Red Brick Studio was approached to build a weekend home for a couple (and their dog!) with a brief that suggested the weekend house to be simple yet sophisticated, non-indulgent and something that prioritises function over form. As a response to this came about the Oblique House. A house that attempts to be honest, bare, minimal to a point of being almost frugal; created to serve its primary function - of creating an intimate setting to enjoy the beautiful views of the Uksan lake.

With the recent increase in second home tourism, the studio wished to create a positive environmental impact by minimizing ground impact and maximizing site potential while lowering energy value of the built mass using contextually appropriate technologies & materials. The site had an interesting topography, starting with a flat patch upfront which starts steadily sloping down eventually reaching the edge of the lake.

Going against conventional practice, the studio proposed to reserve the flat part for the orchard the client wished for and set the house on the sloping part of the site and use the natural topography to tuck away majority of the house from the view at the entrance. The planning of the house is akin to a simple cruciform plan, where the central arm along the slope is embedded in the ground and the other is stilted and sits lightly on the ground. The central mass; built out of poured stone rubble walls; emerges from the ground taking one gently down the landscaped basalt steps to the red entrance door. It also has a slight tilt in plan, which not only opens up the views of the living room towards the lake, but also aligns the bedroom towards the setting sun. The rest of the house is stilted on steel columns, allowing the sloping land underneath to remain undisturbed. Walls of exposed fly ash masonry envelop this block with openings that are strategically placed to capture the picturesque hillsides around the lake.

As opposed to the rather hard and bare exterior, the interiors of the house is a welcome contrast. The insides are rendered with natural lime plaster to keep the interiors cooler during the hot summers and the breathable capacity of the plaster makes sure moisture doesn’t retain in the walls.

A skylight at the centre of the house bathes the stairwell with natural sunlight. Custom designed metal French doors, manufactured by the studio themselves, open completely to connect the spaces to the outdoors. The white walls and the black floor provide a neutral backdrop for the pops of colour that appear in the furniture and the artwork – all of which was done by the client herself! The landscape has mindfully been kept very raw, choosing hardy native trees and wild grass as compared to more manicured options. The studio hopes that with time the vegetation takes over the bare built mass, architecture slowly disappears and lets nature showcase its full glory again.