September 2025 – Designed by Jason Gibney Design Workshop (JGDW), Amongst the Eucalypts is a carefully considered, bushfire-resistant regional home that represents a bold yet respectful response to the landscape and the realities of living in Australia’s flame zones.
Receiving a commendation in the 2025 New South Wales Architecture Awards in the Residential Architecture – Houses (New) category, the residence is at once a place of sanctuary and profound immersion in nature.
Architecturally, the Seal Rocks home is defined by its rare location – moments from New South Wales’ mid-northern coastline and perched on a lake’s edge – as well as the challenges of bushfire-prone living and the client’s desire for refuge and connection to the sensory experience of being in nature.
In contrast to neighbouring properties, many of which have cleared large swathes of land and built closer to the lake, JGDW chose to situate the house higher on its steeply sloped site in order to preserve a strong connection to the surrounding native eucalypts and casuarina forest.
Deliberately compact and narrow in form, the home appears lightly anchored to the hillside, the plan breaking and shifting with the natural contours of the land to form a series of outdoor zones and courtyards that support open-air living and quiet retreat. Though fully grounded, the building conveys a sense of suspension among the trees, with filtered light and carefully framed sightlines revealing glimpses of the wider landscape.
In close consultation with bushfire experts and using local trades and readily available materials, JGDW developed a bespoke system of operable facade panels that pivot open, unfolding the house from its protective shell. Floor-to-ceiling metal mesh shutters and screens retract easily into wall pockets, allowing unimpeded breezes to flow and 360-degree views into the living spaces while providing protection from insects, reptiles, and airborne embers. The result is a delicate concrete and fibre-cement structure with an armoured aesthetic that reflects the tones and textures of the surrounding bushland, mirroring the strength and resilience of the eucalypts.
Compact in scale and carefully oriented, the house invites an expansive experience of sky and landscape while remaining fully protected from the hazards of the Australian bush. Passive solar design principles guide its orientation, maximising light and warmth while shielding against prevailing southerly winds. A permeable system of pebbles and swales manages hillside runoff, preventing erosion and channelling water into gentle cascades that flow around the building. Durable, pre-finished materials minimise maintenance, while rainwater harvesting underpins a self-sufficient water supply.
Jason Gibney, founder and director of JGDW, said that from the very beginning, the brief was to create a space of both refuge and connection. “The clients didn’t want to impose on the landscape – they wanted a house that invited them to dwell more deeply within it. It was their commitment to preserving the native landscape that inspired us to rethink what’s possible in bushfire-prone environments. The result is a sense of lightness and suspension, a profound connection to place: goannas wander past, waterfalls rush by, and the canopy reveals itself through shifting viewpoints.”
The clients, a couple with two young children, said, “What JGDW has created feels like concrete origami — protective yet open, grounded yet suspended. The custom screens are beautiful to touch and playful to move, keeping us connected to the Australian bush and while keeping the house safe from the very real threat of fire.
“We came to Jason Gibney because we knew he understood our love of the surrounding landscape, and our desire to protect its wild beauty and sense of stillness. This is more than a home — it’s a space for contemplation that lets us live simply as a family, with gratitude, fully immersed in place.”
