This house was broken into separate blocks to reduce the scale and mass of the building.

To further accentuate that breakup, we clad part of the building in a burnt cedar to contrast with the mainly white sleeping block of the house and to reduce the maintenance of the timber cladding.

The process is called Shou Sugi Ban and originated in Japan in the 18th century primarily as way to treat cedar siding to make it weatherproof. The technique involves charring a wood surface to render it a deep charcoal-black.