Symmons Plains // Cumulus Studio

The Symmons Plains homestead was first established in 1839 by John Arndell Youl, a Tasmanian colonist known for introducing brown trout to Australia. The homestead itself comprises of a large limestone living quarters, lined by two symmetrical brick outbuildings.

The new lightweight steel and glass attachments reflect this simplicity in form and proportion, while their transparency and reduced height allow the heritage structures to take prominence in the design. The new intervention is essentially a long forced out tube, that connects both outbuildings and the back wing if the homestead into one single consolidated structure.

The central areas of gathering ( kitchen, living room, dining) have been relocated within the light-filled new insertions, with clear transitions to the extended outdoor social areas in the terrace, pool and back courtyards. Steel has been used to represent the transition between old and new which relates to urban and rural ( steel-new, stone-old).