well as the opportunity of nurturing independent child as requested by the residents.
The concept of hierarchy in spaces is clear in this spatial arrangement.

Inside-outside spatial experiences

Figure 5.3.1h A glance to the outdoors immediately connects a visual association between man-made
and natural spaces within the interior space of the Mortlock Residence. Taken in 2011.

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Transparency, maximum openings, and the openness of the main structure of steel framework enhance
the inside-outside experiences of the Mortlock Residence (Figure 5.3.1h). Translucent polycarbonate
corrugated sheets are used instead of clear glass for the high windows to soften the intensity of harsh
daylight and yet offer sufficient brightness and reflection from the smooth timber ceilings. Large areas
of glass louvres in every room create a sense of the breathing, thin and light skin of the house and draw
in the serenity of nature gardens – the landscape into the living spaces. The dryness of heat and the
wetness of rains and moisture are magical elements. The structure of steel framework offers lightness
for visual aesthetic and toughness for the stability and durability of the house construction and
reassurance for the residents to not worry about cyclones. ‘A special bond’ is established between the
residents and the house through visual, physical and mental sensualities. The residents’ experiences
are as follows:
• There is the feeling of affection and sentiment as well as a sense of belonging to its surroundings
and seasonal climate;
• This open-up house offers the residents not only shelter but also a sense of security in a
psychological state in which they feel immersed in and embraced by the bush instead of having
fear for natural disasters such as floods and cyclones;

‘There is certainly a bond and connection with this house without a doubt. That probably is coming
from having built this house… as you can see whilst sitting in here…It is pretty magical, gentle
monsoon rains are absolutely beautiful… heavy cyclones are not worrying us at all but it is quite
humid and moist here…We absolutely love it and enjoy living in it.’ (Interview with Mortlock in
2011)

It is through the immersion in and embracing of natural surroundings for an everyday life in the tropics
that McNamara portrays his affirmative idea of a good building: ‘It is that transparency and the beginning
of a garden and the ability of architecture that can be closed and open’ (Interview with McNamara in
July 2011). The hard space of the Mortlock Residence reflects the image of the innermost world of
Mortlocks and creates the invisible soft space in which Mortlock and his partner are deeply engaged. A
psychological connection is established between the constant visual attraction to the outdoors and the
delightful feelings of being embraced by light, breezes and sounds in the indoors as well as in the
outdoors (Figure 5.3.1i). The good quality of everyday living that the Mortlock Residence offers is felt

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and appreciated by Mortlock and his partner through the transmission of contentment and enjoyment
from the hard space to the soft space.

‘I have always liked the older tropical elevated style of houses, lots of louvres, single width often…
more for the outside than the inside. So I guess I had some ideas of what I wanted to feel and
live in it. With those ideas and information to Greg, his spin takes on what we come up with in
that respect.’ (Interview with the Mortlock resident in 2011)

‘There certainly wasn’t’ any communication problem with Greg… We had lots of ideas
overlapped…in a way Greg was the interpreter and mediator that he put everything together and
the first drawing he did and we liked it…the finishing details and material variations changed
during the process and basically Greg designed it.’ (Interview with the Mortlock resident in 2011)

‘Having grown up in Darwin, certainly around cyclone Tracy and then most of my life after that,
the houses have always been very strong, very heavy concrete and double brick and minimal
window spaces. So from that point of view, well, the strength is there I guess but the ventilation
and the internal cooling wasn’t. You become more reliant on staying on the outside in the huge
verandah or in the air-conditioning. I guess, to an extent, this is how you live.’ (Interview with the
Mortlock resident in 2011)

Figure5.3.1i Physical experiences of outside-in and inside-out space are made through the
transparency, the positions and extensive areas of windows in this house. Taken in 2011.

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Hedonist experience
Ceiling fans are practical architectural elements with economic benefits for tropical climates. To make
good use of fans, McNamara offers generous ceiling heights, creates irregular-form openings on the
internal partition walls, and minimizes the areas of solid external walls with large sliding doors, louvres
and timber strips (Figure 5.3.1j). The visual transparency of clear glass louvers and translucent glass
sliding doors offer a sense of lightness and openness combined with fresh air, sufficient sunlight and
shade. Double-height volumes in each wing create a sense of awe. Experiencing the in-between and
semi-open spaces of the house cultivates the deep feelings of the residents in relation to visual
aesthetics, physical comfort and psychological peace. ‘With a cool beer in one hand cruising between
indoor spacious space and outdoor open nature in a hot summer in the Top End’ (a casual conversation
with a Mortlock resident before the interview).

‘We are very happy and very privileged. It’s quite an exciting residence to live in for sure.
(Interview with the Mortlock resident in 2011)

‘We are glad we have something that does respond to our environment and the place we live and
it isn’t what everyone else has. It is one of its kind. ‘(Interview with the Mortlock resident in 2011)

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Figure5.3.1j The double-height spaces in the verandah (Top) and living room (Bottom) give a sense of
awe and spaciousness. The transparency of living areas is given by minimizing the solid external walls
with large sliding doors, glass louvres and timber strips.

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The absence of a formal front door and lack of obvious security are features of the Mortlock Residence.
The house demonstrates a sense of trust, security and belonging to the land due to its location in a rural
area which is relatively close to Darwin, in contrast to proximity to other capital cities in Australia. There
is no window furnishing, curtain or blind needed in this house. Here exposure of the residents’ daily
activities is not a problem as there is ‘less chance of anyone walking past’ and they would be ‘obvious’
and likely to be seen in any circumstances.

‘I think the rural area is probably the safer areas to be in in the first place. I think, generally
speaking, less chance of anyone going past. If there were any strangers like that, they probably
would be more obvious to yourself or neighbours as well. So from that point of view, we are
already in front. There is no curtain and blind, and details of what can be seen are minimal… it is
a very private house…. It is so far [from the main road] and the detail of you to be seen is quite
minimal’ (Interview with the Mortlock resident in 2011).

‘Having grown up in Darwin, the tropical elevated Darwin housing has always been a house to
live in after living in the conventional post-cyclone Tracy house for years. You are always longing
to stay in the outdoors as the feelings of heavy concrete material, minimal window areas and
enclosed space are too much for a climate like this’ (Interview with the Mortlock resident in 2011).

‘We will spend time absolutely outside. I think the way the house is set up and designed will reflect
that [there is] more outside space if you look at the decking, the breeze and the entrance, and
then there is an internal space (pointing at the master bedroom) that can be closed up… That
pretty much reflects how we intend to use and how we want to use [the spaces of the house] as
you saw and looked around and that 1/3 of the internal space that we don’t really need’ (Interview
with the Mortlock in 2011).

‘We use all of the spaces and it depends who we have around… It is much nicer to sit outside
here [verandah]… I tend to bring the computer to sit outside and work.’ (Interview with the
Mortlock in 2011)

Hedonist experience was felt and then described by the resident through their spatial experiences with
the spaces of the house, its surroundings and the comparison of a lifestyle between urban and rural
areas as follows:

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• The resident indicated his and his partner’s preferences in a complete outdoor living and
displayed their feelings about the excessive internal spaces that were unused and
unnecessary;
• They also displayed their desires for a natural and minimalist lifestyle that the house was the
sanctuary for escaping from the hectic and busy Darwin city living and ‘an observatory for
wildlife’ (Interview with the Mortlock in 2011) in the naturally undisturbed bushland;
• The residents were captivated by the semi-enclosure of the house, surrounded by the
tranquillity of wild nature in this remote area. A modern version of a hedonist in the outback
is being recreated by McNamara’s ‘breaking the rules’ of a ‘normal’ house by creating a small
abode with more verandah space than interior space (Figure 5.3.1k).

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Figure 5.3.1k A view to the front (Top) from the intersection zone of the house shows the long and high
verandah which cuts a horizontal wing into two separate wings – one solely for the master bedroom on
the left and another for a collective living spaces on the right (living room, kitchen, dining and other
bedrooms). A view to the rear (Bottom) from the same position of the house offers a view connecting
the verandah, the breezeway, the indoor-outdoor living spaces and a pool. There is a sense of scale,
height, spatial experiences, and open surroundings.

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Space with few physical boundaries, modern technology and open views providing security from
intruders is the contemporary interpretation by McNamara of a hedonist’s house in the tropics of
Australia (Figure 5.3.1l).

Figure5.3.1l The Mortlock Residence displays itself as an open nature ‘observatory for wildlife’. A safe distance
is retained between the residents and the animals that live nearby due to their nature of timidity and fear of
humans. It also offers privacy from strangers and neighbours. Taken in 2011.

Gradually changing life patterns

Mortlock and his partner feel the house slowly but surely changes their ways of doing things and their
prioritizing of the natural episodes of life. Their daily activities – such as taking a bath or a semi-outdoor
shower, working on the deck, swimming in the bushland, dining on a stage accompanied by a naturally
composed symphony, and entertaining family and friends – are re-formed.

Feelings of being simultaneously inside and outside with its humid and moist climate are a delight of
living for Mortlock and his partner (Figure 5.3.1m). He expresses his preferences for and enjoyment of
a lot more working from home, dining, entertaining, socializing or just ‘simply sitting out for a beer to chill

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out on the breezeway deck’ on a pleasant evening after work (Interview with Mortlock in 2011), or
enjoying that peaceful and calm sensation brought by the variations of sounds of insects and wildlife,
heavy raindrops on the roofs, warm-dry breezes and sticky-humid moist sensation in this open space.
It is a spiritual connection and communication between the quality of hard space and the enchantment
of soft space that Mortlock and his partner have by means of the house. They sense all the tangible and
non-tangible elements of a desirable lifestyle when all the separate elements unite into the wholeness
of their daily living. There is no differentiation or barriers between interior and exterior living experiences
but a continuous peaceful immersion into a way of life.

Figure 5.3.1m With a laidback and surrendering attitude to bush land, showering and bathing for
Mortlock and his partner is a pleasure to enjoy this care-free lifestyle as a means to a happy life.

‘The house definitely changes me without a doubt… I guess there has been the progression of a
conventional post-cyclone house, to make a house look modern and tropical but not really be
tropical, to seeking and speaking and dealing with Troppo to get a tropically designed house. It
has changed me and I am a lot more aware of minimizing the impact … of my building practices,
the materials I use to create the house. Absolutely it changes me.’ (Interview with the Mortlock
resident in 2011)

‘We prepared to live different however it is that feeling of being outside and it is how you feel
inside [mentally] and continue to feel once you are in the house. How you feel outside is exactly
how you feel inside.’ (Interview with the Mortlock resident in 2011)

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Ethical values versus material culture

The male resident expresses his wake-up call in relation to an awareness of the built environment by
having the opportunity to build this house mostly on his own with some assistance from his family and
friends, as well as the continuous support of McNamara. 260 Coming from a different business
background, he learned to read the working drawings and occasionally came across some difficulties in
understanding the construction details. With McNamara’s continuous support in explaining those
construction details, he came to realize that the significance of appreciating life is to understand the
values of living simply with less material.

‘I have become a lot more aware of what materials and construction methods bring minimal
impact to the environment and the place we live, after this house I created and built.’ (Interview
with the Mortlock resident in 2011)

By living in the space he physically created himself, a bond was naturally formed through the long
process of spatial creation and extensive communication of what he wanted the house to be for both
him and his partner. The change in Mortlock’s mentality is seen in his being ‘sceptical’ about not using
air-conditioning for a tropical house to positively believing in achieving the best result by natural cross-
ventilation after his own life experience of living in such a house. It is the belief that there is ‘absolutely
no need for air-conditioning in this house as you get cool breezes all the time’ (Interview the Mortlock
resident in 2011). The attitude and value that McNamara asserts and educates his clients about are the
possibilities of responsible-hedonist living by believing in a life inspired by the awareness of ‘less is
more’ (Interview with McNamara in 2011 and the Gold Medal Talk by Troppo in 2014) together with
responsibility for the built environment.

‘Until this house, [you] absolutely [have] no need for air-conditioning in this house as you get cool
breezes all the time… basically, it is virtually impossible for others but I love it. I would’ve been
sceptical about it prior to living in this house. But now, I can see there is absolutely no need and
requirements to have an AC in this house.’ (Interview with the Mortlock resident in 2011)

260 Mortlock mentioned his gratitude towards McNamara’s continuous support and free consultation meetings whenever he

called him for assistance and responses to his enquiries, even after the completion of the house. He highly praised
McNamara’s passion for design, his professionalism for work ethics, the quality of design details and services.

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Feeling versus desire and power

Easy access to work, education facilities, and entertainment, and the convenience of obtaining daily
necessities are the prime reasons for living closer to the centre in most cities. For Mortlock and his
partner, they value their lifestyle over easy access and convenience, yet consider themselves ‘lucky’
with the location of their residence in comparison to other major cities in Australia. To them, it is a ‘win-
win situation’ (Interview with Mortlock in 2011) for them to be in a piece of their own bush-land and yet
close enough to the centre of Darwin for work and the availability of daily necessities, which is different
from other major cities. This residence offers them set-free mentality in life after their retreat from the
fast pace of city life. The priority of seeking feelings of ‘happiness’ and ‘contentment’ is high in something
truly of their own in total privacy and without disturbance in a rural area. That sense of ‘sacrifice’ and
‘preparing to live differently’ is indicated clearly by Mortlock, as is his personal yearning to ‘have a bit of
space’ for him and his partner.

‘By Darwin standards, we probably need half an hour to the city…. Distance will be the norm and
that’s how you are given…you have to travel just to stay in suburbia.’ (Interview with the Mortlock
resident in 2011)

‘There are more pluses than there are negatives. I guess to live in a house like this, you have to
be quite happy and prepared to make sacrifices a little bit.’ (Interview with the Mortlock resident
in 2011)

The attraction of city culture and modern entertainment are less important to Mortlock and his partner
than the tranquillity of a quiet and contemporary lifestyle that exists in an open rural area rather than the
bustling centre of Darwin city (Figure 5.3.1n).

‘Living in a rural area has always been what we wanted. We have a little bush nobody can touch
and it is a nice feeling…if you are given that situation in other major cities, we have the benefits
to be close to Darwin and have a bit of space.‘ (Interview with the Mortlock resident in 2011)

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Figure5.3.1n Mortlock’s and his partner’s feelings are appreciative of the simple life by which they live. A house
that responds to them and all the elements around them offers them a contemporary lifestyle for leisure and
seeking peace of mind after the fast pace of work in the bustling city.

Simple gestures versus advanced technology

‘Camping with the permanent structure over your head whether it is cool and dry, or wet and green,
that’s how you feel inside the house’ (Interview with Mortlock in 2011). Other simple noticeable gestures
are the locally sourced timber deck, floors, partial external walls, and lattice internal walls, the lightweight
steel framework for posts and rods, skillion roofs and multi-pitched roofs, semi-elevated structure, and
single depth rooms. These simple gestures are complimented by the bold and visually connected mono-
pitched high roofs to create a special welcome gesture in this cross-axis residence. No fancy technology
is needed to achieve a desirable ambience for human comfort and aesthetic appeal but simple ceiling
fans and fine details with nuts and bolts. In the view of Mortlock, ‘every Aussie should be able to pitch a
tent in the outback.’ (Interview with Mortlock in 2011)

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‘From our point of view, the design is simple and straightforward. We liked Greg’s hand drawings
for the house design … he did interpret what I wanted as I didn’t have the mental pictures in my
head but he configured what I wanted in his drawings. They are unique and that’s why they make
Greg special.’ (Interview with the Mortlock resident in 2011)

‘We like the skillion roofs, the multi mono-pitched roofs, semi-elevated structure and single width
of space… conventional in our minds, this is always what we wanted...turning from a single axis
house to cross-axis house that Greg’s flairs take over the design.’ (Interview with the Mortlock
resident in 2011)

There is an intimate relationship between the occupants, the house, and the surrounding landscape.
Freedom, delight and belonging are the qualities that the Mortlock Residence has to offer to the
residents. Mortlock and his partner can work, dine, read, entertain, socialize and take a short nap or
even just chill out listening to the sounds of nature all under the verandah (Figure 5.3.1o). There is
affection and a natural bond that Mortlock, McNamara and the house established during the design and
construction processes. Appreciation for a natural way of living is the quality of the Mortlock Residence
that both McNamara and Mortlock establish in the forming of soft space.

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Figure 5.3.1o There is a subtle and harmonious relationship among people, place, the building, its natural
surroundings and other living things. The architect’s value for everyday living is transformed into the design of the
Mortlock house.

5.3.2 Conclusion

McNamara sought to encapsulate the Troppo ‘feeling’ and ‘sense’ through materials, details,
construction methods, spatial experiences, and forms. The Troppo ‘feeling’ was of the heat, breeze and
rain in different seasons, of the rich diversity of regional contexts in the Top End, and of the excitement
and surprises of the wildlife in daily living. The Troppo ‘sense’ combines the value of the basic
commodities of life, the visual appreciation of aesthetic appearance, and the application of social,
cultural and economic judgement. Here McNamara immerses himself in the Troppo ‘feeling’ and ‘sense’
to speak their language fluently by perpetuating the idea of no AC and living with whatever nature has
to offer in an open indoor-roofed verandah living. He contrives his vocabulary in the Troppo language to
be liberal and contemporary with an innovative and exciting irregular form in plan, compact private living
spaces, one alternative living space accommodated by a large verandah, no interior doors between
spaces and double-height volumes in rooms. A subtle hint of a McNamara Troppo language is created
through his intricate construction details. The following table 5.3.2 displays a comparative analysis of

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the 1980s Darwin houses and the Mortlock Residence. The design of Mortlock house exhibits the
continuity of Troppo’s design principles, as well as the McNamara and residents’ resonance with
Troppo’s philosophy for a sustainable and simple lifestyle.

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Typical 1980s Troppo Houses Mortlock Residence, 2009

Suburbs of Darwin Howard Springs, Darwin

• Natural ventilation by opening louvres, bi-fold doors and windows;

• Lightweight elevated structure, construction details and materials;
• Extensive long overhangs for verandah spaces;
• Post-and-beam construction in steel and timber;
• Exposed roof structure;
• Timber decking and floors;
Similarities
• A mixed use of glass and timber louvres;
• Slatted external walls;
• A flight of stairs to get to the entrance of the house;
• Fans and no AC installation;
• Shared bathroom and semi-outdoor shower.

• Open carport underneath the house; • No under-house space for storage and
• Open storage space; cars/boats;
Hard space • Semi-open shower underneath the • Semi-open shower;
house; • One extensive long breezeway/verandah is
• Semi-open bathroom among living created to connect both main living spaces
spaces; and bedrooms;
Differences • Separated verandah for bedrooms and a • 6000mm high ceiling for better ventilation for
breezeway between main living spaces hot air rising;
and bedrooms; • Cantilever structure for supporting the
• 4200mm high ceiling for most of the verandah and roof;
spaces; • No verandah or outdoor spaces for
• The main structure for supporting the secondary bedrooms.
verandah is fixed to the ground.

• Enjoying doing daily activities in verandah and outdoor spaces;

• Expressing delightful sensual experiences moving through indoor and outdoor spaces;
• Opening doors and windows for enjoying breezes while at home;
• Showing a high level of tolerance to rain, heat, bugs and wildlife animals moving through
Similarities and/or being in the house;
Soft space • Less or very little anxiety about the accumulation of dust and cobwebs;
• Enjoying having showers in a semi-open bathroom without worrying intrusion of privacy;
• Enjoying doing laundry in the outdoors.

• None.
Differences

Table 5.3.2 This table shows differences and similarities of hard and soft spaces between the design of the
Mortlock Residence and the 1980s Darwin houses.

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5.4 Townsville: Connell Residence, Magnetic Island, Queensland

Contingency is a vital factor in the changes in Troppo’s design approach, the business operations, and
the form-patterns of Troppo language. In the case of the Troppo practice in Townsville, contingency
offered the former Director, Geoff Clark, an opportunity to seek a different lifestyle as a Senior Lecturer
in the University of Tasmania in 2007 (Interview with Clark on Skype in 2012) and the current Director
Terry O’Toole an opportunity to integrate both residential and commercial practices. The shift in values
and characteristics of design projects was evident in distinguishably different features and elements in
the projects built under O’Toole’s ownership of the Troppo office after the departure of former in-house
architect Zammi Rohan who had worked with Clark. 261

1986 was the year Troppo set up this first branch in Townsville. Over the years, Clark worked as the
first point of contact dealing with a number of projects commissioned by the Defence Housing Authority
(DHA) and private clients in the region: ‘On occasion for various key dates and events’ (communication
with Clark via emails in 2014), Phil Harris, Michael Wells and Richard Layton came down from the
Darwin office to Townville. With Clark’s admiration for Troppo’s founding partners, ‘mutual respect’
(Interview with Clark on Skype in 2013) was the key for design collaboration and independence between
the two financially independent offices when he became the Director of the Troppo Townsville practice
in 1994. He maintained Troppo’s concepts for climatically responsive design with a touch of his own
personalised design vocabulary and ‘a whole-of-site’ approach (Interview with Clark on Skype in 2013).

‘Cruciform’ was Clark’s personal design strategy for ‘a primary circulation path through space’ and ‘a
head start’ (Interview with Clark on Skype in 2013). In his view, cruciform axes for circulation offered
‘more interesting’ outcomes in spatial arrangement and energy efficiency (Figure 5.4a). The concept of
cruciform became the keystone of versatile house designs in the Townsville practice.

261
Zammi Rohan, a former in-house architect, worked with the former Director Geoff Clark from 2007 and then Terry
O’Toole from 2008. He Left the Troppo practice in 2011 and established his own practice called 9Point9 Architects in
Townsville.

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Figure 5.4a. Sketches were specially drawn by Clark for this research to explain his personalised
vocabulary of ‘cruciform’ as the primary design theme for domestic design projects (Interview with Clark
on Skype in 2013).

Compositions of textures, interplay of asymmetrical and symmetrical geometry in roof-form and

elevation, and a mixed use of heavy and light materials for external walls were also characteristics of
Clark’s design for interpreting tropical housing styles in Townsville (Figure 5.4b).

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Figure 5.4b Posters of Clark’s version of contemporary Troppo houses in the Townsville practice (dates
unknown). These posters were produced as part of the Townsville office portfolio to promote their
practice when new clients approached them for a house design. Prints of the posters were found in the
Townsville office in 2012.

The distinctive characteristics of the 1980s Troppo houses in Darwin remained in Clark’s Townsville
Troppo houses in many architectural elements: layers of details; breathing thin skin of corrugated steel
external walls; exposed structural elements; gable roofs, glass; polycarbonate and glass louvers; timber
shutters; full-wall length bi-folding or sliding doors; elevated or semi-elevated steel-frame structure;
linear form and single-room width, with extravagant length of overhangs over a spacious verandah.
These features were remained in Clark’s design for his understanding about the tropical climate of
Townsville where there were 300 days of sunshine per year 262 with the average temperatures range
between 24 degrees in summer to 13 degrees in winter (Figure 5.4c).

262The information of Townsville climate and average temperatures was taken from Queensland Government website
online link https://www.health.qld.gov.au/townsville/About/townsville.asp, viewed on April 14, 2016 and the diagram was

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Figure 5.4c The diagram shows the Townsville annual temperatures and rainfall.

A significant feature was the moderate length of overhangs for living spaces. Two Troppo houses
designed by Clark and Rohan preserved the primary tropical features of the early Darwin Troppo houses
in style. These features were evident in the designs of two residences in Horseshoe Bay on the northern
side of Magnetic Island (Figure 5.4d).

taken from the Weatherzone.com website online link http://www.weatherzone.com.au/climate/station.jsp, viewed on April
14, 2016.

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Figure 5.4d Two Horseshoe Bay residences were built on Magnetic Island between 2006 and 2010.
They display the characteristics of an elevated lightweight structure, complete exposure and openness
to nature through windows, doors, louvers and translucent polycarbonate cladding sheeting (Top Left
and Right photos taken by Huang, July 2012. Bottom Left and Right photos taken from the website of
Australia Institute of Architects for competitions in 2010).

Figure 5.4e Clark’s preliminary sketches of a floor plan for a family in Townsville (Left), elevations and
a section sketches for a house for a couple living on Magnetic Island (Right). These images are the
slides of the Clark’s lecture for a second-year design course in 2012.

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The new design features were an angled floor plan and an irregular shape of breezeway rather than
Troppo’s typical layers of mono-pitched roof and a rectilinear floor plan with straight-line breezeways
(Figure 5.4e).

Marrying two distinctive design genres of commercial and residential practices signified possibilities and
challenges to O’Toole, the current Director. The challenges of integrating his own established practice
with Troppo’s passive design principles and distinctive building detailing were presented by the evidence
of most of O’Toole’s built projects which displayed his preferences in thermal-mass material, commercial
construction methods, standardised architectural elements and use of active air-conditioning and
heating systems.

‘I had a practice of my own and a lot of things I was doing in my practice [North Point]. It was
similar and correlated to the Troppo’s ethos that I was trying to do. It is a different environment
here to Darwin and we try to bring the Troppo style here as their practice is well known.’ (Interview
with O’Toole in 2012)

There were two challenges for O’Toole. One challenge was to marry two distinctive practices. The
constraints for each practice were different in terms of the use and availability of local resources, budget,
the needs and desired lifestyles of clients, scale and type of projects, and response to regional climate
conditions. The second challenge was to integrate two different design principles, as O’Toole had a
different design approach in respect to cluster spatial planning, the composition of geometry and pattern-
form, the punctuation of openings, thermal-mass materials (concrete panels, raked blockwork and
bricks) and industrial construction methods (tilt-up concrete and in-situ). His design principles were
developed primarily for local and southern clients who preferred traditional building types for safety and
security reasons (Figure 5.4f). His principles were unlike the northern tropical design of Troppo houses
which offered openness, transparency, lightweight form and easy-access.

‘Here clients know their [Troppo’s] ethos but not all the houses here can incorporate their
principles into their [the clients’] house as there are budget constraints and other factors like
clients are a bit more conservative. So we try to gradually bring the clients into the Troppo’s ethos
and we’d also try to bring the Troppo’s ethos into the commercial buildings. We’ve had some
success in that but four years is not long enough… it takes a long time.’ (Interview with O’Toole
in 2012)

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A poster of a house extension

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Figure 5.4f A house extension (Top) and a proposed house design (Bottom) represent O’Toole design
concepts with complex elevations, irregular forms, various roof designs and composition of different
volumes in various scales and layouts. O’Toole’s design approaches differ from Clark’s design
concepts for simplicity.

O’Toole adopted Troppo’s ethos for sustainable design in commercial, institutional and government
projects after 2008. 263 With the source of projects mainly commissioned by the Queensland
Government, meeting budgets had become the primary factor for O’Toole in operating both practices.
Efficiency for the completion of a project was the key to deliver the completion of work, satisfy the
requirements of the building approvals, and the social requests of public demand. 264 Time control
associated with budget management became the trigger to adopt advanced tilt-up concrete construction

263 O’Toole had 15 years of architectural practice in 2 private firms and the local government sector before he purchased
the Queensland branch of Troppo Architects in 2008. During that period of 15 years, he worked as a Queensland
Government architect for five years, and then started his own practice, North Point, in 2003.
264 O’Toole emphasized that budgets given by the Government was the predominant reason for choosing the tilt-up

concrete construction method for its cheaper costs in labour, time efficiency and locally availability.

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methods and prefabricated standard fittings for windows, doors, shutters and louvers in fixed sizes in
commercial and residential projects.

‘Since 2008, I took over the Queensland studio so to speak and we tried to collaborate with the
head office to win some institutional projects in Queensland, international and north Queensland
Government projects. So far, we haven’t been very successful at all. Most of our work will be
commercial and secondary homes for southern people who build holiday homes in the
surrounding countryside.’ (Interview with O’Toole in 2012)

O’Toole’s design concepts were derived from a business-oriented operation (Interview with Rohan in
2014) involving more commercial projects. 265 His motivation was to keep both practices with steady
profits. The nature of Townsville was as a small industrial ‘working’ and typical ‘suburban housing’ city
(Interview with O’Toole in 2012). For this study, the Townsville office character limited the availability of
a residential project for the case study. 266 There were few Troppo houses designed by O’Toole over a
decade. Most of his clients were from Melbourne and some local residents with business associations
in Townsville. They approached him to build holiday homes for investment or retreat as a result of the
local reputations of his North Point practice and his association with Troppo. These clients had good
financial stability and looked for a relaxing lifestyle or to secure their retirement in later life.

The following table shows how Clark and O’Toole understood the Troppo ethos and design philosophy
through design projects in the Townsville practice. There is divergence in the design features and
principles that Clark and O’Toole applied both in their design approaches and the operation of the
Townsville office. Clark adopted most of the distinctive features of the 1980s Darwin houses in his design
projects and created a design pattern for spatial planning, which he called cruciform. O’Toole focused
on designs that met client’s requirements, comply with building regulations and respond to the regional
social context – the character of the industrial town of Townsville without the same background inside
Troppo’s Darwin practice (Table 5.4). There is continuity in the form-patterns of the language in Clark’s
practice but not in O’Toole’s practice.

265 O’Toole pointed out some reasons for not taking on residential projects: time consumption with demanding clients, small
budget, different beliefs on design principles from clients, and some clients even approaching them with a builder’s plan from
a magazine or a floor plan of a friend’s house as the base plan for their own house design.
266 In order to keep both the Troppo residential practice and the North Point commercial practice going, the majority O’Toole’s

projects were public buildings commissioned by the government due to his close relationship with the local government.

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Hard space Soft space

Physical and visual elements Added-on facilities and appliances in space to
influence the quality of space and the
behaviour of the residents
Clark O’Toole Clark O’Toole
• Cruciform for • Cluster floor • Enjoying natural • Offering choices
circulation paths planning ventilation and for either operating
• Breezeways and • Fixed-size and open semi-outdoor fans, opening
verandah minimally spaces indoors windows for cross-
• Exposed roof detailed windows • Residents ventilation, and
structures and • Spacious movements spending more
sufficient length verandah for between indoor time outdoors or
overhangs dining and living and outdoor moderately using
• Layers of detailing space spaces considered AC when the
with various • Layered and by outlooks, weather is too
materials to show overlapping roofs breezes and harsh to bear
structural designs • Irregular-shape energy • Providing a sense
The consumptions of security for
and articulated for floor plans
characteristics elevations • Prompting natural avoiding damage
and roof-forms
of Troppo • Single width zoning • Elevated air and caused by
houses in • Mono-pitched roof structure for engagement with cyclones
Townsville form or gable roofs verandah outdoor spaces
• Distinctive feature • Sufficient space for
elements as a outdoor activities
signature for • A relaxing and laid-
individual troppo back lifestyle with
house (titled and sufficient outdoor
uneven shape of verandah spaces
roofs; masonry
retaining walls)
• Reduced window
size and quantity
with more detailing
• Elevated structure
for verandah
• Mono-pitched roofs • The use of fans
• Exposed some structural elements in • Connections between indoor and outdoor
Similarities
verandah and overhangs living with the use of verandahs and balcony
Between Clark’s and
• Outdoor verandah for dining, living spaces and
O’Toole’s design bedrooms
• Elevated structure for verandah
• Covered roof structure • Encouragement of the use of AC
• Reduced window size and quantity • Standard overhang length
Differences • No indoor-outdoor verandah or breezeways • No open or semi-open showers/bathrooms
• Heavy materials and less openings • Commercial construction
In O’Toole’s design • A cluster or compact of spatial arrangement
for floor plans rather than Troppo’s typical
long-thin plans

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• The use of standard sizes of windows and

doors in O’Toole’s designs
• More indoor rooms, central and circular indoor
movements in O’Toole’s designs

Table 5.4 Different design approaches Clark and O’Toole took in operating the Townsville office.

The Connell Residence was recommended by O’Toole as the second case study. It was built on
Magnetic Island in 2011. It was first designed by the in-house architect Aftab Khamisa who joined the
branch in 2009 immediately after he graduated from a Master’s degree in Architecture at the University
of Sydney. The clients’ strong preference for the Southern housing style was indicated by their rejecting
of a couple of early design concepts for a house floating ‘in the air’ instead of being grounded ‘to the
site’ (Figure 5.4g).

