The Kapang House is in the far North-West Australian town of Broome. A historic pearling town 2400km from Perth, Broome has a fascinating assemblage of many cultures and intriguing architecture. The design of this residence draws on the early vernacular buildings found in its Chinatown and in the older parts of the original settlement. Although its form does not follow the steeply pitched hip roof model of the ‘Pearlers’ Houses’ it does reference the second story gable roofs found on many of the old two story buildings that were around Broome. Sadly many of these buildings have been demolished and replaced with the newer style “homestead” roofs.

The original architecture had a direct consideration of Broome’s challenging environment. It is located at a change of climatic zone, thus it experiences tropical, sub-tropical, Mediterranean and desert conditions in any one year.
In response to this condition the dwelling is effectively a house within a house. A two-pavilion plan form is used to create multiple outdoor courtyard spaces that have a strong relationship to the living spaces of the house forming habitable ‘breezeway’ spaces between the wings of the house that catch the cooling westerly breezes. All primary interior spaces are extended by a verandah area of a similar size, creating an “out-door” house wrapping around an “inside-house” which can shut down when the weather conditions become too harsh.

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