Image: Agricultural Lakehouse
Sustainable
Features.
Arkular Features in Australian Life Magazine
Story by Ros Reines
Mark and Carmel Meehan wanted a beautiful, sustainable holiday home on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, so they decided to truck one in. Australian modular home supplier, Arkular worked with the Meehans to make their vision come to fruition.
Arkular Exactly who the Meehan’s Needed
With a mission of providing inspired architecture and artisan manufactures, then delivering cost effective, ecologically sound builds, which are prefabricated and trucked into each site, Arkular was exactly who the Meehan’s needed.
As we all know, Australia is in the midst of a housing shortage crisis with many priced out of the dream of owning a home of their own and struggling to secure rental properties. A large number of builders have also faced economic distress due to significant increases in interest rates and cost of materials, labour shortages and supply-chain issues.
But what are Governments doing about it? Perhaps a modular residence is the way to go? Certainly, the Meehans are revelling in their Shoreham showplace, which backs onto a National Park, and is close to the local beach.
A 4 Bed + 2 Bath Holiday Retreat
The four-bedroom, two-bathroom holiday retreat, draws inspiration from the banksia, which is native to the site and the light filled home nestles into this iconic Australian coastal bush setting.
Inside, Japanese-style sliding doors break up the spaces, accentuating the sustainable living aspects and adding to the chilled atmosphere.
The couple is delighted with this pre-fab design. Mark Meehan explains why they decided to go modular in the first place. “There were three principal reasons,” says the business consultant and board director, who recently exited a 9-to-5 lifestyle.
“The first one was speed of build, so we didn’t have to go through the normal three-year construction cycle. With the modular build, everything happens with one cycle. They come and they do their work. So, that was very attractive to us,” he says.
“The second point was that the builder had a very good handle on many ecological aspects of our home, including the materials used.
So, the structure met our requirements for a green approach. And thirdly the architectural design gave us some very interesting family experiences without having to commit to a very large space. We liked the fact that our home didn’t take up all the block, so we could utilise the rest of the area,” he says.
According to Arkular’s Architect Designer, Bill McCorkell, the process involved in creating a similar home is as streamlined as some of its spaces.
“Each home takes around four weeks to design and 20 weeks of construction,” he says. “Usually the longest part of the process is just getting the permit through council.”
When Bill McCorkell joined Arkular, he already had an impressive career behind him, which included working at Lab Architecture Studio Bates Smart. One of the projects he was involved in was Melbourne’s Federation Square.
He also worked as an architect in Malaysia for several years – a country with lots of scope to create noteworthy homes in a tropical climate.
These conditions have also helped him to apply his knowledge to Arkular residences all over Australia – from Tasmania’s rugged terrain – to a sublime Portsea Beach House and a Richmond 2-Storey Extension.
“My superpower is designing homes with sustainable solutions,” he says. “I love being challenged, so every job that I do is the most exciting thing that I’ve ever done,” he comments. McCorkell explains that Arkular’s pre-fab homes are “no different to a normal build. We leverage off mid-volume home construction, so we have the ability to replicate a lot of details but in a cost-effective way,” he says.
“For instance, we’re currently in discussion with a client wishing to build a two million dollar home above the Jindabyne Lake. These are forever homes, he says.
“The construction has to be robust, as the panels are built to sustain a journey on the back of a truck.” Many of his designs are spectacular including the Northern Beaches Cliff House with a luxuriant green foliage roof and an idyllic bathroom with a floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the ocean.
Some homes also have swimming pools and Balinese-inspired outdoor showers, while rich timber finishes burnish golden brown in the sun and pay homage to an Australian lifestyle.
“Our home is certainly not the standard rectangular prism approach to a modular construction,” adds Mark Meehan. “It’s architected to live in and it’s architected for that exact location.” The couple spend around a third of their time there and particularly enjoy having their grandchildren come to stay to give them a traditional Australian bush experience. “They love spending time at Shoreham because it’s such a quiet, green area and we can see them just relax after a heady mix of school and sport.”
“As the crow flies, we’re probably a couple of hundred metres from Shoreham Beach but to access it, you have to walk through the park, which is absolutely no hardship at all,” he says. “Then, once you get there, the water is crystal clear. We all spend a lot of time at the beach.” However, should they ever tire of this location, would they consider dismantling their home and trucking it out again?
“I have I thought about the fact that it’s moveable,” says Meehan. “But because our home was created to take advantage of the sun, the breezes and the vegetation, although it’s absolutely feasible to shift, we would probably have a sub-optimal experience. Besides,” he says, “we really do love it here.” Shut the gate.