Figure 5.4g 3D CAD models for the first preliminary design of the Connell Residence were drawn by
Khamisa.

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‘We had the interview with this architect [Khamisa] and a site visit and talked about the details of
what we wanted….. They drew a plan but we didn’t like it. We have dealt with something similar
before so we weren’t novice in this process. O’Toole came up with something, we didn’t want it.
Everything seemed to be floating in the air. We come from Melbourne and houses are built on
the site. There is a sense of feeling secured and safe when the house is built on the ground.’
(Interview with Connells in 2013)

The final design of the Connell Residence was a combined effort between O’Toole and Khamisa.
Khamisa oversaw the design processes and construction phases with the supervision and assistance
of O’Toole. Several new features expressing O’Toole’s interpretations of the Troppo language are
identified in the Connell Residence, and these made the house clearly distinguishable from the early
Troppo houses of Clark in Townsville and the ones in Darwin.

5.4.1 Troppo language in the Connell Residence

An emphasis on time control and budget management is evident in O’Toole’s work. Time control is
predominantly determined by building construction methods, the accessibility of building materials, the
level of design and detailing complexity, and the location of the building site. These factors affect the
budget management of a project as they impact on the quality of tradesmen, building materials and
craftsmanship, and the feasibility of building completion on time. The crucial factor amongst these is the
accessibility of building materials, which played an influential part in the change of Troppo language in
the Townsville practice under O’Toole’s management.

In Townsville, sourcing two primary materials of archetypal Troppo houses, timber and steel, was a
challenge because of its geographical location (Interview with O’Toole in 2012). O’Toole expresses his
preferences in applying commercial construction in both residential and commercial projects to reflect
the impression of Townsville being an industrial town. Consequently, heavy, conventional suburban
housing design has been the norm for the community as there has been resistance amongst the local
residents in accepting lightweight construction due to the fear of frequent cyclones.

‘Most of the houses in Townsville are built with masonry blocks or concrete panels for cyclone
resistance between May and October each year. Most houses in a way have to be built like a

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‘bunker’ as the majority of local residents are cautious of the damage cyclones could do to their
houses’ (Interview with O’Toole in 2012).

The Connells longed for a tropical house as their holiday getaway home 267 which was specially designed
to offer them a relaxed and alternative lifestyle that was different from the fast pace of their daily living
in Melbourne. Minimizing potential cyclone damage was their main request. 268 The mixed feeling of a
relaxing lifestyle within a fortress was intended in the design of this house.

The Connell Residence is a ‘bunker’ version of a contemporary Troppo house in the tropics. It is built of
thermal-mass materials such as concrete blocks for external walls, with timber cladding and Bondek
slab, 269 a specialised commercial and industrial material, for floor construction. The house provokes
ambivalent perceptions in that it consolidates its structure by internally anchoring its foundation to the
ground with an attempt to mimic the ‘touch the earth lightly’ principle of the Troppo language in the
lightness of the timber cladding. The primary axis of the house echoes the natural fall of the steep rocky
cliff with the horizontal span of spacious verandahs offering spectacular outlooks to the surrounding
beach and the ocean (Figure 5.4.1a).

267 The Connell resident mentioned that the original plan was to build this house as a collection of holiday inns for renting

out to tourists due to its accessibility to the beach. It is a trend in the local area where many residential buildings have been
renovated to become a holiday home or a homestead.
268
O’Toole mentioned that awareness for reducing any possible damage was the first priority in the first meeting when the
clients approached him for the design of their house. Solid and heavy building materials were requested because the
clients were afraid of encountering seasonal cyclones while being away from this holiday home and back to Melbourne.
269 Bondek slab is a type of concrete floor slab construction on permanently structural steel formwork that has good

performance in strength and construction efficiency. It is often used in industrial and commercial office buildings. O’Toole
and Khamisa used it for this residential project for its construction time and cost effectiveness.

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Figure 5.4.1a The Connell Residence is situated on the rocky cliff side of Northern Magnetic Island (original
photographs taken by Khamisa after the completion of Connell Residence in 2012).

Patterns

The natural setting of the Connell Residence is the main factor in determining its hard space for spatial
arrangement and form. This setting was quite unlike most of the 1980s Troppo Houses, which were built
on the flat ground of bushy sites. This coastal site gives a lot more restrictions and difficulties as a result
of its geographical setting, orientation, and height. The Connell Residence sits right at the Southern
edge of Magnetic Island where large boulders and rocky steep hills set a challenge for O’Toole and
Khamisa to express the Troppo language.

O’Toole’s approach for the design of this Troppo house is identified here in ‘promoting the use of air-
conditioning in each room of the house’ (Interview with Connells in 2013), heavy concrete materials,
fixed-size windows and doors, smaller openings, less use of louvers, a distinct separation between the
internal living spaces and an external outdoor space, and an enclosed-circulating living space. The
following connectivity graph reveals the circulation and daily movement mainly taking place in indoor

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spaces. The concept of the 1980s Troppo house patterns in spatial arrangement is neither achieved nor
applied in the design of the Connell Residence. The segregation of indoor and outdoor spaces is explicit
in this particular floor layout. An intensely internal movement is taking place in the cluster design of
O’Toole’s spatial arrangement (Figure 5.4.1b) due to the segregation of bedrooms and complex zoning
for private and communal spaces. The connectivity graph clearly shows that an indoor-living lifestyle is
encouraged.

Figure 5.4.1b This connectivity graph shows the cluster design through the use of interior stairs. Private and
communal spaces are explicit in the design of the Connell Residence.

Episodic space
The dynamic of daily movement is controlled by the interior stairs. There is little sense of episodic space
as there is no continuum between indoor and outdoor spaces but explicit separation between a cluster
of interior living spaces and a large area of exterior verandahs. Multiple exits are identified by three sets
of outdoor stairs from the recess area of the study, the laundry and verandahs (Figure 5.4.1c). A
distinctive feature of the 1980s Troppo houses was that there was no exit through a backdoor. Here,
there are multiple exits. The split-levels of two large verandahs and limited outdoor verandah/deck for
bedrooms are different from the 1980s Troppo houses, except for one balcony for the second bedroom
on the first floor.

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Figure 5.4.1c There is complete internal circulation in O’Toole’s cluster design of the Connell Residence.
Reproduction of the floor plan by the author.

The distinguishing features in the design of Connell Residence in form and space, construction and
spatial arrangement are as follows.

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In form and space:

• The configuration of plan is no longer a linear but clustered form;
• There are three stepped levels of interior space on the ground floor plan;
• There is high visual asymmetry in form and space;
• a sense of secured enclosed space for privacy and protection with minimal openings on
façade of the house;
• discontinuous and separate openings (windows and doors) in the primary living spaces to
the verandah;
• There are three en-suite bedrooms (Figure 5.4.1c);
• The construction framework is mainly concrete (slabs and brick walls) to sit firmly onto the
rocky steep cliff;
• There are no banks of windows looking out to the sky;
• separate and covered roofs with soffit and fascia to highlight the cascading level of this
house in complimentary of the surrounding landscapes;

In construction:
• Two bedrooms have exclusive balconies for privacy;
• The structure of the house descends along the steep cliff of the site on ground;
• fixed-glass windows for the bedrooms, dining room, kitchen and living room with one
movable aluminium glass sliding door to the verandah;
• the use of aluminium fixed-window and door frames throughout the house;
• various sizes, lengths, shapes and positions of separate windows;
• covered overhangs and verandahs without the exposed structural elements;

In spatial arrangement:
• The absence of the distinct dry and wet zones is clear in spatial planning;
• Four exits to the outdoors (Figure 5.4.1c) ;
• The distinctively separate interior and exterior spaces (the verandah space has been
exclusively arranged to be the outdoor space with a central axis for the circulation of the
internal spaces) (Figure 5.4.1d);

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Figure 5.4.1d Distinctive zoning between internal (in pink) and external (in yellow) spaces is explicit in
spatial arrangement.

• the arrangement of bedrooms to disperse to three zones for privacy (Figure 5.4.1e);

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Figure 5.4.1e Privacy for individual living space is overtly important for the residents.

Inside-outside spatial experiences

Inside-outside experiences were not directly mentioned in the interview with the Connell residents.
However, an explicit outside experience was expressed in the activities of sitting, reading and dining on
the large verandahs. The female resident’s passion for cooking suggested that much of her time was
spent inside the house, while spending their holidays in the house. The residents would go for a walk
on the beach or a swim in the early morning and then retreat indoors while opening the front and back
windows and doors for natural sea breezes in both winter and summer (Figure 5.4.1f). The experiences
of the residents are as follows:

• There is the feel of ‘being on holidays’ in spending a lot of time doing indoor activities with
personal pleasure and enjoyment;

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• The house offers the residents the feel of being in their ‘sanctuary’ for peace of mind where
they can escape from their hectic urban city life in Melbourne;
• The house also offers the residents choices of being in the indoor for relaxation or in the
outdoors for health benefits;

Figure 5.4.1fThe large verandah space offers the residents’ different inside-outside experiences during the day
or at night.

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‘We use verandahs the whole time. We read books and have doors open all the time. We eat
outside when it is not too hot…. In winter, I walk for two hours a day. I go to the sea and swim in
winter and I swim everyday. I love cooking and you have to be very smart spending lots of time
doing that and don’t get bored in the house. Summer time, we slow down and we do more reading
and get a bit of a walk.’ (Interview with the Connells in 2013)

Hedonist/larrikin experience
Residents’ daily experiences, behaviours and movements in the contained space defined the desirable
lifestyle they sought in the soft space of the house. Its compact living-space layout was specifically
designed to suit a private, secure, and undisturbed holiday-like living by the residents (Figure 5.4.1g).
‘The fear for the damage to the house by cyclone’ (Interview with the Connells in 2013) overrides the
potential enjoyment of a more open house.

Figure 5.4.1g Small and narrow aluminium fixed-frame windows to the bedrooms implicitly indicate a
sense of fear of cyclones and the need for security and privacy.

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A dynamic dialogue with nature and other living things

There is a hidden trail to the site of the house. This indicates the residents’ preference for privacy and a
sense of exclusion from the world. Their purpose is clear by having built their getaway holiday house
among thick vegetation and large boulders. There is an intimate and peaceful dialogue between the
house, nature and wildlife (Figure 5.4.1h).

Figure 5.4.1h The hidden trail, tall trees and boulders offer a sense of privacy within nature.

‘We’ve spent six months to look for a block of land for building this holiday home… the location
of this land is perfect for what we have always wanted…quiet, private and peaceful that is different
from the lifestyle we have in Melbourne. We feel connected to nature and wildlife. We enjoy the
view of looking out to the sea right in front of our house. We like to spend time here as much as
we possibly can.’ (Interview with the Connells in 2013)

Gradually changing life patterns

A switch of mentality between exuberant activity and quiet contentment is deliberately constructed by
the landscape of the house. Its self-contained envelope subtly indicates a neat, simple and elegant
lifestyle that reflects the residents’ attitudes and values for keeping a good quality of living in the

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presence of material culture (the fine building materials and air-conditioning). Environmental concerns
are expressed through their ecological awareness of greenhouse effects by operating fans and only
moderately using air-conditioning for 15 minutes in harsh weather. They recognized their gradually
changing everyday actions and behaviour towards an energy-efficient way of life when the pace of their
daily routines slowed down in the context of this coastal landscape.

‘We have fans and air-conditioning in all rooms… but we hardly use it [air-conditioning]… The
cross-ventilation fans work…oh yes! We put AC on for 15 minutes before we go to bed when the
weather is really hot! It’s different from the way we live in Melbourne. We need to turn it on for a
long period of time when we are home.’ (Interview with the Connells in 2013)

Ethical values versus material culture

Three bedrooms with an exclusive en-suite, a large footprint of indoor living space, and the installation
of air-conditioning in every room indicate the residents’ desire for the living comfort and convenience
that modern technology can offer. Initially, the house was designed for a holiday home for tourists as an
investment after their retirement. They changed their mind after the completion of the house and decided
to use the house as their personal retreat and holiday home (interview with the Connells in 2013). They
offer hospitality to family and friends around the world with the delights of holiday-inn type
accommodation. Durable building materials (aluminium, steel, marble floor, Red Ironbark polished hard
wood) are used to avoid weathering issues and maintain the desired quality of modern living (Figure
5.4.1i). Most importantly, they express their belief in ‘recycling materials in the house as much as we
possibly can’ to bring a small but important reduction of impact on the environment (interview with the
Connells in 2013). Recycling materials and saving energy are their way of demonstrating their ethical
values for sustainable living.

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Figure 5.4.1i Covered timber ceiling with soffit and fascia (Top), polished concrete floor and aluminium fixed-
framed windows (Bottom).

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‘I care about the building that it won’t deteriorate and make carbon emissions. I switch off the
lights… and recycle all the materials to the best of my ability.’ (Interview with the Connells in
2013)

Feelings versus desire and power

The residents wanted to feel control in their living spaces and secure in the house. With minimal operable
windows and shutters, the Connells do not mention in the interview the visual connections and spatial
engagements between indoor experiences and outlooks to the surroundings (Figure 5.4.1j). They feel
happier in concealed indoor spaces in which they can still experience some sensory experiences, such
as the smell of the sea, the sounds of waves, drizzling or heavy rains, and the viewing of endless ocean
and landscape. There is an impression of human-controlled everyday living spaces with defined
functionality in every room of this house regardless of the low frequency in usage of the bedrooms and
bathrooms. There is no sign of flexibility in better utilizing spaces, such as transforming the study room
to a guest room. Every room has a fixed purpose and remains unused for much of the year, except
when family and friends visit.

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Figure 5.4.1j An en-suite bathroom on the first floor has a view to the Coral Sea through a large fixed-frame
window (Top). The same window design is used for the bedroom on the ground floor where an outlook is to
boulders and thick trees (Bottom).

Simple gestures versus advanced technology

A sophisticated modern lifestyle is demonstrated through a feeling of ‘bunker’ with the plasterboard
smooth-finish interior, marble and bamboo polished floor, concealed overhangs and roof structure, and
reversible air-conditioning in all rooms installed, by O’Toole’s recommendation (Figure 5.4.1k). Simple
gestures similar to those in the 1980s Troppo houses are also seen in this house, such as ceiling fans,
sliding doors to a large verandah space connecting to the outdoors, to offer the residents the opportunity
of living naturally. An air-conditioning unit installed in every space indicates the architect’s preference
for using technology to create a modern and convenient lifestyle in line with the clients’ Melbourne city
life. The consciousness of energy-efficient living is not prioritised, with a focus more on human comfort.

‘We didn’t want to install AC in all rooms but Terry recommended us to do so.’ (Interview with the
Connells in 2013)

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Figure 5.4.1k The Connell Residence has the static effect of looking at framed views of the world from the
confined spaces of the house instead of having a visually more open outlook interacting with the surroundings.
The absence of banks of high windows differentiates the design of Connell Residence from the 1980s Troppo
houses.

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The relationship between the values of the architect and the Connell Residence is evident in its design
of form and the architect’s interpretation of a Troppo style in an isolated offshore island. Here a new
language for daily living is created through an internal activity space wrapped around by a spacious
outdoor verandah. An intimate and yet cautious space is in place for being connected with the outside
world.

5.4.2 Conclusion

Differences that the Connell Residence exhibits in comparison to the early Troppo houses were
identified as resulting from O’Toole’s long years of professional commercial experience and the two
design practice genres with the Troppo ethos. A new kind of Troppo practice integrating commercial and
residential practices was created. In this context, the ways in which locals and visitors perceive their
ideal way of life and their understanding of sustainable house design are very different from the Top
End tropical region.

‘Go with the flow’ was the everyday life attitude of the occupants of the 1980s Troppo Houses, and this
clearly differs from the Connell residents’ preference for building a ‘safe’ house in relation to the fear of
cyclones, their secure urban lifestyle in Melbourne and the nature of this holiday resort home. The
Connells were aligned with O’Toole’s design ideology and concepts in favour of minimizing the risks and
damage of natural disasters. They were more concerned about possible discomfort and inconvenience
in the aftermath of cyclones and less interested in exploring the full potential of Troppo’s hedonist
lifestyle.

Business viability and the demands of clients are two factors that dominate the design of houses. The
ways architects respond to these factors can be seen in the final product of the house. The differences
in design elements clearly display O’Toole’s divergent practice in Townsville in comparison to Troppo’s
early Darwin practice (Table 5.4.2).

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Typical 1980s Troppo Houses Connell Residence, 2011

Suburbs of Darwin Townsville

• The use of large glass sliding doors, shutters and louvers;

Similarities • The use of fans;
• Spacious verandah spaces.

• Timber and steel lightweight materials; • Concrete and thermal-mass materials;

• Banks of windows; • One skylight;
• Elevated structure and timber suspended • A mix of heavy and lightweight cladding;
floor system; • Infill foundation to the natural ground with
Hard space • Lightweight timber or steel cladding; partial deck off the ground;
• No air-conditioning in main living space • Aluminium fixed-framed windows for minimal
but in bedrooms for some houses as opening and sunlight;
required for the elderly, sick family • Separate small balconies for bedrooms;
Differences members and infants on extremely hot • A series of split levels and circular
days; movements;
• On-level living spaces ie under-house or • Semi-enclosed kitchen for dining space and
in-house; living space;
• Steel post-and-beam and lightweight • 3 en-suite bedrooms;
suspended floor construction; • Concrete construction and concrete slabs.
• No AC. • AC for better indoor comfort;
• Mono-pitched roofs with corrugated iron.

• Consciousness about energy saving.

Similarities

• Regular use of verandah spaces for daily • Occasional use of verandah spaces for
activities; reading and breakfast but not dinner
Soft space • Little concern about the accumulation of (mosquitos);
dust, and cobwebs; • More privacy needed in having an en-suite
• Very little anxiety about damage to the to each bedroom;
house by cyclones; • Concern about the accumulation of dust,
• Enjoying spending time in the outdoor and cobwebs;
Differences spaces; • Anxiety about damage to the house by
• A higher level of tolerance to rain, heat and cyclones;
company of wildlife animals in the house. • Less tolerance to rain, heat and company
of wildlife animals in the house.
• Prefer conducting daily activities such as
cooking and laundry indoors with more
comfort.

Table 5.4.2 This table shows differences and similarities of hard and soft spaces between the design of the
Connell Residence and the 1980s Darwin houses.

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5.5 Adelaide: Russell Residence, Torrens Park, South Australia

Contingency intervened when Harris felt the need in the late 1990s to prioritize the education of his
growing children and reunite with family in South Australia. But this didn’t just happen overnight. Prior
to the official establishment of the fourth regional branch of the Troppo practice in Adelaide in late 1999,
Harris had prepared for his return by setting up a studio-based practice. Harris kept this Rundle Street
atelier low key throughout the three-year transition process. Through family and friends, Harris had also
been renewing his local social network and developing new connections by word of mouth locally and
through a window display advertisement above a retail shop.

Despite these careful preparations, new challenges awaited Harris as he now needed to re-examine
and apply the distinctive Troppo principles to the moderate climate of the southern regions. A major
adaption of the tropical features of Troppo houses was needed for the colder (in winter), drier and hotter
(in summer) climate of South Australia. Changes to the distinctive Troppo elements were made by using
thermal-mass materials, adopting local construction methods, creating new joint details, and
accommodating the substantially different needs and life-styles of a new set of local clients. Another
timely and significant change was methodological, as the new branch began to use CAD and other
digital media (Auto-CAD for drafting, and Form-Z for 3D computer-modelling) to develop designs and
produce contract documentation. These new tools and methods, which were to revolutionize the
dynamics of the Troppo practice across all of the growing network of offices, were first introduced into
the new Adelaide practice by a younger generation of graduate architects that Harris employed, primarily
from his former alma-mater, The University of Adelaide, where he had also begun to teach by this time.
These computational techniques facilitated a different operation in the interactions between Harris and
in-house architects in relation to the design processes, the production and the time management of a
project.

The year 1999 was a significant year for the productive operation of design collaboration across four
Troppo offices as a whole. As noted by a senior in-house and independent-practice architect, Andrew
O’Loughlin (Interview with O’Loughlin in 2010), the introduction of 3D computer-modelling for
communicating concepts to clients and between staff changed the way that the four Troppo offices

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(except Townsville office) could collaborate with time efficiency in the design processes. The use of
computing software transformed the senior staff’s traditional way of producing drawings and
documentation by hand to a systematically data-based and computational production. There were new
flows of effective communication and exchanges of ideas, which these new tools enabled between the
senior architects’ preliminary sketches of design concepts and the junior architects’ 3D computer models
and the final working drawing sets, as a joint effort. 270 These computer-enabled efficiencies and
enhancements of the collaborative design process offered Troppo an opportunity to expand their
practice from its initial focus on small residential projects to a much more diverse and versatile scope of
work (encompassing residential, educational, recreational, community-based, and government-
commissioned, as well as retail buildings).

At the time of writing in 2016, Phil Harris and Cary Duffield are the Directors of the Adelaide Troppo
office. Duffield graduated from the School of Architecture at The University of Adelaide, in 1997. 271 After
a decade of working with Harris as an in-house architect, Duffield was invited to join the partnership of
the practice becoming the Co-Director of the Adelaide office in 2007. Harris accorded trust, freedom and
respect to Duffield in that all design work was evenly distributed between them with full design
responsibility and independence. In this way, he maintained and passed on the Troppo ethos for
sustainable design. Duffield played his part in revitalising the Troppo language by creating articulated
forms and volumes, imparting new ideas, and shaping the new characteristics of Troppo houses with
Harris and in-house architects to reflect ‘the climate’ and ‘the environment’ of the southern regions of
Australia (Interview with Duffield in 2012).

The Russell Residence was one of many significant residential projects in which Duffield has taken the
lead. The design of the house was the reflection of his personalized design style for architectural

270 Interestingly, Harris has continued to show strong resistance to use a computer himself for the production of working
drawings until the present day.
271 In the 1990s, two architecture programs, Bachelor of Architectural Studies and Bachelor of Architecture, were offered by

the Department of Architecture at The University of Adelaide. It did not become a ‘School’ until late 1998, the Department
of Architecture became the School of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Design. In 2013, the School of
Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Design was renamed the School of Architecture and Built Environment.

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elements and forms, and his interpretation of the Troppo language. This residence was recommended
by him at the time of the second interview in 2011 and it subsequently won the South Australia AIA
Residential Architecture Award in 2012. The house is situated in the garden-suburb of Torrens Park and
it visually complements its moderate climate through the interplay between Troppo’s tropical housing
features and thermal-mass materials, coupled with articulated elevations.

‘One part of the success of Troppo Architects is to bring someone along to the projects and let
them impart their design and [express] what Troppo [ethos] is and how each project evolves.’
(Interview with Duffield in 2012)

‘We are looking at where the site is, where the location is, and how to best design in the
environment….. We like to design an evocative form that responds to the climate.’ (Interview with
Duffield in 2012)

Duffield’s aspiration to interpret Troppo language with a hint of Southern style is clear in the design of
the house through textures, juxtapositions, colours, patterns and the visual sensations of building
materials. In this house, there is visual interplay between smoothness and roughness, horizontality and
verticality, grid and stripes, and heaviness and lightness from the composition of sandstone, concrete
panels and timber cladding, large glass and steel framed windows and sliding doors.

The Russell Residence is located on a corner site, bounded by a national conservation park and no-
through roads in the South-Eastern suburbs of Adelaide where Adelaide climate varies from hot and dry
in the inland, to mild and wet in the south and coastal regions272. Adelaide has a Mediterranean climate,
with mild winters with moderate rainfall, and warm to hot and dry summers with very little rainfall. It is
regarded as the driest of all the Australian capital cities and its average temperatures range between
36.9 degrees in summers to 13.3 degrees in winters (Figure 5.5a).

272
The information of Adelaide climate was taken from official Australian tourism website online link
http://www.australia.com/en/facts/weather/adelaide-weather.html, viewed on April 14, 2016. The diagram was taken from
the Weatherzone.com website online link http://www.weatherzone.com.au/climate/station.jsp, viewed on April 14, 2016.

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Figure 5.5a The diagram shows the Adelaide annual temperatures and rainfall.

The house is a make-over of a pre-existing brick house built on the existing concrete slab, and although
this was specifically in fulfilment of local council requirements, it offered Duffield the opportunity to
explore an interesting spatial arrangement and express a sense of lightweight construction by elevating
the house 273 (Figure 5.5b). The foundation of the demolished old house has left a permanent mark of
its historical existence. Its L-shaped concrete slab remained as the basic form for the floor planning of
the new house which sits quietly on this landscape of the sloping site. The site partially connects with a
wildlife conservation park next door. This house is surrounded by big trees, native low-maintenance
bushes and plants, wild animals and insects as well as a quiet pedestrian walkway to the park. Discrete

273 In the interview with Duffield, he mentioned that concrete slab and brick veneer construction with the mindset of passive
design principles are two major concepts for suburban residential projects in the Southern regions of Australia. Pitched
roofs that rise to the north to have sunlight in and full views to the sky are also a feature in the design of Troppo Houses in
Southern regions. Elevated houses are not commonly seen or considered, as a concrete slab works better for storing heat
in a cold winter climate such as that in Adelaide metropolitan city.

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and levelled pitched rooflines suggest a sequence of connected spaces that explicitly denote the
functionality of each space.

Figure 5.5b The existing concrete slabs (Left) defined the configuration of the floor plan of Russell Residence.
The house is surrounded by bushes and trees of the adjoining national parklands. (Right)

Each roof is designed as a complementary skyline with an articulated form and the specific functionality
of space beneath the roof. The gradually increasing height of the roofs displays a sense of ease and the
appreciation of the open landscape. Straightforward planning is arranged by cross-axes as the primary
circulation scheme. An L-shaped form gives the notion of easy daily movements and creates the
experience of ‘the circulation spaces being part of the living spaces’ (Interview with Duffield in 2012). A
private outdoor-living space is naturally formed and defined by four distinctive volumes highlighted by
four roof forms (Figure 5.5c).

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Within the conservation park Four distinctive roofs and volumes

A corner view to the front entry deck An enclosure of outdoor living spaces

Figure 5.5c The configuration of the Russell Residence shows the L-shaped floor plan that offered Duffield an
opportunity to explore roofs, volumes, materiality, and heights.

5.5.1 Troppo language in the Russell Residence

Some distinctive characteristics of the Troppo language are displayed in the design of the Russell
Residence by variations of architectural elements, open accessibility, singular forms and elevations.
These are the exposed roof structures, the large proportions of windows, the use of sliding doors and
decks, and the use of post-and-beam steel structural framework and corrugated roofs. What are not
seen in this design are spacious verandahs, extended overhangs, the use of a large quantity of louvers
and shutters, external corrugated claddings, and articulated details. New features incorporated in the

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Russell Residence are articulated elevations with an extruding box volume, a composition of materials
in different textures, open view to a private courtyard, and multiple-access to the outdoor areas. The
simplicity of a humble gesture for an entry is created by the extension of an elevated timber deck from
the pedestrian path. The sense of lightness of this house is depicted by the large glass high level
windows between the top of the external walls and the pitched roofs. Framed views between inside living
and the outside world are enhanced by lifting four roofs to lightly rest on large glass windows. A full view
to the sky and nature creates intimate experiences among the residents, the house, wildlife and the
landscape for fostering transparent everyday living.

‘What is on the outside is restricted by conventional flat roof form by its height. You know, the
maximum of a 2.4 metres high ceiling and 2.7 if you are lucky, and the better production of the
space in 3 [metres].’ (Interview with Duffield in 2012)

A metaphoric expression for the key design concept of the Russell Residence is ‘Moonlight’ with a
modern nickname, ‘Creek Chic’ (Interview with Duffield in 2012). Duffield creates an open illusion by
lifting the skillion roofs off the walls. Large and minimal-framed glass windows are best, according to
him, for creating the ‘romantic feelings of the landscape on the darkest nights’ (Interview with Duffield in
2012). Duffield uses those glass windows as the means to achieve his interpretation of Australian culture
by capturing the unique experience of camping under a million stars in the backyard of the Russell
Residence. The residents ‘spiritual feelings’ (Interview with Russells in 2012) grew over time while being
inside the house, through an easy glance connecting with the outside world. His intent is clear, to
express the secondary meaning of the Troppo language – the continuity of care-free everyday living
experienced as outside in (Figure 5.5.1a).

‘It is the creation of spaces that take the outside in. There are lots of skillion roofs. They tend to
open up the form to the North and let the sun in and also offer the person inside have the full view
of the sky.‘ (Interview with Duffield in 2012)

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Figure 5.5.1a Bringing outside in as an everyday living experience is felt in the living spaces.

Patterns

As in Darwin, responding to ‘the climate’ and ‘the site’ (Interview with Duffield in 2012) are starting points
for the contemporary Troppo houses ‘down south’. Open-plan spaces, living on the verandahs, and
natural breezes are controversial for a traditional building envelope in the moderate climate of the
Southern regions. Thermal mass is the key to achieving a passive design for houses: it acts to store
heat in winter, and compensate overheating in conjunction with shading devices and the use of air-
conditioning in summer. Duffield’s approach is manifested in his changes to this conventional view and
his creation of a hybrid Troppo design by integrating passive design principles and a hint of the Troppo
distinctive features. The hedonist spirit that results is embraced fully by the Russell residents who enjoy
the heat on summer days with minimal air-conditioning, and the coolness of winter nights with full view
of the moonlight and the stars. It is their way of celebrating their desires and dreams of living differently
with conscious action towards residing in a suburb in an open and environmental-friendly way.

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‘Passive design principles are basic… everything we do here.’ (Interview with Duffield in 2012)
‘Some years before, we’d stayed with some friends in Broome and I visited a house up there that
was open and had a wonderful feel to it. And ever since then, I always wanted to experience
living like that. Troppo architecture was very much in sympathy with that. For me, it’s just another
reason to go with someone such as them.’ (Interview with the Russells in 2011)

Contemporary southern houses, particularly those designed by developers and building companies, are
often the results of mass productions of a two-storey monolithic box building with minimal windows and
painted fibre-cement external walls. Their popularity is driven by affordable and cheap construction costs
and design fees, and short completion time. Thermal mass materials and double-brick constructions are
not often seen in contemporary buildings due to the general prioritising of construction time efficiency
and cost effectiveness. Minimizing openings coupled with thermal mass materials on the west facades
is the strategy for reducing overheating in summer and preventing heat loss in winter. Facing north and
getting the sun determines the design pattern of the hard space of Troppo houses. It defies the popularity
of monolithic boxed houses, and allows breezes, light, and views all year round.

‘The sun is what everyone looks for, where is north and how you get the sun in when you want it
and how you keep it out when you don’t want it. How you get the breeze through, how you get
shelter, and how you orientate the house make the most of it.’ (Interview with Duffield in 2012)

New patterns in form and space, construction and spatial arrangement in Troppo Adelaide practice are
sought in order to accommodate the ‘best design in the environment’ down south (Interview with Duffield
in 2012). New features (architectural elements and building materials) indicate the realization of
differences in the ‘conditions’ of each site and ‘they are the changes that change the design philosophy’
of Troppo houses (Interview with Duffield in 2012) in the colder climate. These changes result in a
different connectivity graph (Figure 5.5.1b) but abide the Troppo’s design principles and philosophy for
a simple and sustainable everyday living. The straightforward and linear circulation demonstrates
Duffield’s understandings of the Troppo ethos in the following connectivity graph for the design of the
Russell Residence (Figure 5.5.1b).

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Figure 5.5.1b This connectivity graph shows the breezeway of the Russell Residence as a transitional area
between private and communal living zones in the indoor spaces.

Episodic space
The design of the Russell Residence is aligned with the residents’ wishes for their love of, and sympathy
and connection with natural environment (Interview with the Russells in 2011). Being encouraged by
their son’s work experience with Troppo 274 and their long research span into built work, the Russells
sought a design for their residence that was a combination of Duffield’s interpretations of their planning
for desired hard space and their interest in sustainability and connection with the conditions of the site
and its environment.

