Fahima Namaganda

The Heritage Harmony House Project is located in Kimberly, King Edward Campgrounds (remote area). This area is home to rich Indigenous Rock Art and traditions. The Kimberly region has a strong monsoonal climate, with high summer rainfall. The house design is a response to the current favourable living conditions in remote areas, it's designed for the Kimberley context with incorporation of how the Indigenous people live. The Indigenous people live in large numbers, up to 12 people in a house. The house design focuses on family, gathering and community.

The house is made of detached rooms that are connected by walkways. The detached rooms create voids that allow for a direct relationship between rooms and surrounding nature and also create private space for residents in order to carry out cultural practices like avoidance relationships. They also have many/ larger rooms that are balanced between public and private, such spaces will encourage the current way of living for the indigenous people. The rooms are partially open to the outside with timber screens to blur the lines between inside and outside, these elements enhance the way of living for indigenous people.

The renders give a visual description of the inhabitation of the Indigenous people in the house. The image also shows how different parts of the house can be used.

The master plan focuses on community, gathering and ceremonies. The Heritage Harmony house plan changes position in order for the main entrance to face the communal gathering spaces. The Heritage Harmony house is designed to accommodate 12 people, which can be reconfigured to accommodate different size families by removing or adding more rooms. For families with people that have mobility issues the houses are placed on the side of the river which has a gentle slope falling towards the river. The rooms in these houses are elevated above the ground and can be accessed via ramps where the land starts to fall.