Located in the Blue Mountains, a World-Heritage-listed landscape to Sydney’s west, the site is in bushland on the edge of a national reserve. All projects here are subject to conservative regulatory prescriptions regarding appearance, heritage concerns and bushfire management. Murcutt has noted the difficulty of working in this context, his architectural preferences not easily accommodated. Terse argument and detailed adjustment gradually allowed the design to comply with governmental regulations. Reflecting on the arduous process, he commented, “It finally took twenty-one months to clear the planning and building authorities.”2
Client involvement at every stage of the design process led to vigorous debate and hard-won decisions. Murcutt specifically recounts a spirited critique of even the engineering drawings. The specified standard steel members were questioned, and a reduced size for each section was strenuously encouraged. Preferring a more expensive customized beam, Geelum argued, “What this country needs is more labour and less material.” His conception of economic advantage valued a broader social ethic over cost savings.