274 After the Russells’ son graduated from his Masters degrees in Architecture, he did some work experience with Troppo

and strongly recommended his parents to look at the early work of Troppo in Darwin. They bought Goad’s book (1999/2005)
to study and fell in love with Troppo’s work (Interview with the Russells in 2011).

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Figure 5.5.1c Multiple exits and secondary access are part of the indoor living spaces. Cross-axes do not only
indicate primary circulation paths but also offer transitional spaces between indoor and outdoor spaces.
Reproduction of the floor plan by the author.

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The distinguishing features in the design of Russell Residence in form and space, construction and
spatial arrangement are as follows.

In form and space:

• The qualities of openness are achieved through its composition of two major single-width
wings: the symmetrical-form wing indicates communal spaces with north-south aspects
and the irregular-form wing indicates private living spaces with east-west aspects;
• The irregular-form wing for private living spaces consists of four distinctive space modules
on two levels;
• There is implicit symmetrical form in blue embedded in the two wings (Figure 5.5.1d);

Figure 5.5.1d The design of form exhibited a combined geometry of symmetrical and asymmetrical shapes for
the spatial planning of the house.

• The study can be transformed into a private guest room where the corridor can be closed
off and open to the outdoor decking area (Figure 5.5.1e);

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Figure 5.5.1e The concept of private and shared space is introduced with the elements of double sliding doors
to create the choice of freedom for the usage of the room (study or guest room with a private deck for a guest
family) in accordance with the needs of activities and the family size of guests throughout the year.

In construction:
• The ramp and the long entry decking offer the residents visual security and create a welcome feel
to visitors;
• There are narrow wall-high windows for framed views and sufficient sunlight for the
bedrooms, with completely open and high windows in the living areas shaded by the long
overhangs of the skillion roofs;
• A mix of lightweight (steel and timber) and thermal-mass materials (sandstone) and
construction methods (post-and-beam structure) are used;

In spatial arrangement:
• There are three exits (Figure 5.5.1c);
• The L-circulation path indicates transitional spaces between indoor living spaces and
outdoor decking areas;

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• The L-circulation path in pink in Figure 5.5.1f is integrated as the part of the open private
and communal living spaces which are different from a conventionally enclosed passage
way or a corridor;

Figure 5.5.1f The L-circulation path is designed in a way that the path is inclusive in every zone of the house
and there is no waste of space in spatial planning.

• There is the semi-enclosure of a courtyard between the bathroom and the laundry; the
courtyard not only connects both spaces with the designed landscape but also provides
sufficient daylight yet privacy with a timber screen;
• The multi-functional outdoor decking area is a dining, reading and entertaining space;
• The entry hall performs as a transitional space between indoor and outdoor, and a
connection space between private living areas, a semi-outside-in decking area and
communal living areas (Figure 5.5.1g).

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Figure 5.5.1g A view from the kitchen space to the entry deck is a way to connect with people and daily street
activities. A confined entry hall is defined by a door-high rammed earth wall and a ceiling-high wall.

Inside-outside spatial experiences

Duffield endeavoured to integrate tangible and non-tangible elements to create everyday living
experiences for the Russell residents. Moon, stars, sky, trees, frogs, birds, insects, and creek are
tangible elements which provide visual enlightenment to invigorate the residents’ sensual experiences
– viewing, smelling, touching and hearing. Non-tangible elements are shade and light, the temperatures
and changing views all year round, and the sounds of wildlife and running creek in winter. The residents
experience the ‘expanding’ space 275 by enjoying the delightful feel that both elements have to offer them.
These experiences are as follows:
• There is the feel of ‘camping in an indoor tent’276 in the house;

275 The female resident loves the idea of being able to be constantly exposed to nature and engage her spirit with the
landscape and wildlife outdoors. In the interview she constantly mentioned the words ‘beautiful’, ‘joy’ and ‘calm’ that
described her feelings in every room of the house She was drawn to the changing colours and phenomena of the outside
world while moving through her home.
276 She used this phrase to describe her personal feel for living in this house.

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• The house offers the residents ‘the sense of a whole world in the palm of a hand’277;
• All indoor spaces create a strong visual link to the outdoor decking areas through the large
glass windows and sliding doors facing to the backyard, especially the entry hallway which
offers the residents a direct path and view to the outdoor areas.

‘One word that comes into mind, it is expand... When you sit in it [the house], all your views are expanded...
when you sit there, there is no ceiling above you... there is a fantastic feeling that you are drawn by the
beauty of the world that is on the outside... normally you couldn’t have that feeling when you are in the
shelter of the house.’ (First interview with the Russells in 2011)

‘When we sleep up-stairs, we open the front door listening to the frogs and creek running... up to the roof,
there was a full moon. That night [first night] was so exciting and we looked at the moon... it was the
experience of the whole environment from the inside instead of the outside. I enjoy every minute in and I
don’t have to turn the light on when the sun goes down… you feel like camping at home.’ (First interview
with the Russells in 2011)

The quality of the soft space in the Russell Residence has promoted a change in the Russells’ attitude
in terms of their perspective on using spaces. A space is no longer an enclosure for serving a function
or an activity. Each space is ‘interacting and communicating’ with them ‘spiritually’. (Interview with the
Russells in 2012) Each space has no specific ‘name’ 278 but also gives out feelings, sentiment, and a
positive mindset for their desired everyday experiences.

Hedonist experience
• The residents displayed their strong feelings about the positive energy from the living
environment and the outside world that contributes to the aliveness of each interior space,
and energizing indoor activities on the outdoor decking (Figure 5.5.1h);
• The placement of furniture, the setting of artefacts, the light, and air movement, even the
warmth or coolness of each space draw out the inner peace of the residents so that their
feeling of delight is ‘raw in a way that cannot be elaborated’ (Interview with the Russells in
2012);

277This is the emotion she feels the house communicates with her since they moved in 2011.
278Duffield points out that initially, the Russell Residence was to be a 3-bedroom house as requested. However, along with
some negotiations and explanations, the concept of multi-purpose space was well accepted by the Russells. The reading
room can be a family room or a guest room for their grown-up children visiting home. The guest bedroom can be used as
the master bedroom when the Russells age and mobility seems to be an issue for them in the future. In other words, the
master bedroom can also be used as the guest room for family and friends in the mode of a simple holiday retreat.

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• enjoyment, satisfaction and healthy well-being are generated in their beliefs in living a
Troppo like-minded hedonist lifestyle through an ‘outside-in’ everyday living experience;
• No regrets 279 for living a ‘light, open and natural’ retirement life with minimal use of the
evaporated air-conditioning and heating duct system to achieve their indoor thermal
comfort in cold and hot weather.

‘We went outside to listen to it and it’s amazing in this urban environment to hear an owl and I
think it is very special. Owls, frogs, birds you name it… and water… babbling water!’ (Interview
with the Russells in 2012)

Figure 5.5.1h Two distinctively seasonal landscapes are formed with the dry and quiet creek in summer
(Left), and the vibrant and lively creek in winter (Right).

279 The Russells gave appraisals to many aspects of this house, Duffield and another in-house architect who oversaw the
completion of the constructions. They pointed out the learning curves and their appreciations of the meaning of all the
intricate details of the house. They noted that the final cost of the house was way over the initial budget they had in mind (it
was 50% more than their budget). This was the only negative factor that they were concerned about during the process.

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A dynamic dialogue with nature and other living things

‘It (The house) was a dream come true’ (Interview with the Russells in 2012) expressed the residents’
wishes to live in nature after their children left home for studies and work. The residents indicated their
desires to spend much time in the garden planting or sitting in a corner reading a book or just simply
appreciating the nature symphony in the wild while enjoying cool breezes in the warm afternoon under
shade. They intentionally selected plants that required minimal water to fulfil the water restrictions in
summer of Adelaide or to survive with sufficient rainfalls during the time when they travel in winter. They
were the residents who displayed the foremost enthusiasm in enunciated their constant engagement
with nature and living creatures in the outdoors in dynamic dialogues. Every dialogue was in the making
in every moment and in every glance to the sky, the trees, the rocks, the wild and the composition of
natural and man-made landscape in their backyard.

Gradually changing life patterns

The Russells confirmed their gradually changing patterns towards seeking more outdoor daily
movements and activities due to the transparency of the external walls of their residence. This feature
completely changes the way they live in comparison to their life patterns in their previous residence.280
They were able to move on quickly with ‘no sentimental value for the old house’ as the space of that
house was just more of ‘a physical space’. (Interview with the Russells in 2012)
• An L-shaped open passage way gives free access for movement, and directly traveling
between indoor and outdoor spaces offers visual and psychological impact on the
residents’ conventional perceptions about enclosed passage way/corridor spaces;
• The use of the passage way can be transferred from access to providing a living space by
closing up two sliding doors to make a private enclosure; 281
• The design is flexible in that the master bedroom on the first floor becomes an independent
guestroom by closing the end passage way with a sliding door and the guestroom on the

280 For twenty-eight years they used to reside in a house that was a mixture of Federation and villa style with a small
window per room.
281 There are sliding doors between the entry and the big open space of kitchen, dining and lounge, study, office and passage.

The use of a space is controlled by the contingent need of the Russells in any desired circumstance.

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ground floor becomes the master bedroom with its own bathroom when they are 80 years
old as they’ve planned.

‘We’ve talked about it and we plan to stay here for twenty years and review it when we are
eighty…… We planned the house so that the master bedroom can be downstairs. The second
bedroom can become the master bedroom and the family bathroom will become our bathroom
and then we will have the guest wing upstairs… When we are older, we will reverse it.’ (Interview
with the Russells in 2012)

Ethical values versus material culture

There are architectural elements in the Russell Residence giving the residents ‘a sense of spiritual’ and
‘mystery’ (Interview with the Russells in 2012). They are ‘natural world’ elements such as rammed earth,
timber and logs for the fireplace (Figure 5.5.1i) which contribute to their feelings and their values that
reflect their sympathy for a sustainable and living environment.

‘As we are sitting here, and I’m looking at the rammed earth walls, when we look at the texture
like that, the wall of the house is made of the natural material that immediately invites the person
inside the house to be relating with the living material. So in that way, the form of the house does
provide a different experience than an artificial wall would. So there is a living feeling inside
the house and that fireplace which we took a long time to find. It means that we can burn timber,
a really long piece of timber, and create the most incredible feel sitting above the floor. The
element of fire, which again, when people were coming in the evening and it’s cold, that fire will
evoke such strong emotions and that’s mesmerizing and powerful. It’s got a sense of [the] spiritual
to it, you know the mystery. I think there are elements in the house which contribute to this feeling
that is in the house of inside and outside that really put in a value into the living world.’ (Interview
with the Russells in 2012)

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Figure 5.5.1i Fireplace, rammed earth walls and timber floor play significant roles in stimulating the residents’
sense of a ‘beautiful warm feeling’ through the house in winter.

Feelings versus desire and power

The Russells articulately express the various feelings they have about the house. These are:
• a very peaceful feeling when they walk inside the house;
• a reflective feeling as they are able to be taken out of their own thoughts into the beauty of
the natural landscape and the sky around the them;
• a feeling of the pleasure of achieving their vision, in that they are pleased with the outcomes
of the quality of the design coming into fruition;
• a feeling of relaxation in the house with the freedom of being in various sizes of spaces in
relation to their specific needs, activities and functions for individuals and groups of family
and friends;

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• a feeling of being very fortunate to be close to the natural world so that they have the
opportunity to hear wild animals calling by day and night.

‘There are many feelings about the house. There is certainly a very peaceful feeling when you
walk inside the house... you’re actually surrounded by the sky and the trees and the amount of
space gives you a peaceful feeling and it is a reflective feeling as well because you are taken out
of your own thoughts into the beauty of the trees and the sky around you… There is a feeling of
being very pleased with the vision that we had for have coming into fruition. And we are very
pleased with the result… There is also a feeling of relaxation in the house because there are
different spaces you can go in the house…. And being out in the garden down by the creek when
the creek is running, the reeds we are growing and we can hear the frogs… That is a different
feeling all together. That is the feeling of being very fortunate so close to the natural world.’
(Interview with the Russells in 2012).

Simple gestures versus advanced technology

Creating physical comfort and views are simple gestures that the house offers to the residents. A
specially designed hydraulic heating system, evaporative air conditioning and water tanks (Figure 5.5.1j)
are installed and used accordingly 282, with a mindset showing a combination of environmental concern
and moderate self-indulgence. There is a sense of timing control in the easy accessibility of heating and
cooling devices for creating ‘a very beautiful warm feeling through the house’ in winter and keeping ‘the
cool air on the warm nights’ in summer. (Interview with the Russells in 2012)

282 The Russells spoke about their awareness of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and global warming issues in the
interview. They emphasized the fact that they don’t turn on AC or heating system unless the temperature reaches
40 degrees in hot summer days and below 10 degrees in cold winter days in Adelaide. They would only turn on
air conditioning for 2 -3 hours in the afternoon of extreme hot summer days and central heating for the same
length of time before sleeping at night in cold winter days.

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Figure 5.5.1j The hydraulic heating is installed under the floor by heated water pipes coming under the slab (Left)
and water tanks (Right) as design features of this contemporary Troppo housing for the moderate climate of
Adelaide

‘There was no sentimental value for the old house but we are in love with this house’ (Interview with
Russells in 2012). The residents express how ‘quickly and surprisingly’ they were able to move on when
they moved out of the old house and yet have built strong bonds and connections with the Russell
Residence in the short span of two years. They attributed little value to the old house in which they
resided for over twenty-years as there were no special bonds or profound memories, except the beautiful
ornaments and architectural features of the Federation style of the house. The female resident
emphasized the darkness and small windows of each room that left them with no special feelings
attached to the house. The house purely accommodated the residents by providing functional living
space. By contrast, here they expressed much more emotional attachment to the corner of the open
garage as a quiet reading space, the view to the sky from the living room, the nature and wildlife around
them, and the sound of the natural symphony of the creek in winter or after a heavy rain. Through their
tones of voice, they demonstrated the particularly intimate relationship they have with the house by

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connecting themselves psychologically to the volumes of the spaces, the textures of materials, the
special design of the stairs (a hidden cabinet on the wall), as well as to the fine detail of the simple joints
of the house. They displayed high values and profound feelings from their short-term living in the Russell
Residence in comparison to their long-term living in the old one. In this case study, the residents’ value
for the house is measured by their everyday living experience and the quality of space, rather than the
length of time they were there.

5.5.2 Conclusion

The distinctive characteristics of the Troppo language were clearly displayed through the design of the
Russell Residence with its linear form, elevated construction, the interplay of timber and corrugated iron
claddings, louvres, decks, extravagant overhangs, exposed roof structures, mono-pitched roofs, banks
of openings, an open-outward verandah and an informal welcoming entrance. The adaptability of the
language was demonstrated here by the use of water tanks, hydraulic heating system and split AC units,
movable sliding doors, polycarbonate corrugated roof cladding and rammed-earth walls in response to
the moderate climate of this southern state of Australia, the surroundings of the site, the location of the
house and the social interactions they created with neighbours, visitors and pedestrians in this bustling
community.

The design Duffield created for the residents not only cultivated their feelings and attachment to a
sustainable living environment but also enhanced their everyday living experience and their senses by
connecting them to everything around them – natural elements (land, wind, rain, creek, the sun, the
moon, and stars), living and non-living things, plants, artefacts (furniture and fireplace) and the space of
the world. Being over-budget was the only setback for the residents, and yet their emotions and
affections grew deeper as they became increasingly involved in both the design and construction
processes so that they had to continue to see the final product of their dream home. The Russells
recalled the ‘priceless’ lessons from actively engaging with Duffield and the project architect right from
the beginning of this project (Interview with the Russells in 2012). They started perplexed and frustrated
by the high costs of construction for, in their eyes, a ‘simple’ structure. The more they became deeply
involved in the design process, the more they understood the fact that the value of Troppo’s hedonist-

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way of living philosophy for simplicity and sustainability was the reason for the expensive and exclusive
Troppo design. They frequently repeated their ‘treasured and cherished feeling’, affection for the house
and awareness for living a sustainable lifestyle by very little use of central heating and air conditioning.
They indicated that the house responded to them with a sense of immersion and belonging. The
interactions they have had with the house explicitly resonate with Troppo’s initiatives, values and
attitudes for an everyday lifestyle – being ‘home’. These interactions can be seen and understood as
similarities in the house designs between the 1980s Darwin houses and this contemporary Troppo
house in a suburban zone of Adelaide (Table 5.5.2).

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Typical 1980s Troppo Houses Russell Residence, 2011

Suburbs of Darwin Adelaide

• Completely open kitchen space for dining and main living space;
• Elevated structure;
• Banks of windows;
• A linear form and simple geometry;
• Shared and multi-functional spaces;
Similarities • A transitional space connecting indoor and outdoor spaces;
• Spacious timber decking/verandahs for dining and other social activities;
• Breezeway and hallway as indoor-outdoor living areas;
• Exposed roof structure;
• Extensive overhangs;
• Ceiling fans in all rooms.
• Steel post-and-beam construction and • A combination of lightweight and thermal
lightweight cladding; mass materials and construction;
• Timber suspended floor; • Concrete slabs;
Hard space • One roof form; • Discrete mono-pitched roofs for indicating
• Semi-open bathroom or outdoor shower; areas of functional spaces;
• Fans but no AC or heating systems. • Divisional spaces with sliding doors for
privacy reasons (an office space for a
temporary guest room);
Differences
• Upward verandahs for maximizing sky
views and sunlight instead of downward for
protection from heavy rains;
• Polycarbonate corrugated roofing;
• Cantilevered structure;
• Indoor bathrooms;
• AC and hydraulic heating systems.
• Water tanks for collecting rain water.
• Consciousness for energy saving;
• Enjoying doing daily activities in verandah and outdoor spaces;
• Delight in the sensual experience of moving through indoor and outdoor spaces;
Similarities
• Opening doors and windows for enjoying breezes inside the home;
• Low anxiety about the accumulation of dust and cobwebs;
Soft space • Enjoying doing laundry in the outdoors.
• Enjoying having showers in a semi-open • Concern about less privacy taking a
bathroom; shower in a semi-open bathroom;
• Showing a high level of tolerance to rain, • Showing a moderate level of tolerance to
Differences heat, bugs and wildlife animals moving rain and wildlife animals moving through
through and/or being in the house. and/or being in the house;
• Minding little about heat, but no tolerance
to cold in winter.

Table 5.5.2 This table shows differences and similarities of hard and soft spaces between the design of the
Russell Residence and the 1980s Darwin houses.

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5.6 Byron Bay: Hutchinson Residence, New Brighton, New South Wales
A privately commissioned project for a resort in Byron Bay, a small town on the North-East New South
Wales coast popular with surfers and tourists, appeared as an interruption to Troppo’s busy practice at
the time (Interview with Harris in 2011). Particular challenges were a lack of local staff and difficulties
with the changing business management practices of the client groups (Interview with Connolly in 2012).
However, what had initially been a potentially disruptive contingency turned into another opportunity for
expanding Troppo’s practice.

An Adelaide graduate in 1999, Dan Connolly was the Project Manager 283 and the first point of contact
for Troppo in the Byron Bay office in 2013. With Harris’s assistance he set up the office in the central
area of Byron Bay. Its built environments, natural contexts, and regional culture are highly preserved
and protected by the local council for the important values of local heritage and natural resources.
Connolly (interview in 2012) commented that planning and building regulations were rigid and
challenging for new housing design and development, and constantly changing to prevent overblown
new projects by outsiders. Complying with changing regulations became a key to Connolly’s adaptation
of Troppo language in a sub-tropical coastal style (Interview with Connolly in 2012) which responds to
the climate and built environment, as well as the social and cultural contexts of Byron Bay.

‘The development is highly controlled by council, the height control is no more than 3-storeys
high and it generates the character of the place…. in the residential areas, the highest point of
the highest level is 4.5 metres above the ground. Not only that, every development is hard to get
approved. ‘(Interview with Connolly in 2012)

The location of his first office in the central area of Byron Bay offered Connolly easy access to the
construction sites for many years. Later, due to downsizing, he relocated to Bangalow, NSW, amongst
heritage and cottage style houses in a landscape that recalls English farmland hills, and he built a home
office from there so that he could manage both business and family simultaneously. In 2011, his home

283 This is the description given by Welke in an interview in 2014.

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office (Figure 5.6a) was completed and the Troppo practice continued along with an ambition for his
own practice – Beach Architect.

Figure 5.6a Connolly’s home office in Bangalow is designed to examine the practicality of Troppo’s
design principles and theory in response to climate; the façade (Top) and the glimpse of the house from
the backyard (Bottom).

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Connolly learned from this process that general passive design theory does not work well with
unexpected and extreme hot weather conditions. He argued that following general passive design rules
such as facing north, having lots of openings, and shading devices and specific building materials, works
in regions where there are cool air movements and thick vegetation on site. Challenges exist when there
are extreme hot and dry winds, still air, and no natural shade from nearby trees. More doubled-glazed
windows and louvers as described in the illustrations of architectural design books would not then make
‘a world of difference’ in reducing the indoor temperature of a house. (Interview with Connolly in 2012)

Connolly’s home office showed the need to develop the Troppo language in combination with active
design principles such as the appropriate use of technology. Evaporative ducted air-conditioning and an
understanding of the strength of the individual site can overcome unpredictable situations. The ‘local
knowledge factor’ derived from living in ‘real everyday life’ is a reflection of this ‘low-key profile in an
under-developed but very expensive’ coastal town. (Interview with Connolly in 2012) This recognition
has translated into the urban design of contemporary Troppo houses in Byron Bay.

‘You can tow away the whole building and that is the example of how far the council would go. It
is very strange control over the housing development. The basic rule is that all buildings have to
be removable.’ (Interview with Connolly in 2012)

‘Clients in Byron Bay have very different and various ideas for finishing up their houses. They are
very different from the clients in Adelaide as they have a strong sense of what they want when
they approach Troppo here.’ (Interview with Connolly in 2012)

‘All the people who live here are quite wealthy and fancy and that’s why they like bringing in their
fancy ideas into the house. That’s why they make it [the design process] all difficult.’ (Interview
with Connolly in 2012)

The contemporary expression of Troppo language is characterised here by the elegance and lightness
of cantilevered structures, various roof types (gable, skillion mono-pitched and flat roofs), compositions
of different textured materials and simple detailing of joints. Connolly’s intentions were to compose a
mix of impressions by creating intimate connections between nature and land form, with the subtle

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imagery of a modern lifestyle in response to the coastal beach climate. Byron Bay has a sub-tropical
climate with warm summers and mild winters284. Its average temperatures range is between 24.5
degrees in summers and 17.2 degrees in winters (Figure 5.6 b). It is regarded as an ideal place to
holiday and a paradise for surfing. Connolly introduces elegant features of lightweight construction and
cladding, as well as singular mono-pitched roof forms mimics the early Troppo houses with a twist of
contemporary beach-house elements for Byron Bay’s sub-tropical contexts (Figure 5.6c). These new
features exhibit Connolly’s everyday experience that modernity is social status, surfing is lifestyle and
leisure for the locals, as well as for visitors and wealthy residents from interstate. Visually, it is the
Connolly beach style with the ‘blub’285 of Troppo language. (Interview with Connolly in 2012)

Figure 5.6b The diagram shows Byron Bay annual temperatures and rainfall.

284
The information of Byron Bay climate and average temperatures was taken from Government website online link
http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_058009.shtml, viewed on April 14, 2016 and the diagram was taken
from the Weatherzone.com website online link http://www.weatherzone.com.au/climate/station.jsp, viewed on April 14,
2016.
285 Connolly described Troppo’s design principles as ‘blub’ in his interview, showing the easy, casual, and straightforward

side of his everyday attitudes. He revealed his disciplinary passion for an architecturally rigorous design yet a hint of a ‘go-
with-the-flow’ philosophy of life was reflected in his simple and informal descriptions of his perspective on Troppo pattern
language and contemporary architecture. The contingency of architecture was sought in the way in which he firmly believed
in arriving at a good design in response to place, people, socio-cultural background and the built environment.

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Figure 5.6c The contemporary Troppo language in grouped townhouse (Top) designed by Troppo’s
Byron Bay office in the 2011 and a mixed-use accommodation and retail building (Bottom)
collaboratively designed by both Troppo’s Byron Bay and Adelaide offices in the central area of Byron
Bay. This mixed use building was built in 2004 and received the Grand Winner and Award for Excellence
for Northern Rivers Urban Design Awards in 2008.

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5.6.1 Troppo language in the Hutchinson Residence

There were new design features in Connolly’s Troppo style for townhouse projects, commercial
buildings, and residential houses. These were juxtaposing different textures and colours, creating
articulated layers and patterns on external walls with fibre-cement and weatherboard cladding, and
introducing modern materials such as aluminium panels and stainless steel for roof systems, reflecting
the local building types and the preferred contemporary character of the regional culture of Byron Bay.
Noticeable features were cantilevered small balconies, symmetrical steel-framed sliding windows,
standard length overhangs, shading devices in timber battens, garages, and concealed and subtle-
sloped pitched roofs. There was no sign of Troppo’s typical construction in the post and beam system,
elevated structures, corrugated-iron roofs, banks of glass windows and doors, indoor-outdoor
verandahs, louvers and shutters. Troppo’s distinctive feature of open space single-linear form was
retained but adapted by Connolly with lower-angle mono-pitched roofs, standardised overhang length
of 300mm and/or 600mm, fixed-size openings, contemporary wall finishes, an installation of shading
devices, and earthy-tone colours, textures and materials (Figure 5.6.1a). These new form patterns
indicated Connolly’s knowledge and experience in meeting the client’s budget, as well as the
requirements of a small-size young family and the prevailing regulations for local development.

Figure 5.6.1a Contemporary Troppo houses in Byron Bay convey a modern urban lifestyle with bright and earthy
colours, smooth external wall finishes, moderate overhangs, timber shading devices, garages, and discrete
volumes attached.

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Connolly briefly explained his general ideas for townhouse design and planning in Byron Bay during the
2012 interview. Due to the prestigious location of Byron Bay, certain lifestyles are cultivated by its
climate, geographical setting and natural resources. A tendency towards a good mix of different family
types and sizes has been generating locally. More families from interstate have moved in permanently
for it is seen as a paradise for retirement or for a getaway holiday retreat. The style and design of
townhouses here has to be flexible to accommodate the needs of a young family of four or an elderly
couple of two. The versatility of a space to be multi-functional is crucial. The appeal of design form to
be stylish for wealthier ‘upper class’ clients from Melbourne and Sydney is imperative for developers
from the business point of view. Connolly (Interview in 2012) has been heavily involved in many
residential projects with local developers on various scales of a project. ‘Upper class’ clients are often
the target group for townhouses.

Manifestations of form-patterns are also driven by the needs of clients for their family lifestyle, type, size
and financial status. For Connolly, the ‘poetry of architecture’ is conveyed through the visual stimulations
of colours and textural patterns which display a distinctive urban rhythm in his contemporary design.
Interestingly, for the Troppo house of this case study – the Hutchinson Residence in Byron Bay – he
discarded his common practice of contemporary urban expression but created a hybrid Troppo house
which combines the key features of the 1980s Troppo houses with the characteristics of a contemporary
urban lifestyle on the beach front (Figure 5.6.1b).

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Figure 5.6.1b The Hutchinson Residence exhibits a hybrid style of Troppo house with key features of the 1980s
Troppo houses and a symbolic expression of modern living

The Hutchinson Residence was recommended by Connolly as the case study because it was ‘very much
the closest design to Troppo’s style’ (Interview with Connolly in 2012). This house is located in New
Brighton, 30 km north of Byron Bay. The residents approached Connolly in 2008 and the house was
completed in late 2009. This house was specially built to recall Hutchinson’s ‘childhood memory’
(Interview with the female resident in 2012). The Hutchinson family lived nearby to witness the whole
process of construction from laying the foundation to finishing the front timber path.

Patterns

The Troppo language in the Hutchinson Residence is immediately recognisable in the simple linear
form, lightweight building materials, corrugated roofs, exposed skillion roof structures, indoor-outdoor
verandah, adjustable glass louvers, and an array of skylight windows. Latticed timber external claddings

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create a constantly changing pattern of shadows on the interior of the entry walkway. Visual and physical
experiences of seeing and being seen, and being outdoors and indoors are created.

Figure 5.6.1c Sensual experiences are of the interplay of shadows and light (Left), inside and outside,
cool breezes and warm sunlight moving through semi-open spaces (Right).

Features that are not typical of the Troppo language are the entry walkway, single entry/exit from each
floor, under-house semi-open garage, an enclosed corridor, the segregation of bedrooms, and semi-
enclosed stairways as transition space between ground and first floors (Figure 5.6.1c). The shared
bathroom and the separation of private living spaces were requested by the clients to encourage their
children to be independent, free, sharing, and secure. Mostly importantly, the concept of separating
adult and children’s living spaces from the shared spaces was to teach them to be independent, think
for others and enjoy relaxed beach living (Figure 5.6.1d).

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Figure 5.6.1d This connectivity graph shows Connolly’s interpretation of Troppo language in response
to the Hutchinsons’ requests for a relaxed beach lifestyle.

Episodic space
Easy accessibility between indoor and outdoor space is experienced in the Hutchinson residence. It is
the most appealing feature as one approaches the house with the welcoming feel of a timber-paved
path to the entry. There are several new features that are different from the design of the 1980s Troppo
houses. However, the core design concept of great outdoor living space is identified with sequences of
outdoor-indoor movements for the residents’ daily activities (Figure 5.6.1e).

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Figure 5.6.1e Distinctive features are identified with the enclosed under-house spaces and two exits
which connect the front yard and the beach at the back as well as offer air passages for better natural
ventilation. Reproduction of the floor plan by the author.

The distinguishing features in the design of Hutchinson Residence in form and space, construction and
spatial arrangement are as follows.

In form and space:

• A clear sequence of indoor-outdoor movements is identified with an outdoor-indoor
verandah between private living (bedrooms) and communal (toilet, bathroom, kitchen and
dining) spaces in the house; and the walkway and entry as semi-open outdoor space
divides private living (bedrooms) and communal (laundry, garage, and storage) spaces
under house (Figure 5.6.1f);
• There are two exits to the outdoors;

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• The semi-open hallway and open verandah were the main axis to divide the linear plan into
two distinctive zones for open and enclosed, as well as indoor and outdoor spaces.

Figure 5.6.1f The pattern is of sequential movement through the indoor and outdoor spaces in the
design (Left). The walkway/entry is a semi-open transitional space from communal spaces to private
living spaces (Right) under house.

• There is a repetition in geometry form and symmetrical configuration (Figure 5.6.1g).

Figure 5.6.1g Two sets of geometry forms are distinguishable in colour that they also express various
design concepts such as symmetry, repetition, scale and rhythm.

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In construction:
• Polycarbonate corrugated cladding sheets are used for the verandah;
• There are gaps in external timber wall cladding (Figure 5.6.1f) for the primary and central
circulation zone so that sunlight, shade and breezes are all present.

In spatial arrangement:
• Under-house spaces are divided by a combined entry and stairs in a semi-open passage
hall;
• Enclosed under-house spaces are highlighted with off-white weather-board for external
wall claddings for garage (a car and a boat), laundry, bedrooms and a corridor which offers
direct accessibility to the beach;
• The circulation design offers the occupants free movements between interior and exterior
spaces with an open axis connecting the front yard and the beach at the back;
• Independent zoning for children on the ground floor is clearly identified (Figure 5.6.1h);

Figure 5.6.1h Two distinctive zones for adults and children clearly indicates the residents’ wishes for
the privacy of their own as well as for raising children with independence and freedom. The concept of
hierarchy in spaces is shown in the design of the floor plan.

• Two exits, one on the ground floor and the other one on the first floor, open up the interior
spaces as breezeways for better natural ventilation.

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• The stairway is located in a semi-open area that the residents are able to feel the breezes
and lookout to the outdoors and yet privacy and security is offered to the residents;

Inside-outside spatial experiences

The inside-outside spatial experiences for the occupants are identified as follows:
• The monolithic box design offers a strong visual impression of complete inside and outside
spatial experiences and yet the latticed timber cladding for walls and roofs breaks up the
internal enclosure to create dynamics for fluid spaces, free air movements, and changing
light-shadow patterns (Figure 5.6.1i);

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Figure 5.6.1i A view is taken from the living/dining areas to the indoor-outdoor verandah (Top) to show
the way in which the occupants move through spaces. The enclosed corridor (Bottom) connects semi-
open walkway, bedrooms, a bathroom and an exit to the beach.

