Yowral House

Clients Elaine & Jim were inspired by Neil’s previously completed Galbamaanup House across the road from this site, and they requested a house that would maximise the use of its location in the same way. Importantly for them the house needed to be one that required minimal maintenance a house that would allow them to remain in the house over the long term through the inclusion of a lift for long term mobility access. 

They wanted the house to maximise its connectivity to the adjacent Lake Claremont public open space which was effectively serving as their ‘back yard’. 

‘Lake Claremont (previously known as Butler’s Swamp by the early settlers and as Galbamaanup by the Noongar people) belongs to the complex wetland systems of the Swan River & coastal plains. According to Nyungar tradition, the wetland was created by the Waugal and continues to be of religious significance to the Noongar people. The area was traditionally used for camping and hunting. Noongar families continued to camp there until they were moved on by the Government of the day in 1951’. (Sourced from the Yargine Track map – Town of Claremont Museum).

‘Lake Claremont was a freshwater swamp that had shellfish, tortoises, frogs and reed rhizomes for damper and other bush food like Zamia nuts as well as paperbark resources to build shelters’. (sourced from the Town of Claremont website).         

John Butler arrived in Western Australia January 1830.  Part of the selection of land was 250 acres at Freshwater Bay covering most of the land known as Peppermint Grove.  The family developed a farm in this vicinity and also conducted the Bush Inn at Half-Way House on the track from Fremantle to Perth. This area was known as Butler’s Swamp by association with his lands and farming activity.  The first recorded reference to Lake Claremont was in a letter written by Mr John Butler to the Surveyor General Mr J.S. Roe on the 15 November 1831.

"I wish to have a grant of ten acres on the east side of the lagoon about one and a half miles north of my home at Freshwater Bay, in the name of William Burton Butler, my eldest son". Official records of Butler's occupancy are lacking, and it is possible that he used the land for a considerable period without ever receiving an official grant. His farming activities gave rise to the name "Butlers Swamp" (Morris and Knott, 1977, 155). There is however no record of a Certificate of Title to this land being issued in his name.

In 1850 the Colonial Office used the Government Reserve known as Butler`s Swamp to form a village for military pensioners.  Seventeen families were settled on grants of 10 acres, each having 1/2 acre of Freshwater Bay and 9 1/2 acres of swamp land for cultivation.  This was the beginning of the first community in this District.

In Galbamaanup the Swamp Paperbark (or Freshwater Paperbark) (Melaleuca rhaphiophylla) remains prevalent but would once have been found in far larger numbers. Melaleuca’s are sometimes called ‘teatrees’ or ‘paperbarks’ and are characterised by their flaky, textural, layered bark. The Noongar name for the Swamp Paperbark is Yowarl (or Bibool Boorn, Yiembak). 

Various melaleuca species are extremely important to Aboriginal people. For local Noongars, the Swamp Paperbark is probably one of the most significant plant species in the region. The bark of this melaleuca is thin and papery and can be used for a variety of purposes. Long strips of the bark for example, can be used as roofing for mia-mias (shelters) and smaller pieces can be used to carry water or to hold food. Melaleuca bark is frequently used in Noongar cooking. Meat dishes, such as kweeyar (frogs), djildjit (fish) or yonga  (kangaroo), are often wrapped in the bark of the Yowarl before being placed on hot coals or in an

earth oven. The bark of the Yowarl can also be used as a torch. After tightly rolling long pieces of bark, one end can be set alight, and the high oil content of the bark keeps the torch smouldering. Melaleuca leaves are also used by Noongar people for medicinal purposes. The leaves are either sucked, chewed or crushed and inhaled to treat head colds and flu. Green leaves from the Swamp Paperbark and the Chenille Honeymyrtle are also used for smoking ceremonies because of the pleasant aroma the oil in the leaves lets off. A type of tea can also be made by soaking the leaves in boiling water, which is why the early colonists used the term ‘Teatree’ to refer to this plant. (Source: Plants & People – City of Joondalup).

Geologically, Lake Claremont lies in a depression in the Spearwood System of coastal sand dunes. It is a true swamp geographically, that is it is the above ground part of the massive underground water system common to most parts of the Perth coastal plain (Morris and Knott, 1979,145). This subsoil water flows continuously towards the river and ocean in a northeast to southwest direction.

The swamp lies in a valley between coastal dunes where the ground rises rapidly from 1.5 metres to 12 metres. Immediately prior to 1950, the swamp at high water mark enclosed an area of approximately 20 hectares. During the 1950s and 1960s areas were reclaimed and this reduced the area of the open water to approximately 15.7 hectares at high water mark (Emory, 1975, 35). At the northeast and southern end of the swamp are two valleys and it has been hypothesised that these valleys may have been scoured out by river action (Evans and Sherlock, 1950, 152). Apart from these two openings, the area consists of coastal sand dunes of aeolian origin, partly consolidated by low shrub vegetation and intermittent wattle (Evans and Sherlock, 1950, 151).

This site was not only challenging to accommodate the clients brief due to the sites size of 170 square meters and width of 7.7 meters, but also due to the change in ground level from street front in the east to parkland in the west of one meter. The design process also needed to deal with the most neighbourly solution possible with regards to overshadowing from any new building on this narrow east/ west orientated site. Dealing with these issues is what shaped the design as the building form responds to the parameters of the site.

The tapering curved forms of the roof that turn down to become walls minimise overshadowing to neighbouring property to the south. The merging of roof and wall also allowed the building to become more of a sculptural element, particularly to the street front where the open nature of the building at the ground level provides access to the carport that sits below the sculptural building form. The split levels within the house enable the house to minimise its height through the changing ground levels from front to back.

The main living areas of kitchen / dining / living areas provided at the first floor where they enjoy outlook directly into the tree canopy of the Lake Claremont reserve. A Juliette balcony to the living room makes the whole living room feel as though it is a balcony.

On this small site, maximising outdoor space is all important which led to the rooftop terrace which provides excellent views into the green space of Galbamaanup.

The design of this house is intended to reflect the colours and textures of the many paperbark trees (Yowarl) of the area, as is the house designed immediately next to this house for another family member. The selected face brickwork has the same dappled colours of the paperbark, and the brick bond pattern provides variation and texture to the external walls and to internal feature walls within the living room.

In terms of lifestyle, the location of this site allows its occupants to walk to pretty much everything they need from the natural environment of the lakeside reserve, food, entertainment, culture, fitness and public transport.

Minimum maintenance to the exterior of the house is ensured through the selected prefinished materials that do not require ongoing repainting over time. Permeable paving material has been selected to allow storm water to soak into the ground while landscaping has been designed to assist and benefit from the storm water events. 

Generous areas of deep soil have been designed to exist on the site despite the required area of accommodation in the brief for the house. Further landscaping opportunities have been provided at the roof-top terrace where planter beds of 900mm deep have been provided which will allow small trees to be grown.