• A small footprint gives the occupants an opportunity to connect themselves with the
outdoor spaces frequently as they move through and in-between open inside and outside
spaces; 286
• Getting wet while traveling between the main bedroom and the toilet or the bathroom when
it rains offers the occupants the delightful feel of a ‘tree house’ living experience (Interview
with Hutchinson in 2012);

286According to Connolly, there is a restricted footprint buildable area for this particular zone of beachfront houses. The built
area on ground cannot exceed a 120 square metre footprint. For Connolly, the indoor-living space in the outdoor verandah
was the best solution to adding in family room without it being included as indoor living space. This complete open-air space
offers the Hutchinsons tranquillity, a new experience and the excitement of experiencing rain while walking and running in
the indoor space.

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• No blinds and curtains are installed in either private or communal spaces, so the occupants
can enjoy the seasonally changing views of natural surroundings all year round;
• The occupants experience the inside-outside space by reading, dining and chatting with
neighbours freely on the outdoor-indoor verandah (Figure 5.6.1j).

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Figure 5.6.1j The transparent and inside-outside spaces offer the occupants open-to-nature lifestyle
experiences.

Hedonist experience
The adult residents expressed their everyday experience with their daily activities, their interactions with
neighbours and visitors, and the ways they use the space of the house. The feeling of their hedonist
experience is identified as follows:
• Spending most of day time on the verandah having random conversations with neighbours,
reading newspaper and books, taking a short nap, enjoying sunbathing and entertaining
family and friends;
• Walking and playing on the beach, surfing, and having an outdoor shower before entering
the house in summer reflects a stress-free beach lifestyle;
• The adults feel the safety of their children playing alone or with friends on the beach as the
part of their private (Figure 5.6.1k) backyard; the children have a sense of trust and freedom
from the adults while having a delightful play space and can stay under house space
without the adults’ supervision;

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• The visually and physically open plan offers the occupants a feel of fluid spaces with the
indoor-outdoor verandah, lots of windows and large glass-timber-framed sliding doors. In
this way, a small living space (55 square metres footprint) is felt larger than its actual
physical space as they perceive an open view connecting with the beach, the surroundings
and a full view of the sky;
• The residents feel much less stress and uptightness. They can perform their daily activities
at an easy pace; daily routines seem pleasurable instead of compulsive and forceful;
• Surfers from nearby holiday homes have easy access through the site of the house to the
beach during holiday seasons. The residents feel relaxed about seeing and conversing
casually with them;
• The design of the house has helped the residents ‘become more relaxed in order to be
able to live there’ (Interview with a Hutchinson in 2012);
• The space of the house is transparent and exposed to visitors from the holiday houses
nearby and yet the residents have a sense of security, privacy and comfort.

‘There is always a relaxed feel about it [the house] and you feel very comfortable on the weekend
even if we have people coming over. We are surrounded by holiday homes and you get people
coming for surfing. We do have privacy and feel secure even when they use the path next to the
house.’ (Interview with a Hutchinson family member in 2012)

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Figure 5.6.1k Feeling part of the natural environment and having easy access to the beach for a walk,
swim and surf anytime, the residents gradually build a strong connection with the house and themselves.

A dynamic dialogue with nature and other living things

The absence of a back fence and an open trail leading to the beach offered the residents and their
young children freedom to be connected to the site, the landscape and the entire area of the beach as
a part of their backyard. The contour of the site gradually rises higher and different plantings (Figure
5.6.1l) to form a gentle hill that provides a natural lookout for the safe-keeping of the young and a
scenery-viewing platform for the adults. The whole family were constantly engaged with nature and other
living things such as birds and sea creatures as they read books or do sunbath on the beach, enjoy
beach walks, build sandcastles and play in the ocean as one part of their daily routines all year round,
except cyclone seasons. Dynamics of interactive dialogues was created between the surroundings of
the site, the house and the residents through easy access, fun activities and visual connections with the
outdoors that there was a strong bond and the sense of belonging to the site as well as to this peaceful
and tranquil community.

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Figure 5.6.1l The contour and the plants of this physical setting offered the residents privacy and safety
through the change of natural contexts (lawn and sand trails) and elements (big trees and small beach
shrubs).

Gradually changing life patterns

There was a clear shift in the residents’ lifestyle from convenient and bustling urban living in Sydney and
Melbourne to a peaceful and laid-back community in this coastal town, New Brighton. There were
significant changing attitudes the residents described in the interview as follows:
• Living in this quiet and small beach community, the residents love the setting so much that
they sold their city home to build and live there;
• For the female resident, having a part-time job, full-time parenting and having time to enjoy
her favourite activity, cooking, has justified leaving the convenience of Sydney city life;
• Having lower expectations for physical conditions in the house is reflected in the residents’
reducing their standards for maintenance, welcoming the aging effects on the external
finishes, and accepting rusting materials, mould in the cupboards and out-of-order

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electronic appliances due to the corrosion of sea salt and moisture near the ocean
(interview with Hutchinsons in 2012);
• The house also makes the residents ‘more accepting’ (interview with the Hutchinsons in
2012) in terms of their fear of experiencing the strong winds, heavy rains, shaking of the
windows and doors, and loud noise caused by cyclones;
• The design of under-house and in-house spaces allows the residents to have two separate
private living spaces, adults’ and children’s spaces, where they are free to do their own
activities in their own space, and congregating when there are social and family activities
taking place on the verandah or the decking area.

The lifestyle that the design of the Hutchinson Residence offers to the residents is simple, slow-paced,
easy and low-maintenance. The location of the house set an amicable and peaceful context for Connolly
to marry the residents’ wish to live in the simple childhood dream with privacy and empathy for an
environmentally responsible lifestyle with less. The architectural appeal of its box form with a striking
long and irregular-shaped mono-pitched roof and a variety of the textured surfaces evokes the lightness
of the 1980s Troppo Darwin houses’ design on a contrastingly elevated structure. The house achieves
responsive cohesion between the meaning of form in response to the site, and the relationships between
the occupants, and the social dynamics of the local cultural community, and the environmental contexts
(Figure 5.6.1m) Mutual connections among the residents, the house and their relationships are created
through the colours of white sand and earthy-brown timber, easily-accessible materials and the intention
of living low-maintenance.

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The location of the Hutchinson Residence fulfils the residents’ wishes for privacy as the house is well screened
from the main road (view from the main road)

The colour scheme of white for beach sand and earthy-brown for local flora expresses a relaxed coastal lifestyle
(view from minor access road to the neighbouring houses)

Figure 5.6.1m The minimal visibility of the Hutchinson Residence in this neighbourhood demonstrates
the high level of privacy and peacefulness they requested for the safety of their young children, and an
undisturbed and easy ‘lifestyle with less’ and simplicity.

Ethical values versus material culture

Unpolished recycled and hardwood timber, perimeter blockwork, glass and custom orb corrugated iron
sheeting are the easily accessible materials used for the house to demonstrate the residents’ values for

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casual, private and environmentally-responsible living. There are no modern new building products or
innovative constructions to be seen in detailing and joints. A reflection of simple and private everyday
living is visually presented with the tucked-away location of the house from the main street, and the
casual interactions the residents have had on the balcony with seasonally passing surfers and
neighbours. Despite the residents’ backgrounds in the vibrant city lifestyles of Melbourne and Sydney,
there were no desires and requirements by them for complicated forms and lavish materials.

Feelings versus desire and power

The residents’ feelings were mutual and they were content with their ‘life-changing’ decision (Interview
with Hutchinson in 2012) to reside in this quiet and small coastal town. There was a significant shift in
the choice of lifestyle for the female resident as she was struggling and uncertain about being able to
adapt and have a happy life in this small community. However, after a few holiday visits, she became
certain and was delighted to have made the ‘right decision’ to raise her young family there ‘in tune locally’
and with positive feelings for being ‘much exposed and being part of the environment.’ (Interview with
Hutchinson in 2012)

Simple gestures versus advanced technology

The residents had the chance to enjoy their privacy and do activities in their own private space as well
as gathering in the ‘focused’ and ‘congregating’ spaces. (Interview with the Hutchinsons in 2012) These
congregating spaces were the outdoor verandah as a location for mini-concerts and doing homework
for the children, a social gathering venue, a chatting forum with neighbours and random visitors/surfers,
and a reading retreat space; the outdoor decking area was used for weekend breakfasts and family
barbeque dinners 5 times a week in summer. The indoor and outdoor spaces of the house were felt to
be ‘pretty much the same space’ as the residents enjoyed hosting entertainment with family and friends
as either indoor living, or on the outdoor deck or verandah depending on seasons, the times of the visits
and the weather conditions. They lived this way all year round, even without their broken reverse-cycle
air-conditioning system which had remained unfixed for a couple of years. The house had ‘got to have
a beautiful feel’ (Interview with the Hutchinsons in 2012) so there was no need for advanced technology
to achieve the delights of everyday living for the residents.

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The residents’ sense of belonging to the site and the community defy the impacts of their fear of
anticipated cyclones and the random movements of strangers, visitors and surfers, and the dynamic
momentum of their daily activities. In the interview, the word ‘feeling’ was constantly mentioned with the
positive connotations of ‘relaxed’, ‘beautiful’ and ‘comfortable’, highlighting the residents’ values and the
good quality of the actual conditions of their everyday life offered by the design of the house. In this
respect, Connolly and the residents exhibit like-minded desire for a responsible, tolerant and adaptable
lifestyle. A hint of hedonist attitude is expressed through the transparency, openness and connections
between interior and exterior spaces of the house with the natural environment, neighbouring houses,
and the people of the local community. The design of the Hutchinson Residence makes the residents
find their roots and ‘feel at home’ with their most inner worlds settled in this small beach town at last.

5.6.2 Conclusion

The values and requirements of clients were a key factor in changing the form patterns of Troppo
language in the contemporary design of Troppo houses in Byron Bay. Changing Troppo’s design
features from banks of openings, elevated stilt-on-post structures and spacious outdoor-indoor
verandah spaces was necessary for most of Connolly’s housing projects in Byron Bay and nearby
regions, in order to comply with building regulations, match the building types and scales, and meet the
needs and the budget of local small families and seasonal-residents from interstate. For the younger
families the coastal-town lifestyle in Byron Bay indicated less time staying in the house and more time
outside surfing and enjoying sunbathing on the beach. In order to reflect the coastal lifestyle and satisfy
the young Hutchinson family’s request for a simple design, he specifically emphasized the closest
representative characteristics of the 1980s Troppo houses in the design of the Hutchinson Residence
(Table 5.6.2). It is notable that the use of verandah space as a multi-functional entertaining and living
space had diminished significantly in the design of contemporary Troppo houses in Byron Bay where
there was little need for enjoyment and comfort to be offered to the local and short-term-holiday residents
other than lying on the beach with cool sea breezes and surfing on the ocean waves. This Troppo
verandah was restored in the Hutchinson residence with resounding success.

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Typical 1980s Troppo Houses Hutchinson Residence, 2009

Suburbs of Darwin Byron Bay

• Lightweight construction, building materials and cladding;

• Banks of windows;
• Large sliding doors to verandah and decking areas, glass louvers;
Similarities • No curtains and blinds for privacy reasons;
• A linear and/or vertical movement between indoor and outdoor spaces;
• A shared bathroom;
• Fans in all rooms.

• Elevated structure with an open under- • Outdoor-indoor verandah is the transitional

house spaces; space in between communal (dining,
• No AC and fans in rooms. kitchen, bathroom and toilet) and private
spaces (bedrooms);
• Enclosed under-house spaces with slatted-
timber and fibre-cement cladding for semi-
Hard space open garage, bedrooms, laundry and a
storage room;
• An enclosed corridor and multiple exits to
the beach at the back of the house;
Differences • A timber-slat paying as entrance;
• A monolithic-box form;
• Irregular shape of one large mono-pitched
roof;
• Two distinctive external wall finishes by
materials, textures, and colours;
• A mix of polycarbonate and corrugated iron
roof sheeting for maximizing sunlight into the
verandah, entry/stair walk way.
• One AC in the living room.

• Consciousness for energy saving;

• Enjoying doing daily activities in verandah and outdoor spaces;
• Delight in the sensual experience of moving through indoor and outdoor spaces;
• Opening doors and windows for enjoying breezes inside the home;
Similarities • Low anxiety about the accumulation of dust and cobwebs;
Soft space • Enjoying having showers in a semi-open bathroom without worrying intrusion of privacy;
• Enjoying doing laundry in the outdoors.

• Needing some privacy for personal possessions in the house ie cars and boats.
Differences

Table 5.6.2 This table shows differences and similarities of hard and soft spaces between the design of the
Hutchinson Residence and the 1980s Darwin houses.

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5.7 Perth: Howell Residence, Applecross, Western Australia

The emergence of contingencies was often driven by personal and family reasons in the expansion of
the Troppo practice in the last two decades. As Adrian Welke has explained, there is a close connection
between the Troppo partnership’s development and the way they highly value their relationships with
family, staff, and friends, as well as the end-users of their designs, especially the indigenous peoples
with whom they had worked in various remote areas of Australia who were disadvantaged by insufficient
resources and financial support (Interviews with Welke in 2010 and 2016). There was an emotional
currency that Troppo invested in each regional office by encouraging in-house architects to grow with
the practice as the basis of its design principles and ethos. Perth was the home city of one home-sick
in-house architect in the Darwin office as well as the capital city nearest to Welke’s family and friends.
Assisted by the younger staff member who had shifted ahead of time to prepare for the move, Welke
finally followed Harris’s earlier decision to move his part of the practice homeward, successfully setting
up the fifth Troppo office in Perth in 2003. Under Welke, this new Western Australian branch of the
practice would now be the primary office for Troppo’s government commissioned projects for indigenous
people and conservation architectural work in remote areas around Australia.

The survival of an architectural practice is determined by the balance of all the expenses incurred in the
running of an office. This is no exception for Troppo. Running an informal and relaxing home-based
practice is one way of reducing expenses in exchange for having a formal office-based practice in the
CBD of a city for greater exposure of the practice. (Interview with Welke in 2010, O’Toole in 2012, and
Connolly in 2013) The relocation of Welke’s Perth office was to cope with the unaffordable rent of the
city office due to the high costs caused by the boom in the mining industry and the increasing number
of workers, job-seekers and their families flooding into the nearby suburbs of Perth. (Interview with
Welke in 2010) In 2009 he relocated and set up a mixed-use building for home, office and artefact shop
for his wife’s importing business from south-west Asian countries. The new building is situated in a mixed
residential, industrial and manufacturing area of Fremantle, which is a major port city, nineteen
kilometres south-west of Perth. It consists of two semi-connected wings: the business wing
accommodates the shop and the office; and an open-plan living wing which is designed for Welke’s
family and is perpendicular and partially connected to the end of the business wing (Figure 5.7a). A

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semi-enclosed courtyard with one bamboo fence is created to give the Troppo office a pleasant entry to
greet clients, and offers privacy and convenience to Welke and his wife so as to maintain the balance
of work and family life with the affordable and relaxing lifestyle they desire.

Figure 5.7a The scattered pots and Balinese artefacts offer a welcoming gesture for customers. Troppo’s office
is accessed through the open gate with an artistic sign hung above the microwave as their mailbox. The
warehouse office and the factory indicate a mixed-use zone of industrial business, retail and residential housing
(a Google image).

In order to survive in the competitive local market, Welke monitors the size of the firm, exerts constant
efforts in search of the availability of design projects and like-minded staff, and offers the architectural
services that satisfy the clients’ needs. The size of the Perth office remains small (between 2 and 4 in-
house architects, including Welke himself). In this way, Welke is capable of positioning Troppo’s practice
in the local context, expanding the client cohort in a steady progress, and finding ways to reconfigure
the Troppo tropical design features to fit the client’s requirements. On the other hand, Troppo’s ethos
for sustainable living and climatically-responsive design principles with a hint of tropical architecture is
challenged by local firms with better associations and connections with members of the community, as
well as greater affinity with the mentality of wealthier clients for creating a design that offers them a
comfortable and modern lifestyle. The request to install an air-conditioning unit is often seen as a must
for better human comfort in the house, and this indicates that local clients generally hold a different

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mindset from Troppo’s responsively natural way of living with passive design concepts. (Interview with
Welke in 2010) The contemporary design of Troppo houses in Perth has evolved not only in response
to its Mediterranean climate but also to Welke’s desire for a niche to maintain Troppo’s core values and
philosophy for an environmentally sustainable way of living in the socio-cultural, economic and
environmental contexts of different regions (Figure 5.7b). The form patterns of Troppo language are
manifested by Welke’s understanding of adaptability in materiality, as well as using both passive and
active design principles and accommodating the client’s needs and requirements for better comfort and
more privacy. 287 At times, the survival of a Troppo practice overrules and defies the core of Troppo’s
design philosophy, values and beliefs in relation to building energy-efficient and space-efficient houses
for cost-effective and environmentally friendly living.

287 In the interview, Welke initially recommended a different recently completed project shown with the pictures of the house

as Figure 5.7b, but then he became concerned about privacy issues and the long process of dealing with the clients’ enquiries
about the intention of an interview and house visit.

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A slit entry is defined by rammed earth walls An open deck offers an outdoor-living experience

Figure 5.7b This house was initially chosen for the final case study of Troppo house in Perth but replaced due to
some foreseen difficulties. Nevertheless, an open plan offers a natural air-flow with the assistance of ceiling fans
and glass louvers. The post-and-beam steel frame, an open indoor-courtyard, and exposed corrugated-iron roofs
retrospect the early design of Darwin Troppo houses. Thick rammed earth walls and cool marble floors are used
in response to Perth’s winter.

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5.7.1 Troppo language in the Howell Residence

Understanding the climate in Perth is the key to identify changes made in the design of contemporary
Troppo houses in the western region of Australia. Perth has a mixture of the Californian and
Mediterranean climates, with hot dry summers and mild winters (Figure 5.7.1a). It is regarded as the
sunniest capital city in Australia 288 where the delightful climate has been translated into the interplay of
lightness and heaviness in building materials and construction details, as is the visual impression of the
Howell Residence (2010). Some special architectural features of this house were the reason it was
recommended as the case study dwelling for the Troppo Perth office. The lightness is given by the
overlaying mono-pitched roofs with corrugated iron and extravagant long overhangs with translucent
polycarbonate, steel framework and many glass windows opening up to the sky. Thermal mass is given
by the concrete flooring system and the use of rendered double-brick external walls and fences, which
are visually observed from the street view (Figure 5.7.1b). Compared with the early designs of the
Darwin Troppo houses, there are other distinguishable features the Howell Residence shows, such as
multi-storey height, full-length partition walls, sealed ceilings, the use of reverse cycle air-conditioning,
the installation of a lift, and a private and formal entry. Here a contrasting interpretation of the Troppo
language emerges anew with modern materiality, tectonics and an impression. This visual impression
is created at the request of the residents who wished to present the ‘best quality of building materials’
in the design of the house and keep the ‘resale value of the property’ when they decided to downsize
their lifestyle for the future. (Interview with the Howells in 2014)

288
The information of Perth climate was taken from the official Australian tourism website online link
http://www.australia.com/en/facts/weather/adelaide-weather.html, viewed on April 14, 2016. The diagram was taken from
the Weatherzone.com website online link http://www.weatherzone.com.au/climate/station.jsp, viewed on April 14, 2016

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Figure 5.7.1a The diagram shows Perth annual temperatures and rainfall.

Figure 5.7.1b The Howell Residence presents a preference for a modern and wealthy lifestyle.

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Patterns

In the design of the Howell Residence, the clients’ desire for the ‘visual best’ shift the shaping of the
form patterns of Troppo language in volume, materiality and point of view in respect to Troppo’s values
for sustainable living. This notion of ‘visual best’ displays a different design approach that is quite distinct
from the other four contemporary Troppo houses in Darwin, Townsville, Adelaide and Byron Bay. Form
patterns in the hard space have retained the same straightforward and simple geometry of rectangular
and linear form in volume. The volume of the house is compact in five split levels and in the enclosed
levels of two separate wings of the house. Both wings are connected with a central passageway as the
primary axis of the circulation through indoor living spaces. Shifting space vertically creates a notion of
the functionality of zoning in terms of private and communal spaces. The basement is an equipped area
used for general public services such as garage, storage, cellar, a plant room and bin areas. The ground
floor is used as a guest area. The first floor is an open space for the communal purposes of dining,
kitchen, living room, laundry, and a large glass-balustrade balcony. The second floor accommodates
visiting family and friends with two bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms, and a media room as an office
equipped with computing technology and media systems. The third floor is the master bedroom with en-
suite bathroom. A lift is needed for mobility and a unique feature is the multiple flights of stairs extending
for every half of a floor height, 1500mm. The marble flooring, concrete-blockwork walls, masonry stairs
and fences, and concrete paving create contrast to the design principles of Troppo houses with their
lightweight construction, openness, low-cost, and connection to the outdoors and nature as the basic
patterns of Troppo language.

The impact of the soft space of the Howell Residence on the residents is implicit in their preference for
a comfortable, financially appropriate, and ‘time-to-enjoy-the-best’ lifestyle (Interview with Howells in
2014) which conflicts with the Troppo philosophical approach for multi-functional spaces, and an
economical and energy efficient way of outdoor-indoor living. The connectivity graph shows the
differences in movement and space planning between the 1980s Troppo Darwin houses and the Howell
Residence (Figure 5.7.1c). The residents’ requirement for ‘visual best’ displays an invisible force, shifting
Troppo’s values for a passive and sustainable dwelling to a more financial-investment-driven home.

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Figure 5.7.1c The connectivity graph shows Welke’s design approach for new patterns (in red) in satisfying the
residents’ requirements for a lifestyle with the ‘visual best’ design of a Troppo house. Multiple entries (in green)
display multiple connections to the outdoors, which is different from the early Darwin Troppo houses.

An ‘open budget’ brief was offered to Welke to achieve these residents’ ideally ‘visual best’ dwelling
because of the resident’s work background in the building industry and his association with Welke. He
had been Welke’s builder for twenty years on all his government commissioned projects in the Northern
Territory and the remote areas of South Australia for Australian Indigenous people. (Interview with the
Howells in 2014) An architecturally designed house with Troppo’s ‘sustainable design concepts’ was the
primary requirement given to Welke for ‘the best quality’, matching in scale to neighbouring houses
(Figure 5.7.1d) in material and contemporary architectural appeal. In this respect the Howells display a
different level of empathy with Troppo’s values and attitudes in connecting them openly to nature, the
outdoors, breezes and wildlife. Easy maintenance, transparency, human comfort, sumptuousness, and
privacy are the new patterns for the Howell Residence’s ‘visual best’ that is exhibited in the Troppo
language.

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Figure 5.7.1d The large scale of the neighbouring houses indicates a luxury lifestyle for its exclusive location. (A
Google image)

Welke sought new and appropriate form patterns for the house is to display the contextual fit of a
contemporary Troppo house achieving responsive cohesion in scale, distinctive built form, and
materiality in this riverside suburb of Perth, Applecross, bounded by the Swan River and the Canning
Highway. Layers of exposed overhangs, shading devices and prominent verandah roofs match the
upper-market value of lands and homes in this exclusive and attractive riverside area, as there are on-
going housing development projects nearby the house. Large scale and architecturally designed houses
in long narrow building lots are seen from the street view with their modern architectural features such
as curved walls and colonnade balconies, articulated facades with layers and extruded stacked volumes,
compositions of geometrical forms in the display of texture finishes and materials, and rich and vibrantly
bright colours in a variety of architectural styles – contemporary, traditional with gable roofs, chimney
and lattice balustrades, Spanish style and so on. Some houses seek to create appeal with no specific
architectural elements except for one vast building volume indicating a monolithic-box housing design
(Figure 5.7.1e). Many vacant lots are available and sub-divided to accommodate market demand. In
order to fit in the character of neighbouring houses, the Howell Residence patterns are a slit entry
(narrowed space with a defined gate), the gate, double-layer-glass walls and solid fences for privacy,
formality and more security. The residents also expressed their desire for easy maintenance and
transparency, which resulted in their specific request for a change to a marble floor for the entire
house 289 and ‘lots of glass windows’ for maximising sunlight for warmth in winter. (Interview with the

289 The resident changed the initial proposal of tiled floors to marble floors due to their requests for using the best quality of

all building materials, easy maintenance and contemporary appearance. An increased budget was agreed.

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Howells in 2014) A basic architectural element of Troppo houses – the glass louver – is not used in
order to ‘reduc[e] dust from the nearby highway.’ (Interview with the Howells in 2014) Reducing dust is
the main reason for the noticeable design changes in outdoor-indoor living spaces and the evolution of
form patterns in the Troppo language. There is complexity and a sense of controlled movement in space
and form patterns that are not seen either in the design of 1980s Troppo houses, or in the design of
contemporary Troppo houses in other regional practices.

On-going housing projects under development (a Google street view taken in April 2014)

A mix of architectural-style and monolithic-box design of multi-storey houses

Figure 5.7.1e The scale, multi-storey height, the layout and variety of housing design exhibit the social, cultural
and economic status of neighbouring residents, as well as the high value of lands and houses in this exclusive
riverside residential zone.

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Episodic space
A central vertical circulation core allows the spatial arrangement of the house to cohere as a series of
compact and enclosed volumes (Figure 5.7.1f). Enclosed glass hallways and the elevator are key
elements for the horizontal and vertical movements of the residents that also provide primary access
and connection between internal and external spaces, whereas the occupants of most other houses in
the area are confined to indoor living.

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Figure 5.7.1f Controlled circulation is displayed through the design of an enclosed but an open-ended space – a
corridor – as a central axis connecting functionally specific zones such as communal, service and private living
spaces to each other and the exterior. Reproduction of the floor plan by the author.

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The distinguishing features in the design of Howells Residence in form and space, construction and
spatial arrangement are as follows.

In form and space:

• There is a formal slit entry defined by the physical boundary of masonry fence walls which
visually separates privately owned and general communal spaces;
• There are three exits in this two-wing, five-storey high house (Figure 5.7.1e);
• Most interior living spaces are in collective and linear compact form;
• There is a distinct shape for each roof form to highlight levels and two separate wings;
• There are four bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms and a walking-in wardrobe space;
• The five stepped-levels of interior space offers individuals privacy and specifically task-
oriented space such as a media room filled with advanced technologies (projectors,
computer and audio units) for entertaining and an office room for work;

In construction:
• There is a lift;
• Marble is used in flooring system for easy maintenance and its classic and elegance
appearance;
• The structural framework of the house uses thermal-mass materials like concrete slabs
and double-brick walls;
• The exposed structure of verandah is replaced by a simple and cantilever steel-frame with
polycarbonate corrugated sheeting;
• Extensive and wide overhangs to highlight its multi-level design;

In spatial arrangement:
• There is cross-direction circulation within the house; the central corridor (in pink) offers
horizontal access and the lift and stairs offer vertical access, which gives a sense of
controlled accessibility and mobility in space rather than providing the residents with
freedom of movement (Figure 5.7.1g);

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Figure 5.7.1g Controlled circulation is created with the design of a central corridor, a lift and flights of stairs
along with three exits. For key see Figure 5.7.1e.

• There are specific function zonings (indicated in colour code in Figure 5.7.1h) showing a
level of privacy, dynamism, and social-private interactions between floors as the floor goes
higher. There is a sense of spatial hierarchy from the most public spaces such as the
basement to the most private spaces such as the master bedroom on the fifth floor.

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Figure 5.7.1h There is a spatial program for the specific function of each floor with a hierarchy of privacy
characterised by public and private interactions between the residents and others (family, friends, and visitors).
The services space in the basement in green is generally accessible and used for all activities; semi-public space
on the ground floor in orange is used for guests, daily chores, work and general indoor-outdoor access; communal
space on the first floor in purple is used for family-and-friend social and everyday activities; private space on the
second and third floors in yellow is used for private living areas only. The hierarchy in spaces was shown in
the design of split levels. For key see Figure 5.7.1e.

Inside-outside spatial experiences

There were not many inside-outside spatial experiences mentioned in the interviews with the residents.
They pointed out their major concern about dust from the highway nearby so that the windows and doors
remain closed for most of their time indoors for ‘easy maintenance for cleaning the floor and the
furniture.’ (Interview with the Howells in 2014) The availability of space in the house is generous for a

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couple, and they pointed out that the fact of having 4 en-suites, a media/office and a study room in a big
house was to obtain a good resale value for the house to match its exclusive riverside location.

‘Just my wife and I live in the house. The reason to build such a big house is for the resale of the
house. We were very fortunate here, the value of the land itself is 3 million [dollars] and it
capitalises on the investment of the land.’ (Interview with the Howells in 2014)

Hedonist experience
Enjoyment derived from a hedonist lifestyle is never referred to by the residents in the interviews about
their outdoor experiences or their engagement with nature and the surrounding contexts. They
mentioned fun experiences, going on boat trips in summer and doing indoor activities in the outdoor
spaces. A minimal amount of small plant-life and no natural ground is seen at the site. Concrete paving,
masonry stairs, two shallow pools as water features, and two patches of grass in both front and
backyards are the primary outdoor features of the house (Figure 5.7.1i). There are no significant big
trees providing natural shading for the house. There is outlook delight to open riverfront views from the
indoor living areas and the balconies at the front. Visual connections are built between the residents and
the outside world through a large number of glass windows and doors in the spaces between corridors,
media room, study, dining and family rooms (Figure 5.7.1i). There are limited views from the rooms at
the back of the house as this overlooks neighbouring backyards and homes.

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Figure 5.7.1i The view of the front yard (Top) and the view down to the backyard (Bottom) from the scullery on
the first floor give a sense of orderly planned garden for easy maintenance. Photographs were taken by the
Howells in 2014. The minimal architectural hedonism is seen in the design of completely enclosed indoor
spaces.

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A dynamic dialogue with nature and other living things

Transparency was the key architectural feature for the design of the Howells residence. Arrays of large
fixed-steel frame and full ceiling height windows (Figure 5.7.1j) offered the residents visual engagement
with the surrounding landscape and sufficient sunlight. These arrays of large fixed windows became
glass walls for the primary living areas on the south-east side of the first floor and glass certain walls for
the passage hallways on the north-west of the ground and the second floors. The residents indicated
their preferences for staying indoors much of the day, except for minimal-time outside for gardening and
hanging clothes. ‘Maximizing sandstone paving with the elegant design of landscaping and minimal
planting areas’ (Figure 5.7.1k) was desired to suit their lifestyle (Interview with the Howells in 2014).
There was little chance for physical experiences to engage the residents an interactive dialogue with
nature and living things while they were able to perceive the ‘panorama views’ (Interview with the
Howells in 2014) of the scenery such as the streets, nearby parks and the river.

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Figure 5.7.1j A view is taken from the front yard to the corridors of the first and third floors (Top); the open space
of the living and dining areas of the house (Bottom) looks out to the front yard and the riverside. All photographs
were taken by the Howells in 2014. An alternative hedonist lifestyle is visually experienced through transparency.

Gradually changing life patterns

The Howells prefer order, spotlessness and the controllable human comfort offered by the house over
delight, relaxation and contentment. They have less enjoyment of natural breezes and the outdoor-
indoor living experience but more of the pressure of ‘keeping the house clean without dust’, even though
they are familiar with Troppo’s slogan, ‘bringing the outdoors in’, because of their work relationships with
Welke in numerous Australian Aboriginal housing projects in the Northern Territory and the remote areas
of South Australia. (Interview with the Howells in 2014)

Ethical values versus material culture

There is more appreciation of material culture than overt consciousness of environmental concerns as
indoor comfort, visual aesthetics and controllable interior temperature is the residents’ first priority. The
design of the Howell Residence is like a big double-layered ‘glass box’. The north and north-east facing
elevations are constructed with floor to ceiling sliding glass doors for the rooms and fixed glass windows
for the corridors. The second layer of sliding frosted glass doors is installed to provide privacy for the

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living spaces such as bedrooms and guest rooms on the first and third floors which are facing the
neighbouring house (Figure 5.7.1k). The residents are pleased with the choice of the expensive marble
floor and a large amount of glass as the house is surprisingly warm in winter because of the marble
floor. However, the hot summer sun heats up the marble floor through the exposed and transparent
façade, hot air is trapped inside the house as well as still hot air outdoor to cause unpleasant and poor
indoor comfort. This is the main reason for a sealed interior space with fully operational AC for better
indoor comfort without the typical Troppo design features of louvers, shutters, sliding doors and semi-
open bathrooms for natural ventilation.

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Figure 5.7.1k An entire marble floor system, plus glass, steel and masonry work demonstrate the residents’
preferences for presenting their desired lifestyle through the visual presentation of material culture. Photographs
were taken by the Howells in 2014.

Feelings versus desire and power

The feelings that emerge from a careful study of these photographs of the house and conversations with
the residents are of living in a contemporary suburban house. Hard surfaces, modern materiality,
distinctive roof structures and forms, and minimal nature (Figure 5.7.1l) visually interpret the residents’
desire and power to bring their economic capability to the grand scale of this five-storey house in a
prestige area.

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Figure 5.7.1l Modern urban lifestyle is supported both practically (Top), and aesthetically through the minimalist
detailing of the ordered landscaping, and steel and glass architecture (Bottom). Photographs were taken by the
Howells in 2014.

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Simple gestures versus advanced technology

Four en-suites and many indoor entertaining spaces exhibit the residents’ wishes for social activities
and gatherings with visitors, family and friends. The use of advanced technology is required to provide
a pleasurable ambience and a controllable indoor temperature for them on special occasions. (Interview
with the Howells in 2014) Ceiling fans and reverse-cycle air-conditioning units (Figure 5.7.1m) are
always used and switched on to ‘cool down the indoor temperature from zone to zone wherever it is
needed in summer’ as they feel hot from the large amount of glass in windows and doors. (Interview
with the Howells in 2014)

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Figure 5.7.1m A fan and a reverse-cycle air-conditioning unit are installed in every room (Top) and the two
controlled systems are placed in and covered by a corrugated and shuttered box (Bottom). Photographs were
taken by the Howells in 2014.

The design of the Howell Residence is based on the residents’ concerns for the house’s monetary value,
a reflection of their wealth and work background, and their desired lifestyle for modern living. The
materiality, the scale and the appeal of the house are in the physical values, which resulted in the
residents’ request to Welke that some changes in design be made during the design and construction
process. The divergence of values for everyday spaces between the residents and those of the 1980s
Darwin houses is revealed in the sophistication of architectural forms, the costly elements, details in
design and what the residents perceive to be an ideal way of everyday living. The residents’ perception
demonstrates their mindset for designing the interior spaces for comfort and convenience to foster their
peace and enjoyment. The physical appeal of the house determines the complex relationships among
the residents’ values and perceptions for a socially constructed world and their beliefs about the use of
everyday spaces, together with their attitudes to Troppo’s core ethical values – a responsible hedonist
way of living which is light, informal and laidback, with awareness for the built environment and
responsibility for minimal footprint and physical damage. The mindset of these residents is very different

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from Troppo’s philosophy of enjoying the freedom and fulfilment of moving through and living in outdoor-
indoor spaces, and physically and visually connecting with the outside world.

5.7.2 Conclusion

A personal relationship with clients and the survival of the practice are the determinants that influenced
Welke’s design decisions and defied Troppo’s ethos and principles in the design of the Howell
Residence. Satisfying the residents’ needs and wishes were the priorities in deciding the physical form
(hard space), the spatial planning, the materials and the construction of the house in order to fit the scale
and the grand appearance of its design in this exclusive residential area, for a good resale value in the
future. Troppo’s distinctive features and numerous awards potentially consolidate the market value of
the house with their well-known reputation for ‘their best design [in] the Government’s housing projects’
(Interview with the Howells in 2014). With Welke’s resistance to some changes, the residents still
insisted on ‘the best quality’ finishes for the house (Interview with Welke in 2014). The Howells indicate
their satisfaction for using marble floors for the entire house to achieve a ‘pleasantly warm and
comfortable winter’ (Interview with the Howells in 2014). They also indicate their satisfaction in the
aesthetics of the building design, the great outlooks and views to the riverside, the sky and the stars,
the unexpectedly low energy consumption for winter heating, easy maintenance and its effective building
performance, despite the fact of the house does get unpleasantly hot in summer. In response they would
spend most of the summer time in their boat out in the ocean (Interview with the Howells in 2014). The
design of the Howell Residence suggests the design of a contemporary Troppo house with a ‘client’s-
need-dominated’ decision-making process, even though the clients indicated a basic level of
understanding of their design principles (Table 5.7). The coherence of Troppo language in form patterns
is only demonstrated through the client’s initial approach with Troppo’s like-minded stimuli for a
responsible and sustainable way of everyday living – a ‘living verandah’ lifestyle which they did not finally
seek to achieve.

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Typical 1980s Troppo Houses Howell Residence, 2010

Suburbs of Darwin Perth

• Large exposed overhangs and verandah structure;

Similarities • The design of verandahs for providing an alternative space for dining area.

• Steel post-and-beam construction and • Concrete blockwork and masonry are main
lightweight materials and cladding; construction materials, and thermal-mass
• Openable windows, glass louvers and construction and cladding;
shutters; • Full-wall height tinted and fixed glass and
• No AC. aluminium-frame windows and doors for
sunlight;
• Translucent glass sliding doors for dividing
spaces between communal and private
spaces;
• Masonry paved paths and driveway to the
basement;
• Irregular shapes of roof forms to identify the
Hard space
positions of floors;
• All bedrooms with en-suite and closet;
Differences • Concrete slabs with marble finish for the
flooring system;
• Polycarbonate corrugated roofs with custom
made steel awning structure for verandah
and balcony
• A lift and 1500 mm rise of flights of stairs for
splitting the liveable spaces to five-floor
high;
• Specific zoning spaces for different
everyday activities;
• A central controlled circulation by the
corridors, the lift and the stairs for mobility
and accessibility;
• Multiple entries, exits and split-levels.

• Occasional use of verandah spaces for dining experiences when there are guests in the
Similarities house.

• Consciousness for energy saving; • Low consciousness for energy saving;

• Enjoying doing daily activities in verandah • Delight in seeing experience in the indoor
Soft space
and outdoor spaces; spaces to the surroundings but low desires to
• Expressing delightful sensual be in the outdoors;
Differences experiences moving through indoor and • A high level of anxiety about the
outdoor spaces; accumulation of dust and cobwebs;
• Opening doors and windows always for • Concern about the noise from the traffic on
enjoying breezes while being home; the freeway nearby that doors and windows
remain closed;

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• Low anxiety about the accumulation of • No desire to do daily activities outdoors

dust and cobwebs; unless the female resident has to go out and
• Enjoying having showers in a semi-open hang clothes on the clotheslines;
bathroom without worrying intrusion of • A high level of privacy by having an en-suite
privacy; to everyday bedroom, extra rooms for
• Enjoying doing laundry in the outdoors. entertaining, a working office and 3 unused
guest rooms.

Table 5.7.2 This table shows differences and similarities of hard and soft spaces between the design of
the Howell Residence and the 1980s Darwin houses.

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5.8 Summary
This chapter encompasses the analysis of five case studies of houses designed by the director of the
Troppo regional offices in Darwin, Townsville, Adelaide, Byron Bay and Perth. Through the lenses of
time and place, the understanding of architecture has been extended to not only examine the aesthetics
of its physical form, visual appearance and functionality of space, but also see through them in order to
celebrate the discovery of the relationships between architecture, people, contingency and lifestyle.
Contingencies were the key for shaping the Troppo language of the early practice. The occurrence of
every contingency was the establishment of a regional office that asserted the force to the evolvement
and adaptability of the language with resemblances and necessary changes. The discovery of the
resemblances and changes to the language was highlighted with the connectivity graphs for the layout
of the five contemporary Troppo houses, new design features identified in three categories in form and
space, construction and spatial arrangement, the analysis of the interview contents with the directors
and the residents, as well as the tables which showed differences between the early and the
contemporary houses in design in terms of building material, functionality and architectural elements.
These resemblances and changes also demonstrated the affirmation of Troppo’s and the regional
director’s responses and attempts to achieve responsive cohesion in their work. Analysing
resemblances and changes to the language offered an insight to the dynamics and relationships
between the offices which will be discussed in detail in the following Chapter 6.

Architecture is the mirror of the contemporary culture, and economic and political status of a society or
a place. It is always subject to change in order to reflect the social construction and the history of its
time as well as denoting the socio-political, socio-cultural and socio-economic conditions of a place.
Through construction techniques and building technologies, and availability of trade skills for newly
invented materials, it can also fulfil people’s aspiration for a desirable lifestyle, give expression to cultural
identity, and attempt to sustain deteriorating built environments.

Some important findings were how the design of the houses appealed to the residents psychologically
through the emphasis on feelings, emotions, memories and their involvement during the design and
construction processes. Descriptions about spaces, sunlight, breezes, rain, maintenance, views to the
outdoors, inside-outside movement, their routines of daily living and their gradually changing thinking

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and behaviour revealed the level of their resonance and understanding about Troppo’s underpinning
philosophy. One important note about the conversations with the residents was of very little emphasis
on the visual appearance of the design, but only quick references to the admiration and attraction their
visitors or bypassing pedestrians or curious strangers had for the strikingly visual exterior of the houses
in the streetscape in comparison to the neighbouring houses. The intensity of most of the residents’
growing feelings towards the quality of space and their engagement with the outdoors is a key finding
of these case studies.

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Chapter 6
Troppo Language, Contingency and Responsive Cohesion

In Chapter Five, case studies presented analyses of five contemporary Troppo houses. They offered an
insight into how regional Directors (or former Directors) and in-house architects have responded to the
complexity of regional cultural and environmental contexts, different clients’ needs and requirements,
different construction techniques, different local industries and circumstances, as well as struggles in
practice. This chapter will discuss the individuality and independence of Troppo’s regional practices,
and interpret the findings with reference to the concepts of pattern, contingency, and responsive
cohesion in architecture introduced earlier, considering in what ways, therefore, the findings contribute
to knowledge that may be relevant to both architectural research and professional practice. Tables will
be used to illustrate variations in the regional versions of a common Troppo design language. The
physical/visual (hard space) and psychological (soft space) responses will be examined for their stance,
connections with architects’ ethical values, attitudes and actions, and with clients’ expectations. The
potential value of Troppo’s experience to current professional practice will then be examined.

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6.1 Overview

The following sub-sections offer a detailed discussion of the connections between the case study houses
and three research themes – patterns, contingency, and responsive cohesion. Section 6.2, Patterns of
response to place, will discuss and interpret the regional director’s perspectives, approaches and design
tactics in response to the site, as well as to regional ecological and socio-cultural issues (place), the
means to fulfil the clients’ wishes (people), and regional building regulations (technology). Section 6.3,
Contingency in response to issues, will discuss the key factors that triggered changes in the evolving
form of Troppo language. These factors will be interpreted with reference to the discourse on sustainable
design associated with construction traditions, social organization, cultural expression, economic
structure and environmental concerns that has become an increasingly mainstream concern of the
contemporary Australian architectural profession over Troppo’s three decades of practice. Section 6.4,
Like-minded values and attitudes, will discuss the interpersonal relationships between Troppo’s regional
directors, in-house architects, and their clients. This section will highlight the impact of struggles in
mentoring and the business viability and survival of Troppo’s architectural goals in the reality of
architectural practice. Section 6.5, Value and attitude by effect and experience, will discuss how the
particular dynamics of their cultural practice achieve responsive cohesion in different contexts. Finally,
Section 6.6 draws some conclusions on the ways in which space and form in a Troppo house embrace
a ‘living verandah’ lifestyle.

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6.2 Patterns of response to place

In 1980s Darwin, Troppo’s expertise, knowledge and experience were locally appreciated as a ‘backyard
architecture’ that was an architectural interpretation of their ‘love of the informal’ in the land of Australia
in the Top End (Interview with Harris in 2016). They developed the ten important thematic constants
discussed in Chapter 4. They were ‘a constantly evolving set of general guidelines’ as Goad described
them in his books Troppo and New Directions in Australian Architecture. The ‘tenth line’ theory was most
important as every tenth line created a volumetric space where interior and exterior, man-made and
nature, enclosed and open, opaque and transparent spatial experiences began. Physical forms and
visual appearance were never the priority in the design of the 1980s Troppo houses. The priority was
the experiences the residents of a house had in space, whether it was between buildings or underneath
the building, in the transition spaces, the courtyard, or the enclosed rooms. The design of the 1980s
Troppo houses was about ‘making the building work from inside out’, finding ‘best use of the whole site’
and creating the connection the residents had to the building and its surroundings (Interview with Harris
in 2016). Troppo houses was all ‘about a lifestyle, about being part of a country’ 290 that has been
overlooked in most architectural discourses and publications about the work of Troppo. Troppo
endeavoured to reinvigorate an ‘Australian informal’ lifestyle in response to conditions of the site,
concerns for ecological issues, the meaning of rural places, clients with small budgets, and limited
building resources. Form-patterns have now been identified for their linear-space configurations, which
came to characterise the distinctive designs of Troppo houses. Over time, however, a shift inevitably
emerged in the simple and economical practice of Troppo’s backyard architecture because ‘traditions in
construction change over time’ regardless of practice location (Interview with Harris in 2016).

290 An interview was carried out between Justine Clark, Welke and Harris and the content of this interview was transcribed

and published as an article for the magazine, Houses in May 2002. Justine Clark, Phil Harris and Adrian Welke, “Design
gone Troppo: Justine Clark visited Adrian Welke in Troppo’s Darwin office and Phil Harris in Adelaide to talk about their life
and times as the Troppo team, and the projects that have put their brand of Top End Architecture on the map”, Houses,
(May 2002): 93 – 108. The online link for this article – https://business.highbeam.com/482/article-1G1-86505234/design-
gone-troppo-justine-clark-visited-adrian-welke, was viewed on January 25, 2016.

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6.2.1 Place: the expansion of practice

Making sense of place is vital in understanding the pattern-forms for the typical 1980s Troppo houses
as connections among these patterns represent how human experience and daily routines are created.
The sense-making of place was apparent in floor plans, and section drawings of each house and their
connectivity diagrams. An open elevated floor plan on site was the typical response to the contrasting
seasons of wet and dry with the conditions of tropical heat, humidity, breezes, cyclones and flood. The
position of the house among thick vegetation was their way of utilizing natural resources for cooling,
shading, shielding, security and privacy. Troppo’s design responses to the Top End were sensible,
economical and practical in both environmental and cultural contexts. They were feasible patterns for a
delightful hedonist lifestyle – easy coming and going, laid-back freedom – in the tropical regions at the
time. Every 1980s Troppo house was a visual experiment for a hybrid vernacular architecture – Islander
architecture, Indigenous Australian humpies, early English settlements and post-war architecture –
which draws on history and context for a mixed-socially and culturally constructed world in the Top End
of Australia.

Troppo’s gestures were high-pitched gable roofs for hot-air rises and relief of pressure with banks of
open windows when cyclones hit, extending outdoor verandahs for sleeping and entertaining, an open
plan for cross ventilation, and an elevated and lightweight structure for floods. These responses were
adaptable because of possible variations in the interplay of symmetry and asymmetry, formality and
informality, open and enclosed, simplicity and complexity, and of connection and discreteness in spatial
planning. The occupants of the 1980s Troppo houses perceived their versatile and dynamic spaces as
a means to being regional larrikins – in their words, ‘feral’ and ‘bogans’- living in the backyard as
‘campers’ in the outback (Interview with the residents of the 1980s Troppo houses in Troppoville,
Coconut Grove, Darwin in 2011). They felt like ‘children’ once more in a tree house or ‘tourists’ on exotic
holidays in a tropical resort with cool beers in hand. 291 However, this experience was not mentioned by
the residents of the regional houses. They described a more urban and semi-formal residential living

291 They were the impression of a lifestyle the residents of the 1980s Troppo houses described in the interviews conducted
in 2011.

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experience with desirable comfort in a confined and private lifestyle. The sense of place has become
more formalised and restricted by the surrounding contexts, the local construction norms and the
residents’ preferences in the case study houses of Townsville, Adelaide, Byron Bay and Perth.

Nevertheless, these urban and semi-informal residential experiences attracted new clients to Troppo
over time and in different places. Troppo sought to awaken spontaneous and natural feelings for their
sites in these new clients (Interview with Harris in 2012). In this process, a sense of belonging and
dwelling in place to fit the neighbouring contexts was then transformed into a spatial arrangement for
movements and functions depending on how regional directors interpreted their clients’ wishes.

In this way, clients’ wishes continued to play a significant role in the evolving form patterns with new
materials, advanced construction techniques and craftsmanships in response to clients’ financial and
social positions as well as their desired lifestyle. The Howell Residence in Applecross, Perth, modified
the typical 1980s singular linear form by extruding its volume vertically. The Connell Residence,
Magnetic Island, Townsville, doubled its size horizontally, sitting firm on the ground in the rocky-cliff side.
The clients for both houses were semi-retired and retired older couples (between 65 and 73-years-old)
with financial stability. They indicated their desires to enjoy their wealth with a comfortable, secure,
relaxing and private lifestyle as well as a mind for future investment to maintain their comfortable lifestyle
when they later downgraded to a smaller home as they got older. Their perceptions were different from
the younger clients for the Mortlock Residence in Howard Springs, Darwin, and the Hutchinson
Residence in Brighton, Byron Bay. These occupants resonated with Troppo’s ethical values of energy-
efficiency, environmental concern, and raising a family to enjoy nature. All of them expressed their ‘love
of Australian’s informal’ way of living. However, the interpretation of the Australian’s informality of
everyday living was different as some residents requested to have more indoor rooms. Nevertheless,
age and wealth were not necessarily the key to any specific attitudes. The clients for the Russell
Residence, Torrens Park, Adelaide, were a semi-retired older couple with a sound financial background,
but they wanted to live like a responsible hedonist, using less energy and with lots of opening-up indoor
spaces connected with the outdoors.

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The summaries of the 16 design themes and visual interpretation of each theme recap the form patterns
of the 1980s Darwin houses as characterised in Chapter 4 – Identifying Patterns. The vocabulary
elements of the Troppo language at that time were: ‘banks of windows’, ‘breathing and adjustable skin’,
‘elevated structure’, ‘simple geometry and forms’, ‘lightweight structure’, ‘symmetry flirting with
asymmetry’, ‘elegance in repetition’, ‘living verandah’, ‘shared space’, ‘connecting with nature’, ‘one exit’,
‘transition space’, ‘inside-out and outside-in experiences’, ‘expandable spaces’, ‘cross axis’ and
‘hierarchy in spaces’. The language evident here offers a visual ‘baseline’ for making sense of the
following discussions and findings in the following tables (Table 6.2.1a).

Banks of windows
outlooks to the sky, sufficient sunlight

Breathing and adjustable skin

louvers and shutters for better cross ventilation

Elevated structure
cooler, under-the-house storage, outdoor laundry,
alternative living space in the Dry season

Simple geometry and form

modular units, easy construction,
transportable and low construction cost

Lightweight structure
recycle materials (timber and steel), less physical damage to
the site, less costs for transportation as its light and easy

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Symmetry flirting with asymmetry

avant-garde, innovative and distinctive design
characteristics with a classical architectural expression

Elegance in repetition
visual aesthetics achieved by simplicity and rigorous
architectural elements with a hint of formality

Living verandah
outdoor-indoor living (for private and communal space),
a hedonist lifestyle, the love of Australian informality

Shared space
less is more, shared bathroom and toilet not only utilize
less material resources and cost effective but also
educate people with a mindset for living simple and
efficient

Connecting with nature

more time being in the outdoors, less energy
consumptions, more chances to enjoy breeze, sound of
nature and sunlight, physical and mental health benefits,
outdoor shower/Bali bathroom

One exit
visually secured passage way for safety, controlled
access to the property

Transition space
a flight of stairs offers residence transition space
between public and private spaces; verandah,
passageway and bridge is also transition space
between communal and private spaces

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Inside-out and outside-in experiences

comfortable and enjoyable feeling of being outdoor
in the indoor space and vice-versa

Expandable spaces
spaces are designed in separate zones that additional
spaces can be independently added to grow with the
family size of the residents or put in place a different
life plan such as renting rooms/spaces out when
downsizing

Cross axes
A primary axis for circulation movement is
straight in a linear line with a secondary axis
for entering a particular room

Hierarchy in spaces
Privacy, intimacy and inter-personal contact for
adults and children is considered in spatial
arrangement

Figure 6.2.1a These drawings are a visual representation of the vocabulary of the Troppo language which was
used as a matrix to compare the ‘hard space’ design of five contemporary Troppo houses.

Identifying the different physical features between five contemporary Troppo houses and the cluster of
the 1980s Troppo houses was to highlight Harris and Welke’s emphasis in the ‘natural revolutional’
change in the visual appearance of the ‘hard space’ design (Separate interviews with Harris and Welke

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in 2016). The presence of subtle differences was clear when the 4 types of typical 1980s Troppo houses
design and 16 design vocabulary elements of the Troppo language were compared with the visual
appearance of the ‘hard space’ design (elevations and floor plans) of five contemporary Troppo houses
(Table 6.2.1a).

Darwin
Darwin Townsville Adelaide Byron Bay Perth
Typical 1980s
Troppo houses Mortlock Connell Russell Hutchinson Howell
Residence Residence Residence Residence Residence
A, B, C & D Floor types A C A C A

High windows between roofs Y N Y Y Y

and external walls Banks of windows

Lightweight cladding, Breathing

louvers and shutters Y N Partial Y N
& adjustable skin
Post-and-beam Elevated structure Y Partial Partial N N
Rectangle & square Simple geometry
Y N Y Y Y
& forms
Steel and timber Lightweight structure Y N Partial Y N
Symmetry flirting
Elevation & layout Y N Y Y Y
with asymmetry
Elevation & layout Elegance in repetition N N Y Y Y

Verandahs Living verandah Y Partial Y Y Partial

Bathrooms Shared space Y N N N N

Hall ways/bridges/passage
ways to the outdoors Connecting with nature Y N Y Y N

Access to the outdoors One exit Y N N N N

Stairs/verandahs Transition space Y Y Y Y (paving) Y (gate)

Openable indoor spaces to the Outside-in Y N Y Y N

outdoors & inside-out experiences
Flexibility in expanding or Expandable spaces Y N Y Y N
dividing spaces
Two axes for circulation Cross axis Y N Y Y Y
Privacy for inter-personal
contact and intimacy Hierarchy in spaces Y Partial Y Y Y

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N – NO
Y – YES

Table 6.2.1a The table shows differences between the typical 1980s Troppo and five contemporary Troppo
houses by using 16 design vocabulary elements of the language.

The challenges of continuing the design of typical 1980s Troppo-style houses in different geographical
regions were clear and are shown in Table 6.2.1a. These differences were apparent due to the regional
directors’ understandings and personal preferences for appropriate designs in response to different
climatic conditions, social and cultural contexts, and natural settings of the site, local construction
techniques, and availability of building materials and trade skills, and bureaucratic constraints (Table
6.2.1b). The Russell Residence in Adelaide displayed most features of the Troppo language, despite of
its colder climate and different construction practice in the southern region where traditional construction
norms were heavy thermal-mass materials and building techniques. The design of Russell Residence
encapsulated most of the spirit of the typical 1980s Troppo houses with some exciting sparks. On the
other hand, Connell Residence in Townsville displayed the least features of the language, despite the
location of the house being in the tropics. This result indicated that the level of the regional director’s
understanding about and commitment to Troppo’s design principles, philosophy and ethos was crucial
because it determined the unity and continuity of Troppo practice. It was clear that Troppo’s design
principles of ‘contextual responsive cohesion’ was neither always achieved nor consistently applied in
the design of Connell Residence and Howell Residence for its second least responses to Troppo’s
hedonist practice.

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Darwin
Darwin Townsville Adelaide Byron Bay Perth
1980s
Troppo houses Mortlock Connell Russell Hutchinson Howell
Residence Residence Residence Residence Residence
Residential and public
housing areas scattering Location of the In the middle of Edge of a rocky Next to conservation Beach front Along inner city
across house bushland beach on an island park; over a creek riverside
Darwin
A mix of tropical housing Neighbouring Ranches, bushland A mix of privately One-storey Long-established and High-profile
styles on stilts and contexts and and farmhouses owned or holiday let- federation and gable highly controlled area development lot for
monolithic brick houses on housing style out two-storey or houses for two-storey and multiple-storey
ground three-storey beach one storey beach mansions
houses houses
suburbia Local
Rural suburb Holiday and tourist Inner-city suburb Beach holiday and Capital city
community resort island tourist town

Satellite developing Region A mix of Industrial and Well-developed Holiday town with Resale-value-driven
residential areas commercial, booming city in metropolitan city scarce resources idea initiated by the
military-based and mining industry with a planned city demand of city
scattered low- vision wealthy residents for
income housing in an investment
the city purpose
1.post-and-beam steel
structure; Add-on 1. Pond and pool 1. Angled posts for 1. Angled posts for 1. Angled posts for 1. Two ponds and an
2.corrugated roof and wall features 2. Random angled verandahs roofs roofs orderly and controlled
claddings; posts at entrance 2. Several split levels 2. Cantilevered 2. Cantilevered landscape
3.a flight of stairs to an open 3. Angled post with flights in 2 boxes boxes 2. Double-layer glass
entrance; bolted to the floor directions on one 3. Circulation being 3. Monolithic-box walls along corridors
4.verandahs to bedrooms, joists floor part of living space form 3. Extensive roofs
bathrooms and 3. Verandah is 3. Pool 4. Sliding doors as 4. Enclosed corridor without supports
living/dining/kitchen; used 4. Aluminium louvers movable partition 5. Timber screen wall 4. Lift
5.glass and timber louvers as a circulation 5. Compact living walls for creating for walkway/entry 5. Glass balustrades
and shutters; path and for daily spaces and double- private living areas 6. No formal entry 6. Aluminium screens
6.banks of openings; activities room width for guests 7. Segregated adult 7. Marble floor
7.long-thin rectangular and 4. Double-height 6. Multiple exits 5. Multiple exits and child bedrooms 8. Five storey high
singular plan; interior spaces 7. Covered skillion 6. Exposed skillion 8. Multiple exits with 1500mm split
8. unfinished internal walls; 5. Exposed skillion roofs roofs 9. Exposed skillion level in between
9. exposed roof trusses and roofs roofs 9. Multiple exits
overhangs; 10. Exposed skillion
10.under-house living roofs
space;
11. outdoor bathroom and
laundry;
12. outside-inside-outside
space sequence
Timber, glass, steel, Introduced 1. Concrete panels, 1. Rammed earth 1. Polycarbonate roof 1. Marble floor
corrugated iron sheeting materials slabs, cladding and walls sheeting 2. Double-brick walls
and plasterboard floor 2. Polycarbonate 2. Concrete slab with paint finish
2. Marble entrance roof sheeting 3. Frosted glasses for
stairs 3. Concrete panels windows and shading
3. Pebbled finish and slab device
paving 4. Concrete slab
5. Tiled terrace

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Pitched roof, pyramid roof Roof forms 2 Mono-pitched A mix of mono- A mix of mono- Mono-pitched roof A mix of mono-
and rounded-pitch roof roofs pitched and butterfly pitched and butterfly pitched and butterfly
roofs roofs roofs
Outdoor
Verandahs & Verandahs 1.Verandahs 1. Verandahs 1.Verandahs 1.Terrace
under-house living space 2.Deck 2.Deck 2.Deck
3.Balcony 3.Balcony

Features

Table 6.2.1b This table shows comparisons in design and contexts between the 1980s Troppo houses and the
five contemporary Troppo houses.

Both Harris and Welke affirmed that the fundamental design principles, philosophy and ethos were the
same for all regional offices (Separate interviews with Harris and Welke in 2016). Most divergence was
detected through the analysis of the design of the floor plan and connectivity graph of the Connell
Residence, Townsville and the interview with O’Toole, the regional director of Troppo office in
Townsville.

Distinctive characteristics of the 1980s Troppo houses that appear in the five contemporary Troppo
houses included living verandahs, decks, corrugated iron skillion roofs, lightweight and adjustable
external wall cladding, extensive overhangs, arrays of openings (windows and doors), elevated and
exposed roof structures as the key features. These key features have become distinguishable ‘Troppo
icons’ that the clients were able to identify as ‘Troppo Style’, despite the renouncement of Troppo of
such an intention. The expansion of the Troppo practice, changing building regulations, requirements
and expectations of wealthier clients, environmental and cultural constraints of regional community,
advancements in the construction industry, techniques and building materials were crucial factors for
the evolvement and adaptation of the Troppo pattern language leading to new Troppo features such as
use of polycarbonate corrugated sheets as roofing and external wall materials for sunlight, thermal-mass
construction methods and materials for a colder climate. However, setbacks were inevitable in the

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process of evolving their pattern-forms to be more versatile. Some new features diverged from their
fundamental principles for sustainable design with their emphasis in simplicity, adaptability, lightweight,
low-cost and energy-efficiency. Some new features tended towards designing for more enclosed indoor
living, infrequently used en-suites bedrooms, spare bedrooms and fixed-name functional rooms, and
large houses for fewer occupants in the Connell residence, Townsville and the Howell residence, Perth.
Along with the wealth and wishes of clients for a desired lifestyle with a higher level of comfort, the
important Troppo design concepts of shared space and of living verandah lifestyle diminished.

Water elements such as ponds and pools are new features. They were used to soften the landscape of
the Mortlock Residence, as a modern living feature for the Connell Residence, and an orderly, man-
made landscape for the Howell Residence. A cantilever structure, free-support balcony, angled posts
showcasing innovative detailing and the articulation of elevations complemented neighbouring housing
styles in a visually-explicit Troppo house (as mentioned by Duffield, Connolly, McNamara, and O’Toole).
Thermal mass materials such as rammed earth blocks, concrete blockwork, masonry walls and paving,
and marble floors were added for colder climatic conditions. A signature Troppo element – steep skillion
roofs – was adapted and transformed to mono-pitched roofs (Figure 6.2.1b) for opening up interior
spaces and extending an outlook to the sky. Reductions in verandah space and roof pitch were sought
to be harmonious to local streetscape, to comply with the regional building regulations, and meet clients’
budgets. Discrete smaller balconies attached to bedrooms, and an open decking area were ways the
regional directors sought to retain Troppo’s ‘living verandah’ concept.

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Figure 6.2.1b Schematic sketches of skillion roofs as a distinctive expression of contemporary Troppo houses
in the later practices.

Budgets were important influences on the addition of new architectural features, particularly in relation
to the quantity of requested functional spaces, the quality, the variety and the sources of materials, the
speed of construction, and the ways in which individual regional directors’ responses to local
construction techniques, availability of trades and building regulations in parallel with the underpinning
philosophy of Troppo practice. Meeting the client’s budgets was also a factor in not retaining Troppo

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features such as extensive and exposed overhangs, large outdoor-living verandahs for bedrooms, and
recycled materials. In the Russell residence, not having outdoor-living verandahs for bedrooms was
decided on to lower the building costs to meet the initial budget. Nevertheless, the clients reported that
the house met all their requirements for functionality and comfort. The open linear plans of the Mortlock,
Russell and Hutchinson Residences validated the pragmatism of Troppo’s fundamental principles for
passive design – natural cross ventilation and sunlight with well positioned verandah space between the
private bedroom space and the communal living spaces. A central axis as an internal breezeway worked
in the Connell Residence, as the entry was connected to a large verandah at the rear for cross-ventilation
sea breezes in summer. The five houses all adopted reverse cycle ducted air-conditioning to cope with
extremes of weather and to provide more interior comfort for older residents. Solar panels were installed
in the Hutchinson and Howell Residences. The absence of solar panels in the other houses was
explained by aesthetic appeal for the Russell residents and lack of necessity for the Mortlock and
Connell residents, who used little energy for their lifestyle (work for the Mortlocks and holiday for the
Connells).

The Connell Residence in Townsville has an irregular form in an internal split-level volume due to the
clients’ request, in contrast to Rohan’s initial proposal for a more typical Troppo elevated, long linear
form with an appearance of floating light in the air. (Figure 6.2.1c) O’Toole’s mixed approach in the final
design adapts Troppo’s design principles to his local experience of more traditional design for enclosed
and secure indoor living. Climate was not the primary issue for reducing the banks of windows and the
size of openings in this house. They result from O’Toole’s background in responding to clients’ requests
for their desired lifestyle, reducing costs, fitting in with the neighbouring style, and for safety and privacy.
In contrast, for the Russell Residence in Adelaide and the Howell Residence in Perth banks of windows
and large openings were requested by the clients.

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Figure 6.2.1c. The features of a long and linear form, banks of windows and large size of openings of a Darwin
Troppo house (Left) were not adopted in the design of the Connell Residence, Townsville (Right).

Form patterns were adapted to use thermal-mass materials in response to the moderate and cooler
climates of the southern contexts. The availability of ‘materials, trade skills and construction
methodology of the day’ were also important factors for the change of the design of contemporary
Troppo houses. As Harris simply said ‘We are designing for today not yesterday, so we have to adapt.’
(Interview with Harris in 2016) Integrating thermal-mass materials into the Troppo language was a
challenge to Duffield in Adelaide and Welke in Perth as there were visual conflicts between the
heaviness of the thermal-mass materials and the lightness of an archetypal Troppo house on stilts. In
the design of the Russell Residence in Adelaide, the combination of masonry, timber and corrugated-
iron external walls on the public streetscape was chosen in line with neighbouring housing designs. On
the private living side, double-glazing and wall-height glass windows responded to the residents’ wishes
for an up-close-and-personal experience of the outdoors, including the sounds of nature, a glimpse of
sky, changing day and night views, wildlife, and feelings of cool breezes. The visual lightness achieved
by living on stilts in Darwin was replaced by subtly uplifting the roofs to view the sky, with corresponding
psychological feelings of lightness to suit Adelaideans (a local term for people who reside in the
metropolitan area of greater Adelaide City). In Perth, the Howells’ priorities were indoor comfort and an
easily-maintained house with abundant outlooks to the riverside out front. Welke also sought to respond
to the neighbouring houses in its mass and materiality. The delightfulness of everyday living was
enhanced through the visual warmth of thermal mass rammed earth, earthy coloured masonry, the
lightness of polycarbonate and corrugated claddings and steel elements. The Howells reported that the

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house encouraged a tranquil state of mind with easy visual connections to the outside world (Interview
with the Howells in 2014).

The regional directors’ design concepts derived from clients’ wishes. The creation of spaces and forms
of the house became meaningful when they responded to the site, climatic conditions and low
environmental-impact living. The differences among them can be summarised as follows.

• Some design ideas recognise human desires, needs and requirements that are divergent
from Troppo’s initial inner responses. The five Troppo houses offer a spectrum of visual
stimuli from lightness to heaviness, from an airy, simplicity to a sumptuous-grandeur, and
from compact to spreading;
• The location of the project predetermines the type of clients who approach Troppo;
• In a wealthy suburb or holiday resort area, Troppo’s visual features become more of a ‘blue
ribbon’292 tag than a metaphor for a simple way of everyday living;
• Although Troppo’s design principles may be known to most of the like-minded clients who
approach Troppo, they may decline to incorporate them in practice due to their preference
for a higher standard of comfort and desire for a more ‘solid’ appearance.

6.2.2 People: directorships, additions of in-house architects and wealthy clients

The precedents of works by some prominent Australian architects have inspired Troppo as mentors for
creativity and originality. The foundational design principles of Troppo’s climatically responsive design
was initially influenced by the prominent Northern Territory government Architect Beni-Carr Glynn (BCG)
Burnett who shaped the architectural landscape with a unique mix of traditional with the English colonial
architecture of the Straits Settlements seen in Malaysia. Troppo adapted Burnett’s inventive elevated
Anglo-Indian style and learned from a series of Anglo-Asian styles of government houses designed and

292The term ‘blue ribbon’ was mentioned by Welke in the first interview when he was asked about the mentality and
perceptions of wealthy clients on the work of Troppo as well as the reasons that they approached the Troppo to design
their house after Harris and Welke had gained reputations by winning numerous awards nationwide.

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built by the Department of Works between the 1950s and early 1970s in the Northern Territory 293. The
tropical house design of the early Troppo houses also resonated with Glenn Murcutt’s preference for a
long and narrow plan together with his representation of the Australian landscape and the means of
authentic everyday living learned from Aboriginal people in the outback. Bowali Visitor Centre, designed
by Murcutt and Troppo in association, has just such a long and open plan.

A belief in learning architecture by working along with the master to see and understand how space
works highlighted the significance of mentoring in shaping Troppo’s practice culture in several ways.
Mentoring of directors and in-house architects is an important aspect of the expansion of the practice.
Both Harris and Welke firmly believed the success of a practice depends on the collective work of
collaborative individuals who, while respecting the elders, can ‘grow’ in the architectural profession
(Separate interviews with Harris and Welke in 2016).

Harris and Welke, regional directors and in-house architects inserted a culture of trust in and mutual
respect for individual talents and capability. That trust has assisted to build a bond between Troppo,
their directors and newly-recruited young graduate architects with their own interests and ambitions.
Sharing knowledge and utilizing an individual’s talents and design capability were seen in Troppo’s over
one thousand design projects of various scales and types, evidenced by a combination of design
collaboration, innovative concepts, interesting details and efficient computing production. Troppo’s
distinctive design characteristics and individualities were passed on to the regional directors who had
mostly been in-house architects with Troppo for several years, with support efforts between in-house
architects’ learning and Troppo’s teaching in the mentoring process. The exception to this is O’Toole in
the Townsville office. The Connell Residence shows the divergence of O’Toole’s design approach which
is quite different from that of the other regional offices.

293 David Bridgman, The Anglo-Asian Bungalow, PhD thesis (Melbourne: RMIT University, 2006).

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Understanding how Troppo’s practice culture worked in the five offices is important. It offers an insight
into the significance of the unseen processes of learning, negotiation, and mastering Troppo’s skills and
knowledge through oral conversations and visual illustrations in order to resolve design issues in
practice. Understanding the mentoring process holds the key to unlock the unseen factors that changed
the Troppo language over time. A mentoring process was naturally developed within the vibrant learning-
at-work environment of Troppo practice culture. It was learning by seeing, listening and comprehending
through verbal explanations and visual conversations with the sketches on papers or ‘napkins’ or
‘serviettes’ 294 (interview with Harris in 2010 and Duffield in 2012).

‘[A] young person who works closely with the seniors.’ (Interview with Duffield in 2011)
‘Adrian and Phil won’t ram anything down your throat, you cannot fake it and quickly you can immerse
yourself in it. We did ask lots of questions, and they explained and helped us to see whether we were on
the right track.’ (Interview with McNamara in 2011)
‘Since 1999, Phil has been a mentor to me, still is.’ (Interview with Connolly in 2012)

Ways of design thinking and developing problem-solving skills took place in brainstorming sessions with
visual and oral discussions as Troppo’s practice culture spread. In Townsville, former director Clark
carried out Troppo’s culture by passing it on to former in-house architect Rohan (2004 – 2010) who was
inculcated into the Troppo language’s distinctive features. Rohan highlighted his artistry with an award
winning project – Horseshoe Bay House in 2010. Following Rohan’s resignation in 2010, the presence
of these features lessened in the design of residential projects, with an increasing number of commercial
projects being undertaken in Townsville at the time of the field trip in 2012. O’Toole had commercially-
based design experience rather than Troppo’s residential-based design experience.

294 Harris mentioned that many important and interesting design concepts and ideas for elevations, solutions for detail

constructions and spatial planning were created on napkins in the airplane or serviettes over a lunch or dinner in bed, lying
on the floor, sitting at home or out dinning (Interviews and casual conversations in 2010 and 2011). Duffield carried the
same habit for creating ideas by sketching on napkins and serviettes (interviews and several continuous conversations
between 2010 and 2012). Then they would deliver and transcribe their sketches to in-house architects to draft them up to
scale by computer program for working drawings for clients or building approvals. The set of design concepts for ‘Rozak
House’ was created over the kitchen bench by Welke and a former in-house architect Joanna Reese in one afternoon.

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The influence of the relationship between Troppo’s experience and that of the regional director prior to
joining Troppo’s practice is significant, as seen in the following table 6.2.2a.

Darwin Townsville Adelaide Byron Bay Perth

O’Toole Harris
Director McNamara Connolly Welke
Clark Duffield
(Former Director) (Co-Director)

1. A senior architect
with 10 years 20 years of
experiences Troppo founder
commercial practice
working in a in Townsville
medium firm in
Sydney
Experiences 2. Then in-house With Troppo
prior architect for Troppo for 12 years in Troppo founder
joining/becoming for 2 years and Adelaide
a director with Welke’s With Troppo With Troppo
assistance for for 4 years in for 12 years in
another 2 years Darwin Adelaide
after independent
work as a director
in practice

no n/a
In-house
yes yes n/a
architect once
yes yes

Collaboration
yes no yes yes yes
design

Table 6.2.2a the cultural dynamics between Troppo and the regional directors in practice, including experiences
prior to joining Troppo, and current engagement in collaborative design projects.

The mentoring drew an important link between the level of understanding of the Troppo language and
the adaptability of that language to the priorities of directors and in-house architects in other regional
offices. The elements of the language were simple and direct in visual forms but the key issue lay in the
thinking of how individuals responded to the site in planning the movement and good use of everyday
space in the house. In the interviews with Harris and Welke, when they discussed their concepts and
principles in design it was response to the site that was the only response every time. The importance
of feelings for the site and design in response to the site was also emphasised in the conversations with
the former and current directors and in-house architects, except the regional director O’Toole who

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focused more on meeting the clients’ requirements for the visual aesthetics of the house, the use of
spaces, the number of rooms, budgets and construction time. It was apparent that Troppo implicitly
imparted the importance of a building responding to the contextual aspects (the whole site) as the first
priority to the regional directors, except O’Toole whose design emphasised the internal aspects (the
residents’ requirements). The informed concept of responsive cohesion for making the design of houses
was inevitably only passed on to the directors and in-house architects who worked closely with Troppo
in the mentoring process.

These were key elements informing the mentoring, that is, to draw meaningful connections between
visual (hard) and psychological (soft) spaces in the designs of houses (Table 6.2.2a). Learning to speak
this language fluently required practice, the endeavour to learn and paying attention to its secondary
meanings – that is, the details and compositions of elements that worked together both visually and
psychologically. The findings revealed a manifold language for contemporary Troppo design which can
be summarised as the following:

• The flexibility and adaptability of the Troppo language, with Troppo’s aptitude for
acceptance of new information, respecting individuality, knowledge and skills, being open
minded to explore new materials and construction methods and approaches to resolving
problems with regards to specific cultural and environmental issues;
• The divergence and segregation amongst regional offices was observed in terms of
different design principles, personal goals, methods and attitudes to resolving issues,
consistency in design and construction processes, and values in everyday practice.
• The prior experiences, cultural backgrounds and level of acceptance of Troppo’s main
focus on residential practice were crucial factors in creating a new vocabulary which
resonated with Troppo’s characteristic features of the language.
• Troppo, the regional directors and in-house architects persistently negotiated in ‘good faith’
a path between bending and breaking the rules of the early Troppo patterns. The ‘good
faith’ they keep is the manifesto for their belief in the inheritance of a responsible hedonist
attitude.

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The client’s levels of understanding of Troppo’s ethos shaped the quality of the everyday spaces of the
houses. The clients had the power to lead regional directors to produce an innovative version of a dream
Troppo house. The more familiar the clients were with Troppo’s fundamental principles and ethical
values for the design and use of everyday spaces, the closer the design of the house was in alignment
with Troppo’s ethos for a hedonistic lifestyle and sustainable and harmonious everyday living as they
were able to proactively articulate their desires. The wealthier clients requested higher levels of comfort,
convenience and quality in the indoor spaces they desired for their lifestyle, sometimes with less
understanding of Troppo’s outdoor living verandahs as means to achieve responsive cohesion between
lifestyle, house and natural setting.

There were links between how the design of contemporary Troppo houses achieved responsive
cohesion, clients’ familiarity with Troppo’s work, and their personal relationships with Troppo
professionals. Most of the clients who approached the Troppo offices had a fair impression of Troppo’s
work through publications, work associations and word of mouth from family and friends. The Connell
residents had not been aware of Troppo’s work before they approached O’Toole, as the practice had
been recommended by the land developers of this holiday resort property development in 2008. They
were Melbourne city residents who had searched for a suitable property for building a holiday and
retirement retreat for many years. At the time, O’Toole was engaged in the property development and
management of the sub-division of land on Magnetic Island. In contrast, the Howell resident had had a
work association with Welke for twenty years. However, there was surprisingly little difference between
the Connell and Howell residents with regard to their requests for houses to be designed with heavy-
thermal materials and associated construction techniques; expectations that suggested little
understanding or appreciation of Troppo’s philosophy regarding the design of lightweight houses and
sustainable environmental design and lifestyles more generally.

Because O’Toole’s clients were unfamiliar with Troppo’s work, he made most of the design decisions in
respect to spatial arrangement, visual elements, finish quality and the functionality of the house. This

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resulted in the non-linear and box-shape of spatial arrangement for the design of the Connell Residence
which indicated the divergence of design principles and values between the Townsville office and other
offices. By contrast, the loose work relationship that Welke had with the clients gave them much more
influence in decisions (Table 6.2.2b). Internal responsive cohesion was only achieved when there was
a mutual understanding between the architect and the clients for the final design decisions. It was then
that the contextual responsive cohesion could be accomplished between the people, the design of
house, and its contexts.

Darwin Townsville Adelaide Byron Bay Perth

O’Toole
Designers McNamara Duffield Connolly Welke
Khasmina

30 ~40 year old 50 ~ 60 year old 50 ~ 60 year old 30 ~40 year old 60 ~ 75 year old
Age group
directors, married couple married couple married couple with married couple
(status) ready for retirement ready for retirement 2 young children retired
a young couple

1. Word of mouth 1. Recommended 1. Their son who 1. Word of mouth 1. Welke’s builder
through friends and by land developer of had work through friends and for numerous
family; the purchased lot experience with family; projects in Northern
2. Visiting Troppo’s Troppo branch in 2. Reading Territories and other
early design of Adelaide; magazines and interstates for
houses; 2. Word of mouth internet search for almost 20 years
3. Reading through friends and their previous work
Familiarity & magazines about family;
media their award winning 3. Visiting one
projects Troppo house on
Kangaroo Island;
3. Reading
magazines and
internet search
about their award
winning projects;

1. Like-minded 1. Their 1. Like-minded 1. Like-minded 1. Familiar with and

clients for their engagement with clients for their clients for their liking Troppo’s
sustainable design the land sustainable design sustainable design work;
and its openness development; and its openness and its openness 2. An investment
Reasons and engagement 2. A retirement and engagement and engagement property in the
for choosing with the outdoor retreat with the outdoor with the outdoor future when it is
Troppo space and wildlife; space and wildlife; space; time to downgrade
2. Their design 2. Their design 2. The feeling of at older age later in
style and living principles for lightweight and life
verandahs for a sustainability and its informality
relaxed lifestyle elegant, open and 3. Their simple
after work simple feel; design style

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3. Seeking a suitable for raising

different and a more the family
relaxed lifestyle for
their retirement
1. Multi-functional 1. Verandahs to 1. Multi-functional 1. Multi-functional
space bedrooms (included space space
2. Indoor-outdoor and agreed but had 2. Verandahs to
movement to be rejected due living room and
Absent 3. Outdoor/open to high costs) kitchen
elements ‘Bali bathroom’ 2. Outdoor/open 3. Indoor-outdoor
4. Sharing bathroom ‘Bali bathroom’ movement
(rejected due to 4. Outdoor/open
privacy issues) ‘Bali bathroom’
5. Sharing bathroom

Table 6.2.2.b The relationships between the clients and the regional directors, the level of clients’ familiarity with
Troppo’s work and reasons for approaching Troppo.

Good communication between the client and the director or in-house architect was a vital aspect in
achieving internal cohesion as it effected the outcomes of the final design for the house. Clients were
generally positive about the director’s and in-house architect’s personality, dynamics and the durations
of meetings. Most clients were satisfied with the quality and completion of the house as well as the
engagement with Troppo staff during the design and construction process. Typical comments during the
interviews were ‘happy’, ‘enjoyable’, ‘understanding the needs’, ‘fun in learning and chatting over ideas
and sketches’, ‘patient in resolving design issues’, ‘prompt actions in resolving construction problems’,
‘positive interactions and smooth conversations with builders and engineers’, and ‘good interactions and
connections with us (clients).’ (Table 6.2.2c) For the Connell Residence, communications between the
clients, design team, and builders were not as close as others during the construction process with a
need to resolve issues on site, such as challenging accessibility to the building site on the island and
construction issues (Interview with the Connells in 2012). Nevertheless, the clients showed satisfaction
in relation to the quality of living spaces and the desired lifestyle they always wanted because of the
location of the site on the island.

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Darwin Townsville Adelaide Byron Bay Perth

S R D S R D S R D S R D S R D

Design
+ + + + +
processes

Conversations + + + + +

Dynamics + + + + +

Construction
+ + + + +
processes

Attitudes + + + + +
Services
(on-going) + + + + +

Satisfaction
+ + + + +
of product

Affiliated North Point Beach Architect

none none none
practice (commercial practice) (residential practice)

over budget but the

over budget but the higher costs were
higher costs were accepted through
accepted through over budget but the communications
communications- higher costs were and resolved with a
Conflicts No budget required
difficulties arose over accepted through slight change in
accessibility and bad communications reducing footprint of
weather for the building and
construction issues selecting different
materials
on
(built himself with
Budgets assistance from over over over over
friends and
relatives)

S – Satisfactory (happy, enjoyable and delightful process) R – Reasonable (standard) D – Dilemma (unresolved issues)

Table 6.2.2c The dynamics between the regional director and their clients.

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This analysis sought links among the level of like-mindedness in clients of Troppo, their interactions with
the regional directors, and the closure of the inner world of the clients in relation to their dream home.
These links offered an understanding for the connections between the importance of inner cohesion and
contextual cohesion, and the design of the house. The findings were as follows.
• The ‘advanced level’ of like-minded clients had explored more of Troppo’s early work in
media, publications and physical visits. The ‘starter level’ clients had general and basic
understanding of Troppo’s fundamental principles and theory in climate-responsive design
regardless of the length of time knowing Troppo. There is a difference between what they
knew of Troppo’s values and goals in design and what they wanted for the product;
• Clients with sufficient financial resources continued the construction processes even with
concerns about building costs as they were deeply involved with the architect right from
the preliminary design process and they wanted to see the final product in the end;
• Prompt responses to the clients’ requests and concerns (oral and email) determined the
level of smoothness or difficulty during the design and construction processes. They
contributed to satisfaction, happiness and emotional involvement with the architects. This
created an impression of Troppo’s professionalism and their personal relationships with
the associated stakeholders of the project for word of mouth recommendations in the
future;
• In most cases there was a challenge for the architects in meeting the clients’ budgets (one
client wanted an ideal house with no budget specified). Positive interactions, prompt
responses to resolve design and construction problems, and long meetings with clients
offered them reassurance about the quality and integrity of their home, as well as its value
in terms of the needs, comfort, confidence and convenience that the clients had requested
when they had initially approached Troppo. Compromises were reached with patience.
• The design language is simple for like-minded individuals to understand at a ‘starter’ level.
Yet the richness of the language is concealed from the ‘starters’ unless they proceed a
further step by speaking with people who reside in a Troppo house, are familiar with their
work, are associated with them personally or through work, and research their work via
books, magazines, online websites and site visits. By doing this, they have an opportunity

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to grasp Troppo’s fundamental values for creating a relaxed lifestyle by engaging with the
outside world and the underlying meaning of their designs – achieving a sense of
contentment, openness, delight and happiness with minimal physical harm to the built
environment;
• ‘Starter’ clients had basic knowledge about Troppo’s climate-responsive-design in theory.
Mentoring about a ‘responsible but hedonistic’ lifestyle, sharing of environmental concerns,
mutual respect and understanding were needed between the architect and the clients to
achieve a product with both the quality and integrity of a Troppo house with its formal
language;
• A continuing friendship between clients and architects was often established at the end of
the project.

One important finding was how the relationship between internal and external cohesion determined the
residents’ satisfaction with the quality and functionality of the house, the smoothness of the overall
design and construction processes, and how well the design of the house responded to the site and its
neighbouring areas.

6.2.3 Construction technology and building regulations

A shift in construction techniques was inevitable over time in the same place and in different regions.
Harris pointed out that ‘each place responds to time, there is no singular tradition in construction that
endured in one particular place.’ (Interview with Harris in 2016) A higher level of aesthetic sophistication
in simple and elegant joints played an important role in the designs of contemporary houses. Troppo
collaborated with Bligh Voller Nield Architects in 2002 on a medium-density award-winning project in
Lavarack Barracks Defence Housing Australia (DHA), Townsville. For this project a ‘kit-of-parts’ 295 was
developed to meet budget requirements by the clients (DHA). This offered an aesthetic of attached
elements – stairwells, roofs, sun shading devices and bathrooms – which were prefabricated before

295‘Kit-of-parts’ construction method is described in the article of ‘Lavarack Barracks’, Architecture Australia, vol 91, no. 2
(2002) online publication. (Accessed online on May, 2012)

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they were clipped onto the precast floors and tilt-up concrete panels. Understanding the building
industry, construction techniques and trade skills to best work with the availability of materials was
required to keep Troppo’s ‘collective philosophy’ and ethos alive and unchanged (Separate interviews
with Harris and Welke in 2016). Design had to ‘translate different climates’ and recognise ‘different ways
how building industry operates’, with the knowledge of building sciences needed to make design work.
Most importantly, it had to work the way ‘in which bureaucracy works around the buildings for people
and communities.’ (Interview with Harris in 2016).

Change in the Troppo language became unavoidable because of changing building regulations as time
progressed in the regions of Australia. Complying with building regulations was always a challenge, and
yet an opportunity to test the practicality and adaptability of the language.

‘Regulated rules want to seal everything up and they make it impossible for us to build our houses.’
(Interview with McNamara in 2011)
‘[To] get it built you have to make the house removable in the event of a tsunami. All of the buildings have
to be transportable at any time…they really don’t want any development there….. They put very strange
controls over there to stop development but people still would like to build it there…. Every development
is hard to get approved.’ (Interview with Connolly in 2012)

Building regulations limited Troppo’s ability to retain their ethos for passive design only without active
systems. They have imposed rules that control the building approval for achieving energy-efficiency
(Table 6.2.3a). For instance, in Darwin air-conditioning (AC) has become a commodity for residents to
cope with tropical heat and current building regulations require that newly built houses are appropriate
for air-conditioning. These building regulations also promote concrete and/or cavity brick-wall houses
as a way to minimize damage caused by unpredictable cyclones. This has increased problems making
it almost impossible to build houses like the 1980s Troppo houses, according to McNamara. As a result
of these regulations, approval of several residential projects without the installation of AC has been
rejected which McNamara pointed out suppressed the originality of the Troppo ethos and affected the
survival of the practice.

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Darwin Darwin Townsville Adelaide Byron Bay Perth

1980s Mortlock Connell Russell Hutchinson Howell
Troppo Houses Residence Residence Residence Residence Residence

Tropical Climate Tropical Tropical climate Hot Sub-tropical A mixture of

savannah climate savannah (rainfalls not as high Mediterranean Climate Californian and
(Wet and Dry seasons) climate as other regions in (mild wet winters (cool dry winters Mediterranean
(Wet and Dry tropics) and hot dry and hot rainy (hot dry summers
seasons) summers) summers) and mild wet
winters)

Ceiling fans in all Devices 1. Ceiling fans 1. Ceiling fans in all 1. Ceiling fans in 1. Ceiling fans in 1. Split air-
bedrooms in all rooms and rooms; living room; living room and conditioning’
(most houses) outdoor 2. 5 split AC in all 2. Evaporated outdoor 2. Heating system
verandahs rooms AC; verandahs; 3. Ceiling fans in all
2.1 split AC in 3. Hydraulic 2.1 split AC in one rooms, even laundry
master heating system open space -
bedroom (HHS) living/dining room
and kitchen

Turn on ceiling fans Frequency Extreme hot or Extreme hot days Turning on Extreme humid Extreme hot days
whenever at home humid days AC/HHS for a days but seldom turn on
of use of AC couple of hours heater in winter
before bed or
during daytime on
extreme hot/cold
days

Open up all windows, Daily activities Open up all Open up sliding Open up windows Open up all Open up some
louvers and sliding windows, doors at rear when in the bedrooms, windows, louvers windows
doors all years round louvers and at home sliding doors in and sliding doors
except heavy rains sliding doors the living room, when at home
when at home kitchen when at
home

Natural breezes and Preferences Natural Natural breezes Natural breezes Natural breezes, Natural breezes
rains, enjoy natural breezes, don’t mind warm
warm air, sunlight and don’t mind air at times unless
rains warm hot air at high humidity
times

Table 6.2.3a the relationships between climate, availability of technology, clients’ daily activities and preferred
ways of using devices.

The Troppo offices responded to these regulations by accommodating them into design considerations.
A transitional process can be seen where passive-energy design strategies evolved into active-passive

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design strategies. The design language was adapted to comply with the regulations by adopting
concrete blocks and floors, Hebel panels and rammed earth walls, and installing air-conditioning and
heating systems, smooth wall and ceiling finishes, water tanks, as well as creating enclosure with
outlooks through walls of full-wall-length glass and corrugated polycarbonate sheeting. These add-on
hard features (materials and technology) seemed to contradict the ‘connotations of Australian shed
tradition’296 that had characterised the earlier houses, yet designs continued to recognise clients’ general
preferences for opening windows and doors to manage the internal climate instead of relying primarily
on technology (Table 6.2.3a). The design response has been to allow both passive and active strategies,
and to achieve as much as possible through passive design rather than active heating and cooling.

296Stephanie Pearson, "Troppo in Esperance: Long-established as the pre-eminent architects of Australia's top end,
Troppo architects have brought their principle of 'participating in the climate' to a seaside house in Esperance, Western
Australia," Houses, August, (2000).

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6.3 Contingency in response to issues

Contingency has given Troppo’s practice a chance to turn interruptions and difficulties into success in the
expansion of their practice, even though they ‘never knew where the next job was coming from.’ (Interview
with Harris in 2016) A positive attitude remained one of Troppo’s and the regional directors’ strengths.
They consistently aimed to keep ‘good faith’ (inner response) in ‘bending rules’ and in ‘breaking rules’297
(visual response) as well as proactively seeking all sorts of opportunities by keeping ‘doors open’ and ‘a
breadth of areas’ in diverse types of architectural work at different scales 298 (Separate interview with
Harris and Welke in 2016). There have been difficulties in confronting of contingent events, for example,
in the way McNamara endeavoured to maintain the spirit of the 1980s Troppo houses in the contemporary
Darwin context with being at the edge of shutting down the Darwin operation due to the constant failures
of building approvals for his non-air-conditioning designs. 299 Nevertheless, their responsive hedonism was
manifested out of these adversities. With patience and perseverance, they maintained enthusiasm for the
informality of their practice culture and sustained the Troppo philosophy of ‘no bow tie’ at work as well as
their positive thinking in creating ‘little projects’ such as portable buildings and pods (modular buildings)
to keep their practice going (Interview with Harris in 2016).

Family first also reflects how Troppo think highly of family values in seeking everyday living that suits
different families, the surroundings of the site and their desired lifestyle. The deep feeling and the
significance of family values are exhibited in the Troppo priority of putting the emotional needs of a family
into the spatial and functional design of a house. The design of Troppo houses intends to accommodate
a good quality of family lifestyle through shared, communal and multi-functional spaces. However,
Troppo’s understanding of family needs in relation to quality of housing design does not always promote

297 McNamara pointed out that the rigidity of regulations does not give room for architects’ innovative design. As he put it
‘regulated policy (in Darwin currently) doesn’t take vegetation into design’ and ‘breaking the rule is a good thing’. This
interview was conducted with him on his designed open platform-decking elevated in the backyard of his house.
298 Harris and Welke mentioned the importance of working proactively in interior design, project managements, small scaled

projects such as pods and indigenous housing projects in the remote areas.
299 This refers to the struggle of McNamara fighting for the survival of the Darwin practice and following passive design

without AC installation against the recommendation of building regulations for AC uses. He pointed out that these rigid
regulations had caused difficulties of getting building approvals for his projects over the years. This problem had made him
lose clients and face fewer incoming projects. The Darwin branch at times encountered insufficient finance in keeping the
practice operating for him and his co-director, his wife.

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the successful running of a regional practice. Instead, its success is determined by a fine balance between
quality and the financial survival of the regional practice. This is shown by the relocation and downsizing
of their offices and becomes especially evident in the case of the Darwin, Townsville, Byron Bay and Perth
offices.

Harris mentioned the key of turning interruptions or difficulties to success was to ‘always work at the cheap
end of town doing little projects for people with inadequate budgets or doing proactive projects such as
portable and flat-pad buildings (pods and modular houses)… it is not a good way for running a practice
financially and those proactive projects in fact drain resources hugely and you are not getting paid when
you establish those things. I guess they are investments in a longer term in a bigger picture there for the
future... if you do good work and any architect can tell you that you can only live by your work and you
are only as good as your next job. Well, you just need to keep producing them and you can keep a practice
going.’ (Interview with Harris in Adelaide in 2016)

A set of rituals in consolidating the unity of Troppo practice among offices was developed by Troppo’s
beliefs in involving conservation architecture in the Territory and Western Australia, the remote regions of
Australia and developing countries overseas (Separate interviews with Harris and Welke in 2016). It was
developed with a rigor for resolving design issues in group dialogues, communicating ideas and concepts
over free-hand sketches, and sharing up-to-date information with camaraderie among offices. Through
the process of mentoring, in-house architects were able to carry Troppo’s ‘collective philosophy’ (Interview
with Welke in 2016) with them and assist Troppo by seeking the door of an opportunity by voluntarily
relocating to a new location for commissioned projects or home place for proactively making Troppo
practice ‘grow’. Through these constant dialogues and dynamic interactions between Troppo and the
regional offices, except the Townsville office 300, contingency has transcended into ‘a succession plan’ for
them, in that the Troppo language has been used to celebrate Troppo’s collective philosophy by creating
new forms and design patterns with their understanding of the ‘history of architecture and uses of building

300 Both Harris and Welke pointed out the separate business operations and different design principles that the Townsville
office was and is running the practice as a franchise rather than a branch of Troppo practice in the interviews in 2016.

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in a place and the matter of how bureaucracy operates in that place.’ (Interview with Harris in 2016) They
held the keys enabling the expansion of Troppo practice to achieve responsive cohesion at social, cultural
and environmental levels. The following sections address how new forms and design patterns in the
regional offices were adapted to achieve responsive cohesion through social organization, cultural
expression, economic structure and sustainable design.

6.3.1 Social organization

Understanding the local social organization of each project was a point of reference for the
regional offices. It assisted them in integrating an adequate level of understanding in the physical
characteristics of a place, as well as the intensity of its regional development, and patterns of
social life. The physical characteristics of a place influence the unfolding of the clients’ purpose
behind the design, their personal preferences for forming patterns of daily routines around the
house, and the social dynamic they achieve with others (family, friends, visitors and strangers) in
the area (Table 6.3.1a).

Darwin Darwin Townsville Adelaide Byron Bay Perth

1980s Mortlock Connell Russell Hutchinson Howell
Troppo Houses Residence Residence Residence Residence Residence

Developing urbanized Intensity of Rural area in Holiday and resort Highly urbanised A low-density High-profile new
suburbs and low-cost development outback bushland development on an suburb holiday suburb for development area
housing development island beach houses along riverbanks
areas
Purposes
A retreat for A retreat and a place A retreat and a A beach house for A place for
behind the peace and ‘to get away’ place for retirement raising children and retirement and an
design contentment after * Initially the house recalling childhood investment
busy work was built for let like memory property for the
nearby houses, but future
clients changed their
mind after
completion to private
use

Set back and semi- Visibility Set well back and Set well back and Regulated set back Set well back and Set well back but
visible from the road semi-visible from not visible from the and highly visible not visible from the highly visible from
with thick vegetation the road road so that the from the road road as the house is the street because
house is immersed located in a hidden of its height
in surrounding trees lot between a
and boulders

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narrow trail and

main access

Selected interactions Social dynamic Quiet and only Highly interactive Highly interactive Quiet and only Quiet and only
with strangers family and friends, with family and with family, friends family and friends, family and friends,
(tourists and no fences friends from and strangers, no no fences masonry fences
students) due to interstate and fences
nature of the house as overseas, no fences
a Troppo house
(fences were built in
to avoid unnecessary
disturbance and
intrusion)

Relaxation, open-free, Desired Privacy, Privacy, relaxation Privacy and Privacy and safety Privacy and
delight and enjoyment lifestyle contentment and and a slow-paced engagement with for raising offspring relaxation and a
with minimal privacy stress-free lifestyle for doing nature and external surrounded by modern lifestyle to
lifestyle in a more outdoor interactions nature, open space, enjoy life with
remote and activities such as (conversations with fresh ocean breezes outdoor leisure
natural landscape walking on the pedestrians and and quietness and scheduled
area after a busy beach and reading visitors to the park), holidays
day on the deck looking contentment and
out to the ocean. open-free lifestyle
when retired

Table 6.3.1a the relationships between intensity of development, the intent and the visibility of the house, and
the social dynamic of the clients with neighbouring houses in the area.

Connections can be made between time, evolving patterns, changing social organization, and regionally
fixed lifestyles. These connections are as follows.

• The physical site offered both physical and psychological amenities. Physical amenities
were characteristics such as easy access to walk on a beach, jog, swim in the ocean or
read on a veranda/deck with privacy, ambient breezes and daylight. Psychological
amenities were senses of privacy, hiddenness of the site away from public access, retreat
for stress-free relaxation or engagement with the world.
• Design forms and patterns were adapted to respond to the clients’ stages of life, and the
purposes of the house, i.e. a stress-free get away and in-touch-with-the-outback camp
house (Darwin), a holiday and resort retreat (Townsville), retirement and outside-in house
(Adelaide), a family nest that recalls childhood memory and raising family (Byron Bay), and
an investment property to secure a comfortable and prosperous lifestyle later in life when
downsizing to a smaller home (Perth).

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• There were motivations for houses to be larger than seem initially necessary or desirable.
The Connell and Howell Residences are four-bedroom houses for couples who like to
accommodate visiting family and friends. The Howell Residence is located in a holiday and
resort area of Magnetic Island where houses often become serviced bed-and-breakfast or
self-catering holiday houses. The Mortlock, Russell and Hutchinson residences are three-
bedroom houses accommodating a couple or a family of four who enjoy family-orientated
lifestyles. Bigger houses are a particular selling point in high-profile developing areas in
Perth.
• There were patterns from the 1980s Darwin houses that were missing in these residences,
such as shared space (bathroom), unfinished walls with limited privacy, and the concept of
a breathing skin (exposed walls and transitions between inside and outside space). The
‘soft’ space concept has been replaced with more privacy and comfort due to the
conventional desires and awkwardness of some clients. The need to physically move
between inside and outside spaces has been reduced, the enjoyment of this experience
replaced by increased convenience.

6.3.2 Cultural expression

Chapter 4 included a ‘thick’ description of cultural elements in the 1980s Darwin Troppo houses, such
as being on stilts, the use of on-site natural or locally resource materials, and the form of the cultural
symbol of the traditional Australian shed. The houses displayed foreign influences in the regional
architecture of Darwin, as well as the acceptance of hybrid-design building types, and the dynamic
progression of reinvigorating innovative designs to reflect the ‘exotic and exciting’ character for its
‘diverse cultures, political dynamics environment and socio-economics position’ at a given period of time
in history (Interview with Welke in 2016). Troppo envisaged the potential of adapting some of the
features of Darwin’s vernacular architecture to create a Troppo ‘hybrid’ version of contemporary tropical
features with steel cross-bracing as decoration and structural support. The use of steel elements with

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engineered floor structures301 (Figure 6.3.2) was adopted to ensure stability and durability for long-life
building performance. These architectural features of the Darwin houses at the time indicated Troppo’s
values for preserving the cultural uniqueness of Top End architecture and they became distinguishable
characteristics of a Troppo house design at the time.

Figure 6.3.2. The elevations of the 1980s Darwin houses show steel cross-bracing members. The photographs
show the intentional short-span of floor joists, bigger size circular hollow sections (CHS) and I-Beams, and unseen
deeper footings (on the bottom row) as ‘over-engineering’ structures for assuring the occupants of the structural
durability and stability in case of any cyclones and flood.

Subtle differences between the 1980s and contemporary designs of houses were identified through
materiality, compositions of forms, volumes, and local building industry in response to time, cultural
differences, and advancement of construction techniques. Changes reflected the director’s local
knowledge and experience (Interview with Connolly in 2012) for making sense of a place for each region,

301The ‘over-engineering’ of structure was mentioned by the residents of early houses as a family friend of Kaplinger
residents was a structural engineer who mentioned the rigidity of floor and post structures of the house whilst visiting.
There were more floor joists, larger sizes of circular-hollow-section and I-beams and thicker footings. This feature was
necessary to consolidate the durability of Troppo houses to reassure the local community about the safety of their design.

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such as concrete block work to reflect the industrial nature of Townsville, thermal rammed earth walls
to respond to the colder climate of Adelaide, and lavish marble to fit in the exclusive river area of the
mining boom city of Perth (Table 6.3.2a).

Darwin Darwin Townsville Adelaide Byron Bay Perth

1980s Mortlock Connell Russell Hutchinson Howell
Troppo Houses Residence Residence Residence Residence Residence

Steel, timber, Materials Steel, timber, glass, Steel, glass, Steel, glass, concrete Steel, timber, Steel, aluminium
glass, corrugated metal rods, concrete block and slabs, rammed earth glass, , window, door
iron sheets, and plasterboards, slabs, timber, bricks, concrete weatherboards, frames and
plasterboard aluminium sliding plasterboards, panels, timber, plasterboards, balustrade rails,
cladding door frames, corrugated iron plasterboards, polycarbonate plasterboards,
polycarbonate sheets, corrugated iron and corrugated sheets, glass, marble,
corrugated sheets, polycarbonate polycarbonate corrugated iron concrete block work
corrugated iron corrugated sheets corrugated sheets sheets and slabs,
sheets corrugated iron
sheets, and
masonry
Construction
Post-and-beam Post-and-beam High thermal–mass A combined high Post-and-beam A high thermal–
construction, techniques construction, and prefabricated thermal–mass construction, a mix mass construction
timber slatted painted construction with construction with a mix of weatherboards with concrete block,
walls, plasterboards for concrete block work of timber, rammed earth, and painted fibre- slabs and walls with
lightweight internal cladding and slabs, a mix of and concrete cladding cement cladding fibre-cement
suspended and a mix of metal timber and fibre- systems, rammed-earth systems, painted cladding system
timber floor and and timber cladding cement cladding walls for hallway, wet plasterboard for finish, painted
corrugated iron for external walls, with rendered finish, areas (bathroom & internal walls, plasterboard for
cladding suspended timber painted laundry) and fireplace, suspended timber internal walls,
systems floor, timber ceiling plasterboard for painted plasterboard for floor, extruding-box cantilevered steel-
finish, lightweight internal walls, internal walls, and spaces for master framed eves and
corrugated iron standardised suspended concrete bedroom, and balcony, corrugated
cladding and window and door floor system and post- corrugated iron iron roofing system
roofing systems frames, cantilevered and-beam construction roofing system
balcony and for the structural
corrugated iron framework of the house
roofing system plus corrugated iron
roofing system
High thermal– Local A mix of high of High thermal–mass A mix of high thermal- Brick-veneer or High thermal–mass
mass construction thermal–mass construction with mass construction reverse brick- and prefabricated
construction norms construction with concrete floor slabs, such as double-brick, veneer construction construction with
with concrete concrete block and concrete block or brick-veneer or with fibre-cement, concrete block and
block and brick brick-veneer and brick-veneer walls reverse brick-veneer weatherboards, brick-veneer walls
work with lightweight post- often rendered, rendered, concrete timber cladding rendered, stone,
concrete slabs, and-beam steel standardised slabs, corrugated iron systems, double-brick, and
and brick, or construction, window and door or terracotta roofing lightweight steel mostly terracotta
concrete weatherboards, or frames, corrugated system construction, roofing system and
cladding with fibre-cement steel or concrete or elevated structure, flat roofs
corrugated iron cladding systems, terracotta roofing New techniques corrugated iron or
roofing system elevated structure, system include lightweight terracotta roofing New techniques
corrugated iron steel construction, system include lightweight
roofing system New techniques hebel construction, steel construction,
include fibre- and fibre-cement, structural Insulated

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after Cyclone cement and in-situ stone, rammed earth Panels (SIP),
Tracy in 1974 New techniques concrete cladding and in-situ concrete New techniques External Insulated
include fibre- systems with cladding systems with include concrete, Finish System
cement, in-situ concrete tile roofing concrete tile roofing or insulated vinyl (EIFS), fibre-
concrete, stone and flat metal roofs (thermal boards) cement, , and in-situ
timber cladding and fibre-cement concrete cladding
systems with cladding systems systems with
concrete tile roofing concrete tile roofing
or flat metal roofs

Table 6.3.2a This table shows the materials and construction techniques used in the design of the five
contemporary Troppo houses in comparison to the availability of local construction methods.

Best use of local construction materials, trades and techniques demonstrated the adaptability of the
continuity of Troppo’s practice regionally.

‘But we won’t just pick up Darwin’s designs and take them to Queensland….There is a Queensland
approach. It’s about looking for the appropriate housing for Townsville – its climate and its history.’ (Welke,
interviewed by Territory Business, undated)

‘The local knowledge factor is very important, and it’s a great idea to visit a place to take some ideas. It is
important to team up with local architects.’ (Interview with Connolly in 2012)

‘We [general public] always like to build brick veneer housing [conventional building method in
Adelaide]…The three-little-pigs-syndrome...[so this is] a reverse brick veneer house... it gets insulated ...
to turn the other way is against the tradition... we try to use it when it is needed... get the most benefits out
of it [from a climate point of view].’ (Interview with Duffield in 2012)

6.3.3 Economic structure

The affordability of a house lies between the fulfilment of ‘the practice of art’ and the realization of ‘the
making of businesses in competitive professional practices (Interview with Welke in 2011 and Harris in
2016). ‘Practice is business and keeping that running is important’ (Interview with Harris in 2016) and is
regarded as a continuing challenge to Troppo. The designs of the five regional contemporary houses
were direct responses to the residents’ budgets and their expected standard of living. Costs (in three
cases over AUD $800,000) were above the average costs of housing construction in Australia.
Nevertheless, most of the residents accepted running over budgets in return for the quality of spaces of
their houses.

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In this study the adapted patterns were understood by perceiving the directors’ intentions for utilizing
appropriate materials for different climatic conditions, accommodating the needs of clients and regional
social patterns for a preferred lifestyle in the local economy (especially the distributions of housing zones
associated with land values, and types and scales of housing). Fast and efficient construction methods,
modern equipped rooms and extra unused spaces were Troppo’s compromises with the clients to
maintain good relationships with them and sustain the business vitality of the regional offices. A mutual
respect was the driving force for the production of integrated design outputs and for the quality of the
designs of satisfactory houses.

6.3.4 Sustainable design

Troppo have built a reputation for being pioneers of Ecologically Sustainable Design (ESD) with both
Harris and Welke being reluctant to describe their design as a defined style. 302 Rather than having a fixed style
to their work, they took feelings they gathered on site as their inspirations for design forms, lessons learned
from Murcutt’s ‘design in section’ (Interview with Harris in 2011 and 2016), and they adopted the ways
in which Indigenous Australians live naturally with less, evoking their sensitivity and awareness of the
fragility of built environments. Physical form was never the priority in the design of Troppo houses but
‘the use of whole site’ and ‘all corners of a site’ by best making use of the tree, the space around or
beneath it and how a building then responding to that… You never design an object and you don’t care
what it looks like.’ (Interview with Harris in 2016) The wings of an eagle, the tail of a whale and the form
of a tree house were not intentional metaphors but abstract design concepts for Troppo to capture the
geographical setting of the site. The abstraction of built forms emphasized Troppo’s third fundamental
principle for ‘interacting with the outdoors’. Troppo’s inspirations taken from nature recount Alexander’s
perception of the adaptability and of a pattern language to be transparent, dynamic, connected, and
free.

302Troppo do not use metaphors, unlike Australian renowned architect, Glenn Murcutt, who has described his design as a
form of ‘canopy’. Both thought of their design as derived from a feeling of ‘being at the site’ and denied any intentional
symbolic expression of sea creatures, bird forms or movements.

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There were two groups among the regional offices in adopting this feeling-driven, free-form, on-site
approach. Design forms derived from feelings emerging on site in the transparency and free-movement
of everyday spaces were seen in the playful long-runway of the Mortlock residence, as well as in the
moonlight house of the Russell residence, the sailing boat of the Hutchinson Residence. The design
idea of the Connell residence and the Howell Residence did not encapsulate the spirit of the site but
rather followed the traditional vision of distinctive indoor and outdoor spaces according to the clients’
wishes. The design form of the Howell Residence and the Connell residence showed a level of
disconnection to nature but focused more on the comfort and personalised social needs of indoor
spaces, and on convenience. The Troppo ethos for adaptability and lightweight construction, low-energy
consumption, and multi-functional spaces for fewer interior rooms as sustainable design is less apparent
in both houses.

‘It’s completely functional....one quality of our work is that we do it minimalist and we only put in what is
necessary and don’t put in things [walls or materials] that you don’t need….screens and walls and getting
rid of solidness. ..Building on a stick…Form making is not the first priority, the site is first. ‘(Interview with
McNamara in 2011)

‘…as an environmental architect, we are trying to design houses to respond to the site. Some people
come to us [Troppo offices] because of the style or people who come to work with us based on the
fundamental concepts.’ (Interview with Duffield in 2012)

The advocacy of practising sustainable design can be seen in the footprint of houses, in the detailed
sections, material selections, and particular jointing methods evident in the regional office practices.
Through the final product of the houses, the value of sustainable design to the regional director, and its
coherence with Troppo principles can be understood (Interviews with Harris in 2011, McNamara in 2011,
Duffield in 2012, and Connolly in 2012). Nevertheless, there are external factors and circumstances that
Troppo and the directors unanimously agreed upon that need to be examined in a consideration of
sustainable design. They are
• The seeking of a dynamic equilibrium – responsive cohesion – between architects,
residents, environmental contexts, human basic needs and the advanced technologies in
benefiting everyday life. For example, an active cooling system is used when the human-

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factor needs to be a priority, such as in suffering from the extreme heat, with having a new
born baby, ill family members, and the elderly
• The inside-out design tactic for achieving a good sustainable design – designing from
‘sections and details’ to visualize sufficient spaces, and the treatment of potential barriers
(internal and external walls) to come up with effective spatial relationships between indoor
and outdoor spaces for natural ventilation, human movements, and interactions with the
outdoors.

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6.4 Like-minded values and attitudes

Working collaboratively together, learning from each other, respecting elders and being refreshed by
young architects sharing similar values were crucial factors in operating a smooth project for Troppo
and the regional offices (Separate interviews with Harris and Welke in 2016). Both parties (architect and
client) embraced productivity and positivity not only in design and construction processes but also in
final outcomes. Sharing similar value systems made design processes and negotiations smooth by
compromising differences and seeking a satisfactory outcome in a mutually respectful relationship.
Mentoring was found to be essential in those processes as it was a means for consolidating trust and
the continuity of Troppo’s ethos in their regional practice culture.

The five case studies, the contents of interviews with the directors and in-house architects unfolded the
significance of this mentoring. Troppo’s ‘walk the talk’ was a strategy of cultivating the mentoring process
through informal discussions and meetings with a range of considerations - sketches for preliminary
design ideas and concepts in response to climatic and site conditions, the clients’ requirements,
anticipated views and movements, and building codes. The process of this mentoring extended to
directors, in-house architects and clients. The form patterns of the Troppo language were used as the
means to identify feature differences between the 1980s Troppo houses and contemporary Troppo
houses shown in table 6.2.1a. These differences were important as indicators to highlight the regional
directors’ emphasis in either achieving internal relations or contextual relations or seeking a balance
between the two in order to achieve responsive cohesion in the design of contemporary Troppo houses.

The reality of business viability was an acute and unequivocal dilemma observed during investigations
of the unfamiliar Troppo design features in the Connell residence in Townsville and the sumptuous
design of the Howell Residence in Perth. There was a constant struggle in all offices to seek a balance
between making a work of art, having consciousness, sympathy and responsibility for natural and built

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environments, and the economic survival of a responsive practice. ‘Understanding local ways and
building little regional things right, ‘accepting differences between places’ and ‘connecting with people
in different places and building knowledge from each other’, as well as ‘being connected through the
digital age… participating in the community and understanding of how those things operate in a place’
(Interview with Harris in 2016) were the key points of Troppo’s mentoring new recruits with new ways to
learn and build social networks in achieving responsive cohesion in their projects and their ways in
keeping the practice growing.

6.4.1 Mentoring versus survival

The design outcomes and commercial construction of the Connell Residence indicated the
disconnection between the Townsville practice and the other four regional practices. Although there was
some architectural resemblance to Troppo characteristics exhibited in the Connell design, the
standardised and ordered modules for windows and doors and the enclosure-structural framework
reflected the fast pace and economics-driven image of the local tourist culture in the industrialised town
of Townsville. With little mentoring in the Townsville office practice, O’Toole and the in-house architect
had limited knowledge about the connections between Troppo’s hedonistic attitudes, design methods
and core values. Other regional directors and in-house architects could relate Troppo’s design principles
and ethos to their hedonistic attitudes, ethics values and underpinning philosophy for their regionally
and climatically responsive design with the image of ‘drinking man’s architects’ (Figure 6.4.1) and
reasons for their constant involvement in the indigenous housing projects at the rural areas. They
recalled the full attention of their learning in the mentoring with Troppo was built on the variations of
simple forms and climatic-practicality of early Darwin houses, and their teaching for shaping a cohesive
architectural response and ‘the love of Australian informal’ (Interview with Harris in 2016). The
cultivation of fun designs was implicitly taught to them through their laid-back working after-hours with
some drinks, party invitations for opening offices, and semi-formally community-based architectural
talks. (Interview with Welke in 2010 and Harris in 2011) The design of the Connell Residence has some
Troppo distinctive features but less of Troppo’s hedonism in the experience of everyday space, the

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emphasis on delight in the rain, the sunlight, the breezes, the heat, the wild and the house’s natural
surroundings, in particular, Troppo’s love affair in making Australian’ informal spaces.

Figure 6.4.1 The design of Green Can describes Troppo’s hedonistic attitudes for their image of being ‘drinking
man’s architects’. (The Northern Territory News, date unknown)

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During the interviews with the regional directors, struggles were observed between affordable housing
design with sound sustainability characteristics and the survival of their practice in the third decade.
They found that concentrating on passive-design theory for achieving sustainability was a challenge,
with difficulties imposed by changing regulation policy (in Byron Bay and Darwin in particular) and many
competitors, lower demand and tight budgets for residential projects in Townsville, 303 Perth and
Adelaide. 304 The early perception of low-cost and affordable Troppo housing was challenged as a result
of scarce resources, expensive fees for transporting recycled materials from interstate, custom-made
steel and timber beams, and higher labour fees for exquisite hand-craft detailing. Keeping hedonism as
a design principle for a Troppo house came with a high cost for those clients who shared a similar desire
for a laid-back attitude to life and pleasure in ‘the great outdoors. Clients who were like-minded were
reluctant to take the risks required to experience the full delight a Troppo house can offer.

‘Here clients know their ethos but not all the houses here can incorporate their principles into their house
as there are budget constraints and other factors like clients are a bit more conservative’ (Interview with
O’Toole in 2012).

Affordability has become the greatest challenge to most of the regional offices with the tendency towards
increasingly expensive and exclusive design projects. The priority of mentoring was shifted to getting
the design projects done. There were frustrations in achieving budgets by making compromises, such
as having fewer Troppo features, accepting less financially-affordable residential projects,
accommodating wealthy clients with preferences for more indoor-living spaces and bathrooms, and
running independent practices with a different business model (a shift from a residential-focus to a
commercial-focus). At the time of collecting data in the field trips, in Townsville O’Toole runs the Troppo
office alongside his own commercial company – North Point. In Byron Bay, Connolly has a separate

303 O’Toole recalled the situation of merging his commercial practice ‘North Point’ with Troppo’s residential practice in the
Townsville branch: ‘Previous director Geoff Clark was semi-retiring as he had an illness and was financially stress related
and he didn’t say. He wanted to get out of the day-to-day running of the business. He loved his architecture but he
struggled with the business side of it like collecting bills and getting people to pay and just running the office generally.’
(Interview with O’Toole in 2012)
304 Duffield discussed possibilities for trying a larger scale project based on a realistic perspective for architectural business

model practice. ‘Troppo practice was always like scouts projects like when they were in Darwin doing the defence housing.
It was a substantial project. We’d like to do more of this from [tropical house design with open structure] for the
architectural business model practice as it is always better to try a larger scale project. There are a few of those [large
scale projects] gradually coming through but it is a hard market to get.’ (Interview with Duffield in 2012)

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sole practice – Beach Architect – and follows his own architectural style without any strings attached to
Troppo’s ethos. (Interview with Connolly in 2012) In both O’Toole’s and Connolly’s separate practices,
there is a clear difference in the designs of houses that is driven by clients’ design preferences and
building approvals, and fewer environmental considerations. Larger footprints of indoor-living spaces
(more bedrooms and bathrooms), increasing use of air-conditioning and standardised architectural
components (windows and doors), and shorter construction time were implemented to meet clients’
wishes, aiming to minimize production time, easily get building approvals and avoid constructability
issues by having fewer costly design forms and details. There are no single ‘shared space’ bathrooms
and less transitional outdoor space (verandahs, breezeways and decks) between the inside and outside
of the house (Table 6.4.1).

‘An evocative form that responds to the climate.’ (Interview with Duffield in 2012)

‘They are particular to its region, [and] material. You can quite see it when the art and culture are from
connecting to the soul and the place.’ (Interview with McNamara in 2011)
‘They apply that to the climate and give attention to different regions.’ (Interview with Connolly in 2012)

‘The first word that springs into my head will be responsive. It is evident in the work.’ (Interview with Clark
in 2013)

Darwin Darwin Townsville Adelaide Byron Bay Perth

1980s Mortlock Connell Russell Hutchinson Howells
Troppo houses Residence Residence Residence Residence Residence

3+ Number of 1+ 2 3+1 2+1 3 3+3

bedrooms (open space with (study) (study/guest) (media/study/
no doors) guest)
1 +1 Number of 1 3 2 1+1 5
bathrooms (outdoor) (outdoor bathroom +
(outdoor bathroom + outdoor open
outdoor open shower) shower)
-
Verandahs/corridors/a Transitional Extensively long Indoor entry Verandahs/deck Indoor hallways
flight of stairs/deck/ outdoor space verandahs/breeze
breezeways (outside-inside) way

Table 6.4.1 There is a connection to comfort, convenience, contemporary lifestyles, and an increasing number
of bedrooms, indoor bathrooms, and missing Troppo elements of outdoor shower and a shared bathroom, and
spaces.

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6.4.2 Interconnection and disconnection in design collaboration

Disconnections and the absence of mentoring were also factors that led to recognizable changes in the
Troppo language. They were apparent in O’Toole’s accent on applying the cost-effectiveness and time-
efficiency of commercial projects 305 to residential projects, such as tilt-up concrete construction.
(Interview with Khasmina in 2012) ‘Time consuming’ was the reason given for the Townsville office to
replace conventional residential construction with fast-effective commercial construction for housing
projects. The struggles and experiences of Troppo’s early Darwin practice had little influence on the
commercially-focused practice of the Townsville office. Accepting fewer residential projects in favour of
more commercial and large scale projects was necessary to ‘maintain a steady-income’ as the average
time spent on the design and construction processes of a residential project is longer than on those of
a commercial project (interview with Khasmina and O’Toole in 2012). Very little design collaboration
between Townsville and the other offices was sought.

‘Most of our work will be commercial and secondary homes for Southern people who build holiday homes
in the surrounding countryside… From a Troppo point of view, there is more about the business side of
things than the design in the Townsville branch.’ (Interview with O’Toole in 2012).
‘Accessible materials are predominately masonry blocks...We have tried different things and saving
money here... tilt-up concrete for instance… But there is a high cost in steel and timber and Troppo
houses are more expensive here… Lots of clients want a bunker and lots of clients want to build a cyclone
resistant house predominantly as holiday home when they come… a block frame and shut up for the
cyclone seasons.’ (Interview with O’Toole in 2012).
‘It will be interesting to see how we are going to marry Troppo style into the commercial buildings.’ 306

(Interview with O’Toole in 2012)

‘We have little design collaborations with the Townsville branch as they work differently. We mainly
collaborate in design projects with other offices when they are in need of human resources and information
sharing.’ (Interview with Duffield in 2012)

305 Khasmina pointed out that O’Toole and he believed that encountering financial difficulties in running the Townsville
branch was due to working on more time consuming and less profitable residential projects over the years: ‘It takes a
similar amount of time to do a commercial project when profits are greater with time efficiency in the completion of a
building from a business point of view in practice.’ (Interview with Khasmina in 2012)
306 O’Toole expressed an explicit initiative in marrying Troppo style into the design of commercial buildings. He mentioned

that several attempts had been made in recent commercial projects like office buildings, government public buildings,
extensions of hospitals and a University dormitory.

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6.5 Value and attitude by effect and experience

Troppo present their values and attitudes through the design process of communicating design ideas,
producing sketches and dialogues between the directors, in-house architects, and clients. Individuals can
understand Troppo’s design features together with their environmental concerns for sustainable living and
their aspirations to be responsible hedonists through verbal discussions and graphic sketches. These are
the media used for transferring their features into floor plans, construction details, and section plans.
Studying these sketches alongside the interview materials showed that Troppo articulated a priority
ordering of design decisions for what they considered to be the best solutions for achieving their
conceptual responsive cohesion between form, people and the house. The connectivity graphs of the five
contemporary Troppo houses showed how much the regional directors understood and resonated with
Troppo’s values.

There is a place-people connection which has clearly affected Troppo’s, directors’ and in-house architects’
attitudes. O’Toole’s commercial design has been established as a result on his life experience living in
Townsville; Harris and Welke set up home-city based practices with their family commitments in Adelaide
and Perth; Connolly has chased a life adventure with the challenges of Byron Bay, and McNamara wished
to return-home to Darwin for a better opportunity. These factors may have seemed irrelevant to the
changes to the design language. However, on the contrary, they created profound architectural effects on
the designs of houses that reflect their richness of local knowledge and their understanding of an everyday
life which the members of the community can live.

The experience of an everyday life often consists of a mix of memories of institutional learning, home and
work. Darwin and Townsville were the birthplaces of McNamara and of O’Toole respectively. Their core
values were fostered by their understanding of their regional culture gained from childhood memory.
McNamara’s values were expressed in an open design of a house which offered a care-free lifestyle in

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the tropics reminding him profoundly of his childhood. 307 On the other hand, O’Toole’s values were seen
through monolithic ‘bunker houses’ (Interview with O’Toole in 2012) reflecting images from his childhood
in an industrial town followed by twenty years of experience in a commercial ‘suburbia city’. Townsville to
him was an industrial town with a majority of conservative-minded local residents who preferred an
enclosed living space with privacy and security, rather than an open-living lifestyle. This explained the
reason the Connells, Melbourne-based urban residents, rejected Rohan’s initial design concepts which
were aligned with Troppo’s design principles but accepted O’Toole’s ideas for a more enclosed and
secured internally living space. While O’Toole has demonstrated his understanding of Troppo’s
climatically responsive design through spacious verandah spaces, the use of ceiling fans and pitched-
roofs, McNamara’s emphasised contextual responses by a simple and open plan and O’Toole’s
emphasised internal responses by a complex internal circulation plan. Comparison of their spatial
arrangement (the Mortlock Residence’s connectivity graph on page 163 and the Connell Residence’s
connectivity graph on page 196) differentiates the two seemingly Troppo-like-minded designs of
contemporary Troppo houses and reveals their differences in continuing Troppo’s values and attitudes in
practice.

307 McNamara claimed that an important factor for working with Troppo was their elevated and lightweight design of houses
which reminded him of his meaningful childhood. For him, running Troppo’s practice is a way to restore and build the feel
of simple open-plan houses with functionality and aesthetic appearance.

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6.6 Summary
With the overview of the expansion of their practice and the narrative of the regional directors, this
chapter has revealed connections between the evolving form patterns in the Troppo language and
people, place and time. This discussion has also made sense of the connections between Troppo’s
shared philosophies about sustainable and climate-responsive design and the relative diversity of the
five regional offices. Mentoring cultivated ‘Troppo’s brand’ currency to people and disseminated the love
of Australian’s informal living lifestyle, as well as maintaining their high spirit in making ‘a succession
plan’, as Harris pointed out, to continue their ‘goes Troppo’ journey. (Interview with Harris in 2016)

Analysing the evolving form patterns in the Troppo design language offers an understanding of the
adaptability of their housing from being Darwin-responsive to regional-responsive. Through the process,
a shift in design decision-making processes and a development of Troppo’s practice culture were
identified after their expansion to multiple offices. Design changes in architectural form, materials,
details, tectonics, and construction methods were distinguishable for expressing the climatic differences,
as well as sensitivity to different regional cultures, different social organizations, and built environments.
Some of Troppo’s most recognizable features were modified to respond to site, local community,
advancement and availability of construction techniques and materials, requirements of wealthier
clients, and changing building regulations. These changes were inevitable to reflect the uniqueness of
cultural contexts and the social-patterns of contemporary lifestyles for everyday living. Two of the case-
study house sites were situated in apparently pristine outback settings, another was in a wealthy city
suburb, one in a less wealthy city suburb and one in a holiday resort which is also an exclusive residential
zone. In all of them residents were engaged with confined or open living spaces, their daily routine, the
surrounding landscape and the neighbouring houses in profound ways. A regionally responsive way of
everyday living for Troppo-like hedonists has been accomplished with different levels of satisfaction but
common reporting of delight-filled experiences.

The focus of analysing the five case studies on the contemporary Troppo houses with the comparison
of the 1980s Troppo houses was not aimed at seeking a set of design rules or of graphic configurations

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for generalizing Troppo’s design principles in diagrams, but rather to explore the meaning of their design
by drawing connections between form patterns of their language, their values, attitudes, and contingent
events. The interviews with Harris and Welke, the other regional directors (former and current), in-house
architects (former and current) and residents helped to understand the underlying constituents for the
continuity of the Troppo practice over thirty-five years. Through the lens of residents who are residing in
the 1980s houses and in the contemporary houses, the coherence of Troppo’s philosophy in promoting
a responsible hedonist lifestyle is apparent. Through the lens of the regional directors and in-house
architects, the consistency and persistence of Troppo’s endeavours in pursuing building that is
responsive to nature and sustainability can be seen.

Troppo’s hedonist attitude all started with the heat, rain and a little madness in the tropics. As time went
by, it has transcended into an optimistic and go-with-the-flow attitude that Troppo used to turn contingent
life events and interruptions into opportunities for establishing regional offices at various stages of their
practice. Their thinking-for-others attitude resonated with Fox’s general ethical value for ‘things’ (a non-
living thing such as a design work on a small scale or a living thing like a community on a large scale)
and for a thinking process. This is the Troppo attitude to make the design of houses and buildings work
from ‘inside out’. With this attitude a balance of internal and contextual relations was sought in their
work, with compromises and understanding for the world we live in. There is the process of making-
sense of design essentials that occurred between Troppo, the directors, in-house architects, and their
clients. Good architect-client relationships determined the viability and prosperity of the regional practice
(internal relations) and the expansion of Troppo’s design ideologies in response to climate, history, and
care for fragile environments (contextual relations).

The findings have also exposed the divergence of Troppo practice culture, the impact on design
decisions and the Troppo language by the wealthy clients, changing building codes and social contexts
of place in response to time and circumstances. They have thrown light on the repositioning of Troppo’s
regionally responsive practice with its changing socio-economic demography. It was apparent that
designing an affordable and low-energy contemporary Troppo house was still Troppo’s goal, but difficult
to achieve in the current housing market with its costs and expectations of space and comfort.

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The quality and delightful experience of everyday space can only be felt by the residents through
connections to their desired lifestyles that suit their daily routines. Some profound memories are made
while the residents deeply engage with family and friends with every turn and corner of the house. These
memories encompass the life goals and objectives of each family, such as raising a young family, better
retirement living, a retreat to a childhood memory, and a change to an open, care-free and living-in-
nature lifestyle. The Troppo regional offices endeavour to deliver them a personalised Troppo house
which offers a sense of belonging. A Troppo house is not just a shelter that responds to climate, reflects
regional culture and achieves sustainability, but a core part of a day-to-day lifestyle for people who know
what they want and enjoy at any stage of their lives. A Troppo house, after all, is all about
accommodating a lifestyle valid for its time and place.

An apparent exception that, perhaps, demonstrates the flexibility of this rule in the Troppo practice is a
small forest retreat that Troppo designed in 2002 at Cape Otway on Victoria’s cool-temperate southern
coast. This is a post-and-beam steel structure that was required to be prefabricated off site, according
to the client’s brief, but to be delivered in small frames and panels light enough for two people to carry
over 2 kms into the bush from the nearest road, 308 Whilst situated as far from the tropics of the Top-
End as it could possibly be in continental Australia, the semi-transparent materials and aesthetic of this
contemporary lightweight building appear to have continued the ideals and the formal and technical
patterns of the earlier Darwin houses more faithfully than any of the five contemporary case-studies that
were proposed for examination in this study by the Troppo partners themselves. But, faithful first and
foremost to the clients’ conservation-driven ethic to ‘touch the earth lightly’ with their nature-loving
lifestyle, regardless of their own thermal comfort, even this incongruously ‘light’ house seems to support
the overarching observation of these regional case studies that when all the various determinants align
in the design of a Troppo house, ‘responsive cohesion’ is achieved.

308
Ball Turnball, Cape Otway, Vic, 2002, Offical Troppo website. Viewed, 12/03/2017 at:
http://www.troppo.com.au/ball-turnball

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Chapter 7
Conclusions

This study of Troppo houses has sought to contribute substantively to understanding of the relationships
between lived everyday space, human behaviour and decision-making about the ways people may
choose to live, and to design the spaces they inhabit, despite the messiness of the unexpected
circumstances and challenging situations imposed upon us. As the multi-facetted analysis of both the
‘hard’ and the ‘soft’ spatial qualities and experience of these houses has revealed, they illustrate the
power of architecture to shape not only the physical world we live in, but our attitudes towards it; they
remind us how significant the impact of the built environment can be on everyday life.

The description and interpretation of Troppo’s design language over three decades of development and
diffusion has contributed to our knowledge of how architects’ understandings, experiences and attitudes
about place, the land, history, people and the world can be captured in form-patterns that enable designs
to be adapted coherently to diverse contexts. Assertions about the responsible nature of Troppo’s
practice, which have been critically cross-examined in this research, are substantively supported by the
deeper understanding this has revealed of their responsible hedonist ethos, and its influence on the
ethics of the practice. The experience of Troppo in Darwin and then in the five Troppo regional offices
has offered rich and substantive evidence that in contingent practice spirit, persistence, acceptance and
adaptation can make the design of houses work to enhance the lives of their occupants and evolve over
time to meet changed circumstances.

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The theoretical framework through which this longitudinal and comparative analysis of the development
of the Troppo language and practice was interpreted comprised three themes – patterns, contingency,
and responsive cohesion – with reference to which I will now briefly articulate, the final conclusions of
this thesis.

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7.1 Coherent form-patterns

To make sense of Troppo’s design principles, theory and methods, it is essential to understand that
‘responding to the site’ has always been their foremost design priority. In the extensive independently
conducted interviews that underpinned this study, ‘responding to the site’ was the only response in
common that both Harris and Welke emphasized in discussions about form-making, construction
technique, and spatial planning. From one project to the next, this priority was the design constant from
which the coherent form-patterns of their architectural language emerged, and the distinctive space,
form, materiality and volume of the early Troppo houses in particular. As the preceding graphic analyses
of those 1980s houses has shown, together with the original drawings and construction details, the
characteristic patterns and coherence of that original 1980s language were clear. Through the interviews
with Troppo and the residents of the 1980s Darwin houses, moreover, the voice of the residents affirmed
their affection for and belief in Troppo’s fundamental principles: embracing the climate, the site and its
environment and not working against it; and making ambiguous the experience of where outside ends
and inside begins through a series of visual patterns in space and sensual connections between house
and landscape.

Identifying the general connectivity diagram from typical 1980s Troppo Darwin houses was a crucial link
in understanding Troppo’s versatile spatial patterns, and their endeavour to enhance the everyday
experience of a tropical lifestyle in the Top End at the time. In marked contrast to most other houses of
the time, 1980s Troppo houses were characterised by simple and recognizably tropical features such
as inside-outside circulation, roofed-verandah living spaces, part-height internal walls, houses on stilts,
lightweight cladding, adjustable and breathing skins, and high pitched corrugated iron roofs coupled with
articulated elevations and volumetric semi-open enclosures. Troppo’s hedonist attitudes – light-hearted,
laid-back, cordial and amicable – were shown in the interactions with their clients, who recounted their
delightful communications with Troppo while integrating their ideas with Troppo’s version of everyday
space with content, excitement, happiness, and a mindset for sustainable living. Clients commented that
engaging themselves fully in both design and construction processes had been educational, that they
consciously and constantly thought about living with less daily energy consumption, less use of the
heating and cooling systems, and spending more time outdoors. There was a significant change of living

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behaviour with less caring about built-up cobwebs and dusty interiors because they enjoyed the
connection and openness with the outdoors.

The making of this lifestyle took place through a design process that resonated with Alexander’s concept
of a pattern language. Notably, the patterns of the Troppo language not only connect people to the
space, place and things around them to consolidate the internal relations of responsive cohesion, but
these patterns also serve to achieve the responsive cohesion between the houses and their
environmental contexts. They show how people change their thinking, behaviour and actions towards a
more sustainable way of living through spatial experience and interaction with nature and the world they
live in, by constantly responding to and engaging with the site for their same love of Australian
informality.

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7.2 Effect of the differences and similarities

The 1980s Troppo design language was evident in the distinctive characteristics of their houses, despite
their claims that the work was an expression of their love of Australian’s informal way of living, with no
particular design style. This language was inherently rooted in the essential regional vernaculars and
social pattern of ways of living in the tropics – live above the ground in the Wet hot season to keep dry,
and live underneath the house in the Dry hot season to keep cool.

Troppo’s visually distinctive construction methods — steel post-and-beam and exposed structures,
simple details and joints, and houses on stilts coupled with louvers, shutters and large areas of verandah
– constituted the iconic architectural expression of a Troppo house for the tropics. It was later translated
to other climates, regional cultures, and built environments. The modified design features in the
language were Troppo’s adaptations in response to different times, places, rapidly advancing
technologies in the building industry and changing building regulations, and client attitudes. Outside
Darwin, changes were evident in the patterns of soft space, such as the reduced use of shared space
(bathroom and toilet), more desire for privacy, cleanliness and control (resulting in the sealing of rooms
for privacy and keeping out insects, dust and breezes, more use of air-conditioning and heaters, less
use of banks of operable openings), less performing of daily activities in outdoor spaces (laundry,
storage and outdoor shower). The similarities were in the remaining patterns of hard space such as
living verandahs, exposed roof structures, corrugated iron roof cladding, post-and-beam structure, and
deep overhangs created to resemble Troppo’s ‘no-particular’ style. Overall, there was a clear message
that the changes indicated a decreasing value of sustainable design and a simple way of life, and the
similarities indicated the increasing artefact value of the aesthetic appearance of a Troppo house. ‘Soft
space’ for the occupant’s well-being, care-free spirit, and enjoyment was replaced with more internal
enclosure, privacy, security, comfort and convenience in contemporary living in ways that indicated a
shift away from tolerance and environmental concerns for sustainability. Occupants in the later house
designs 309, missed the delight of moving between the inside and outside spaces of the house. The full

309
The ‘later’ refers to houses designed in the regional offices after the 1980s Darwin period.

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delight of a responsible hedonist way of living has been lost in some of the houses along with the
absence of certain typical Troppo design features.

The explicit shift that derived from these changes to the Troppo language signified the way Troppo dealt
with contingency. They created opportunities and maintained business viability in the uncertain success
or failure of their expansion, the diversity of emerging new practices, and the pressure of the economic
market in different regions. The dominant image of Troppo’s simple and economically-based practice of
backyard architecture has gradually been substituted by the image of an award-winning practice with
avant-garde and innovative architectural features. Now Troppo’s architectural features have become a
‘blue-ribbon’ tag for ‘rich white fellows’, as Welke pointed out (Interview with Welke in 2016), for wealthy
clients rather than a meaningful expression of an everyday lifestyle for ordinary people. The exclusivity
of the design of everyday Troppo house developed since 2005, indicated a mismatch between the ethos
and combat reality 310 of their practice. A Troppo house is no longer an affordable house which is
available to clients who wish to live a hedonist life but with insufficient budgets. A Troppo house with an
Australian informal lifestyle comes with a high price tag. Today, the cost of a contemporary Troppo
house is above the average affordable housing prices 311. A Troppo house has become an expensive
and exclusive social status symbol for a prestigious and luxury holiday or high-profile residential location.

The effect of changing codes was another factor influencing the changes in the language. Some building
codes were rigid because they intended to provide inhabitants with a human-centred-comfortable and
fear-free living environment, despite the fact that they were climatically unresponsive and inappropriate

310 In recent years, Troppo has shown their endeavours in rekindling their philosophy of affordable housing design.

Whitmore Square Affordable Eco-Housing in the CBD of Adelaide was Troppo’s revival for low-cost and low-energy
everyday lifestyle with considerably shared communal spaces, articulated façade design, robust and lightweight materials
(steel, timber and corrugated iron and polycarbonate roofs), working cross-ventilation, sufficient sunlight, solar panels as
eaves as well as their signature design of exposed roofing structure and extensive overhangs for balconies. The housing
apartments sought to express the qualities of Australian Urban living with informality in a changing urban landscape and a
contemporary modern lifestyle. This complex of Eco-housing apartments was complete in 2011 and received its
recognition by winning Australia Institute of Architects SA state awards Commendation for both Multi-Residential and
Sustainability Awards in the same year.
311 The measures of housing prices ranges from $487,000 in capital cities to $319,000 in regional areas. This information

was taken from the paper by Ryan Fox and Richard Finlay, ‘Dwelling prices and household income’, Reserve Bank of
Australia Bulletin, December Quarter 2012, available at: http://www.rba.gov.au/publications/bulletin/2012/dec/pdf/bu-1212-
2.pdf. This paper was included in an overview, An Affordable Housing Reform Agenda: Goals and Recommendations for
Reform for Community Housing Federation of Australia, Homelessness Australia, National Association for Tenants’
Organisations and National Shelter in March 2015.

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in the sense of pragmatic practice. These rigid regulations imposed changes on Troppo house designs.
Troppo’s original incentive for passive design for energy efficiency was compromised by being forced to
integrate both active and passive designs. For instance, in Darwin air-conditioning (AC) has become
such a routine commodity for residents to cope with the heat that current building regulations require
that newly built houses are appropriate for AC. Similarly, in Perth design to suit the installation of AC
has been recommended for achieving higher energy-efficient measurement (equivalent to Green-star
rating) for a building approval. This energy-efficient measurement has been commonly used as a means
to ensure better living standards for human comfort and quality of indoor spaces. Thus, it has become
impossible to build houses like the 1980s Darwin houses because obtaining building approvals for such
house designs has become more difficult and even rejected. This issue became a major challenge to
the continuity of the 1980s Darwin house designs and subsequent attempts by others to design Troppo-
like houses by following the generalised patterns in the contexts of the building codes, with a clear
resistance of building codes to passive designs without the aids of modern facilities in both regions to
ensure indoor comfort. This may change. With Troppo’s continuous efforts in promoting designs
embracing natural environments and the awareness of global warming, Harris was invited to be the chair
for the Domestic Building Code Review Group in the Northern Territory in 2015. This is a significant step
towards shaping a pragmatic practice with sustainability and simplicity where houses are not just shelter
for people but home as a beautiful ‘place’ for expressing the love and a sense of belonging of their lives
in the land of informal Australia.

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7.3 Troppo values and attitudes

Troppo values and attitudes are clearly seen in the presence of client-architect relationships and
mentoring. There are two groups of clients that describe client-architect relationships in the Troppo
regional offices – the starter and sophisticated levels of Troppo like-minded clients. The sophisticated
clients express more interest in exploring Troppo’s early work in the media, publications and physical
visits in general. The designs of their houses resemble the 1980s Darwin houses in form and everyday
experience. The starter clients have a general and basic understanding of Troppo’s fundamental
principles and theory of climatically responsive design, regardless of the length of time of knowing
Troppo. There is a distinctive difference between what they know of Troppo values and objectives in
design, and what they want for their product. Troppo’s fundamental principles are familiar on a
conceptual level among most of the starter and advanced clients. However, the starter clients have
generally declined to incorporate all of them in the design of their house due to their desire for a more
luxurious, comfortable, and convenient lifestyle for their retirement or for the better resale value of the
house. These clients displayed less understanding of Troppo’s incentives to achieve sufficient everyday
spaces and an energy-efficient lifestyle as a means to accomplish their vision of responsive cohesion.

Mentorship is another key for understanding the nature of Troppo values and attitudes. A particular
Troppo practice culture was initially developed among the regional offices through design collaboration,
resource sharing, exchanges of design ideas and concepts, and senior staff-support in production.
Mentorship was all about ‘learning by seeing, listening, and comprehending’ through a continuous
process of verbal explanation and visual communication with sketches. Troppo’s interactive mentoring
was naturally developed in a learning-at-work and relaxed environment. The importance of mentoring
in this can be understood through the unfamiliar design features in the Connell Residence by the
Townsville office. Here there was a clear disconnection between the Townsville office and the other
regional offices with little design collaboration. A marked divergence in values and attitudes was
displayed, and this had an effect in the extension of the mentoring to the clients in the design processes
and communication.

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Across the board, seeking ways to keep business viability in the regional offices was a challenge, with
indications of clients’ frustrations for achieving budgets requiring the compromises of designing with
fewer Troppo features, accepting fewer financially affordable residential projects, and accommodating
wealthy clients with larger footprint house designs. There was a shift from a design-for-site-and-low-
cost-focused practice to a commercial-reality-focused practice. This trend was seen in O’Toole’s
commercial practice and Connolly’s separate practice aspiring to the identity of a personalised
architectural style. In Perth, Welke needed to accommodate the desires and wishes of wealthy clients.

Troppo houses are dwellings for responsible hedonists. They are here characterised as a metaphor for
life. They can be theorised as a way of everyday living by understanding Troppo’s intrinsic value of a
responsive cohesive way by which we should live, as suggested by Fox. Troppo houses are exemplars
for understanding the relationship between a whole (people, place, living and non-living things, events,
activities and contexts), and its parts, in the largest dimension of the bio-physical world. Embracing this
understanding gives us reassurance in realizing the importance of being an individual, existing as a part
that fits well in our sophisticated physical world.

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7.4 The Journey from 1980 to 2014

The primary research question of this thesis was How do the designs of houses from Troppo Architects’
five regional offices in the decade up to 2014 relate to the ideas and values Harris and Welke espoused
in their first decade of practice in Darwin from 1980? The answer to this question lies within the journey
of Troppo’s five regional offices. This answer is not found only in the final design product of the 1980s
Darwin houses and of the five contemporary houses, but also in a series of events, dialogues, and life
incidents that were revealed in the process of drawing connections between these two sets of Troppo
house designs. To say it explicitly, both Troppo’s products (the houses) and their processes offer
lessons that may be useful to architecture students and professionals. Their work and experience
demonstrate the following:

Adaptability and sustainability

• Architectural design based on simple geometry is a pragmatic strategy for adaptability;

• Flexibility and freedom is offered by spaces that are not limited to fixed functions, size and
number of spaces in the design of houses;
• Sustainable designs can be achieved through effective spatial planning combined with simple
but adequate technology;
• Adding active systems to supplement basic passive design is a responsible strategy to comply
with changing building codes, coping with extreme weather, and satisfying clients’ needs and
expectations, but there is compromise because the volumes and construction best suited to
passive design is not the same as for active systems;
• Changes in building codes can have unintended effects on design;
• A design pattern language is not static but continuously evolving; it has to respond to
contingencies of time, place and needs of individuals for desirable everyday living with
conscious sustainability.

Housing design and lifestyle

• Living well in a house involves a balance between intensity of delight and continuity of physical
comfort;

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• Efficient and transparent indoor-outdoor spaces can enhance both the physical health and
psychological well-being of the occupants by connecting them with nature for a deeper and
stronger bond;
• Satisfaction with everyday living can be achieved by creating a sense of ‘home’ with intimate
personal spaces (reading corners and living verandahs) and emotions such as delight,
contentment and freedom in both indoor and outdoor spaces;
• If the climate permits, outdoor alternatives for activities usually accommodated indoors can
reduce building costs and offer an enhanced experience. For example, an outdoor shower and
outdoor laundry can be installed in a semi-enclosed outdoor space.

Communication and mentoring

• Effective and frequent communication and encouragement of the clients’ involvement in design
and construction processes can resolve design conflict and issues (costs, construction and
design alterations) between architects and clients;
• Through the process of mentoring, architects can develop their clients’ environmental concerns,
educate them about the importance of tolerance by embracing what nature has to offer;
• Mutual respect between directors, staff and their clients underlies the survival of multi-branch
regional practices;
• Sensible and responsible design decisions can be made jointly by architect and clients through
conversation and sketches to achieve the desired comfort and lifestyle and reduce the impacts
of house designs on the environment;
• Ethics must be embraced in design processes as well as design products to achieve sustainable
outcomes.

Harris and Welke, the regional directors, and the in-house architects display their perseverance by
persistently operating with ‘good faith’ between the boundaries of their own design language, bending
or amending its rules to meet local and changing conditions as needed. This ‘good faith’ they keep is a
testament to their belief in climatically and regionally/culturally-responsive design coupled with the

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playfulness of Troppo’s responsible-hedonist attitude that has been the anchor all along for a practice
that continues to expand and grow in all regions of Australia. 312

312 In 2016, Troppo opened two new regional offices, with the newly appointed director Greg Norman operating from

Sydney, and the former in-house architect and director in the Townsville office, Geoff Clark, now based in Launceston as
the director of the new Tasmanian office.

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 APPENDIX A: JOURNAL ARTICLE

Appendix A
Journal Article

This journal article focuses on houses designed by Troppo Architects in Darwin, northern Australia, in
the 1980s. They are exemplary in demonstrating responsive cohesion between their form and local
environmental and cultural contexts, including the idea of hedonism as a design principle.

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Huang, J. & Radford, A. (2013). Houses for responsible hedonists: Troppo Architects
in the North of Australia, 1980–1990.
Architectural Research Quarterly, 17(3-4), 217-226.

NOTE:
This publication is included on pages 366 - 377 in the print
copy of the thesis held in the University of Adelaide Library.

It is also available online to authorised users at:

http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1359135514000049
 APPENDIX B: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Appendix B
Interview Questions

Appendix B consists of three sets of interview questions. The first set of interview questions is designed
for the founders of Troppo Architects; the second set is designed for the regional directors, former and
current in-house architects; and the final set is designed for the occupants of the 1980s Darwin Troppo
houses and the clients of the five regional contemporary houses. These questions are semi-constructed
questions to provide guidance and prompts to interviewees in order to complete each interview in a fixed
timeframe.

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 APPENDIX B: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Interview questions for the founders of Troppo Architects

Aims and objectives of interviews

Stage one of this study seeks to identify a ‘pattern’ of design forms in the early work of Troppo Architects
in the 1980s, and get an insight into the expansion of their regional offices in the 1990s. Interview
questions are framed to understand the design process of Troppo Architects in response to place,
people, sustainability and built environments. The interview questions focus on unfolding the process of
the development of their design principles and ethos for their first Darwin operation. It will be crucial to
extract the relevant activities, events, important design projects and people who brought influences and
shaped their design ideas. These questions are also designed to unravel their attitudes and values for
good housing design to obtain a desired lifestyle.

The first decade – between 1980 and 1990

Q1) Why did you choose Darwin as the base of your professional practice?
• What was the motivation for practicing tropical architecture?
• What were you trying to establish when you first started in Darwin? And why?

Q2) What was the primary concern when you started practicing this so-called Top End architecture when
you were an outsider?
• What were the general perceptions and visions of tropical architecture you had in your practice
at that time? (Relationships with local residents and architects)
• How did you get your first project?
• Was there a different culture in the Top End?
• What were the needs of the local community?
• How long did it take the local community to accept your practice? What was the key ?
• Perceptions and visions of tropical architecture in your practice
Q3) What were your design principles?
• How did you come up with these principles?
• Climatic considerations
• Any awareness of environmental issues
• A sense of place – site surroundings
• A broad concern for the built environment (after Tracy Cyclone)
• Any economic issues
• Diversity of socio-cultural aspects
• Any specific choices of materials
• Building techniques and innovations
• Any thoughts derived from space, form and aesthetics of architecture in practice

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 APPENDIX B: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

• Whose work has influenced you the most in your early professional practice?

Q4) How would you initiate a design project? What was your process of design?
• Responses and approaches to spatial arrangements
• Compositions of forms and detailings
• Relevant tangible design ideas such as environmental, social, cultural and economic aspects

The second decade – between 1990 and 2000

Q5) How did your design principles and concepts change and/or develop in the second decade of your
practice?
• What changed your design principles?
• Why did you changed them?

Q6) What issues or concerns arised during the process of developing your design principles?
• Ecological/Environmental issues
• Social issues
• Cultural issues
• Economic issues
• Status of clients (domestic clients and government clients)
Q7) What were you trying to express through your architecture?
• The visual expressions
• How did you express your architecture?
• Was there an architectural language that you were trying to speak metaphorically?
Q8) What were the key reasons for expanding you Darwin practice to Townsville and Adelaide in 1995
and 1999 respectively?
• Job requirements and convenience
• Personal preferences (family reasons etc)
• A different mindset for denoting the architecture of Troppo Architects
Q9) (If nor answered in response to the previous questions) How do you think your style change
during these twenty years?
• Building form (roofs, walls, structure, access, connections between spaces, etc)
• Materials
• Details and ways of joints

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 APPENDIX B: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Interview questions for regional directors and in-house architects

Aims and objectives of interviews

Conducting interviews with Troppo Architects’ design partners and in-house architects is the way to
unfold their views for the design process of houses, their motivation and dynamics with other architects
and clients, design considerations, design constraints, as well as their understanding for relationships
between the physical building and its cultural, economic and environmental contexts. Interviews will be
conducted by telephone calls or personal contacts. The availability of each interviewee will be confirmed
by emails for their convenient times and dates. Interview will be recorded with the consent of
interviewees.

Interviews with architects who have deep associations with the founders of Troppo Architects will provide
an insight into the early history of the development and changes of the work of Troppo Architects.
Interviews will focus on the following topics:
• The relationship with Troppo Architects (years of practice and the role);
• Understandings on key principles and design theory embedded in designs of the work of Troppo
Architects at the early practice;
• Significant buildings at the early practice and reasons behind the scene;
• A specific point of time during the process of design when cultural, social, economic and
environmental aspects were considered; and
• The most difficult aspects during the process of the design in practice and methods of overcoming
problems.
•

Interviews questions will address the followings:

• The relationship with Troppo Architects (selected building and the role);
• The dynamic and interactive relationships with Troppo Architects in the process of designing
buildings;
• Their perception of the language/style of Troppo Architects in relation to sustainability, place and
culture; and
• Emotional feelings towards selected buildings in relation to senses of belonging (only applicable to
clients/occupants) and comfort.

Q1) What is your role in the firm of Troppo Architects? How do you interact with others in a collaborative
design project?
• What are your specific job requirements in the firm?
• Preliminary design stage, design principles development and computing technical support in
composition of space, form and materials, and construction methods

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 APPENDIX B: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

• Collaborative design interactions among the colleagues of the same office and from other offices

Q2) How long have you been working for Troppo Architects? What is your understanding of design
principles for Troppo Architects’ practice?
• What do you think of the distinctive characteristics of Troppo’s work that are different from the other
architects’ work?
• What are the ecological and environmental strategies embedded in Troppo’s design?
• What are socio-cultural, economics, ethical and building technological factors influencing the
design of houses by Troppo?

Q3) How much do your understand Troppo ethos and their design principles? How do you integrate the
design principles of Troppo practice with your own ideal architectural practice?
• How do you create an innovative design with a combined image of Troppo style and your personal
expression?
• Was there a moment that your ideas are not explicitly expressing the characteristics of Troppo
style?

Q4) How is the Troppo practice different, from your understanding, from one firm to another?
• Comparison to the Troppo practice in Darwin, Perth, Byron Bay and Townsville
• Climate considerations, sources of material, specific requirements for new constructions, budget
and other tangible factors such as socio, cultural, ethical and the environmental issues

Q5) What is the design media that you use in producing ideas? Why?
• Conventional design techniques such as sketches and quick 3D models
• Computing aided design tools such as Sketch-up, Revit and other CAD programs
• Combination of the two techniques

Q6) What is the process of design if you were given a project?

• The thinking process of a new project.

385
 APPENDIX B: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Interview questions for occupants and clients

Aims and objectives of interviews

Ten research questions are designed for the occupants of the 1980s Darwin houses and the clients of
five regional houses. The focuse of this set of questions is to encourage them to express their feelings
and their daily experience with the space of their Troppo house. These questions also aim to identify
any changes in the occupants’ and clients’ attitude and perceptions for everyday living.

Q1) Were you familiar with the work of Troppo Architects?

• Social media;
• Publications;
• family and friends

Q2) How long have you been living in this Troppo house?

Q3) Why did you choose to buy a Troppo house?

• The experience of the previous house
• Personal and work reasons

Q4) What was the first meeting like with Troppo and their staff?
• Their attitudes, professionalism and service;
• Any involvement in design process;
• Interactions and dynamics with Troppo and staff

Q5) What’s your feeling and experience of the house?

Q6) Do you think the house communicates with you?

• The useage of space;
• A special corner for reading or a specific view to the outdoors;
• Interactions between the house and outdoor spaces

Q7) Do you think the house has changed you in some way?

Q8) Is it easy to maintain the house?

Q9) Are you satisfied with the house? Why?

Q10) Can you run through your daily routine in the house?

386
 APPENDIX B: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Final interview questions for the founders of Troppo Architects

There are specific questions on construction traditions, contingency and change of Troppo practice
over the years. I’d also like to hear more about your personal reflections on Troppo practice over the
past 35 years. They are as follows.

Construction traditions:
Q1) I’d like to understand more about the relationship between local construction techniques and the
local building industry on Troppo’s design and differences in Darwin, Adelaide, Perth and other offices.
Can you comment on this?

Contingency:
Q2) One of the themes of my thesis is the way the Troppo practice and the expansion of its work has
responded to opportunities and constraints, such as your own move to Adelaide/Perth as well as
competitions and government commissioned projects. Are there other events where what could have
been interruptions or difficulties have been turned into opportunities and success to the Troppo
practice?

Change:
Q3) Can you comment, please, on any significant changes in emphasis in Troppo’s design principles
and ethos over these years? What were the factors that brought about these changes?

Personal reflections:
Q4) What is your personal reflection on the success/shortcomings of the expansion of the Troppo
practice over the past 35 years?

Q5) What is your hope for the practice in the context of the contemporary architectural profession?

Q6) How do you envisage the future evolution of the Troppo practice in another 20 years?

Q7) Where would you position the work of Troppo practice in the social, cultural and environment
contexts at both local and global levels?

387
 APPENDIX C: INTERVIEWS

Appendix C
Interviews

Appendix C provides a table for the numbers of the interviews with Phil Harris, Adrian Welke, the former
and current regional Directors, the former and current in-house architects, and the occupants of the
1980s Troppo Darwin houses and of the five contemporary Troppo houses in Darwin, Townsville,
Adelaide, Byron Bay and Perth respectively. Due to privacy and the request made by most of the
occupants of the 1980s and contemporary houses, their full names were not included but only referred
to them as residents in general in this thesis.

388
 APPENDIX C: INTERVIEWS

Name Relation to Interview date Interview place Interview

Troppo practice method
• February 12, 2011;
Phil Harris Founder
• March 18, 2013;
Adelaide office In person
• March 1, 2016

• December 11, 2010 • Perth office • In person

Adrian Welke Founder
• April 5, 2014 • The researcher’s • Office phone
• March 2, 2016 office • Office phone
• The researcher’s
office

Greg McNamara Regional former July 11 & 12, 2011 His house, his car In person
Director of Darwin and Darwin office
office
Joanna Rees Former in-house July 12, 2011 Rees’ house In person
architect
Terry O’Toole Regional Director of May 11, 2012 Townsville office In person
Townsville office
Geoff Clark Regional former December 14, 2012 The researcher’s Video-conference on
Director of office Skype and email
Townsville office exchanges

Aftab Khasmina Regional in-house May 12, 2012 Townsville office In person
architect of
Townsville office

Zammi Rohan Regional former in- September 26, 2014 The researcher’s Email exchanges
house architect of office
Townsville office

Cary Duffield Regional Director of April 15, 2011 Cafe In person

Adelaide office
Andrew O’Loughlin Regional in-house June 6, 2010 Cafe In person
associate of
Adelaide office

Victor Ci Regional in-house June 18, 2010 The researcher’s In person

architect of Adelaide office
office
Dan Connolly Regional Manager of July 11, 2012 Home-office In person
Byron Bay office
Residents of Occupants of the July 11, 2011 Their house In person
Kaiplinger House house (family of 2)
Clients of McNamara
Residents of Jarvis for new extension
July 13, 2011 Their house In person
Lawler House and occupants of the
Lawler House
(family of 4)

389
 APPENDIX C: INTERVIEWS

Residents of Occupants of the July 12, 2011 Their house In person

Elevated Green Can house (single mum
and son)
House
Residents of Occupants of the July 13, 2011 Their house In person
Troppo House house (2 single men
and a family of 3)
Residents of Occupants of the July 12, 2011 Their house In person
Spazappan House house (family of 4)

Residents of Occupants of the July 13, 2011 Their house In person

Troppo Type 5 House house (family of 3)
Residents of Coconut Neighbours who July 12, 13 and 14, Their houses In person
Grove, Darwin believe their houses
2011
are Troppo houses
(singles and families)
Residents of Clients of McNamara July 13, 2011 Their house In person
Mortlock Residence, (in partnership)
Darwin
Residents of Clients of O’Toole May 13, 2012 Their house In person
Connell Residence, (family of 2)
Townsville
Residents of Clients of Duffield June 5, 2012 & Their house In person
Russell Residence, (family of 2) December 12, 2012
(requested by clients)
Adelaide
Residents of Clients of Connolly July 13, 2012 Their house In person
Hutchinson (family of 4)
Residence,
Byron Bay
Residents of Clients of Welke May 5, 2013 The researcher’s Office phone
Howell Residence, (family of 2) office
Perth

390
 REFERENCES and BIBLIOGRAPHY

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