A 110-metre-long shed is a new rural building that combines living, learning and entertaining activities on Daylesford's plains and bushland in Australia. 

Designed by Australian architecture firm Partners Hill, the architects aimed to create the Longhouse where a boutique farm, garden kitchen, cooking school, reception venue and home are conceived within a single 110m long mannered shed. 

Named Longhouse, the house, covering a total of 1,050-square-metre area, contains all agricultural and hospitality activities under one enormous roof.

Described as "a masterstroke that provides a purpose-aligned container for living, learning and entertaining", the house also provides a space for nurturing animals and producing fresh food.

The house is located six minutes north of Daylesford in central Victoria, the elevated property looks out over vast plains and bushland. 

Owners Ronnen Goren and Trace Streeter fell in love with the 20-acre parcel of land for its captivating views overlooking Daylesford, Hepburn Springs, and Mt Franklin. 

They commissioned the studio to envisage a new rural life together where their interests in food, family, design, and ideas would converge. 

"As much as the expansive vistas enchant, the couple quickly discovered the challenges of extreme temperature variations, strong winds from all directions, lack of water, and ravenous local wildlife," said Partners Hill.

"The loose brief evolved over successive discussions and visits to the property. According to Timothy, the environment is beautiful but hostile."

"Initial site investigations revealed a local population of grazing fauna, aggressive weather conditions, sporadic rainfall and shallow planting depths," the architects added. 

In response, he proposed a giant greenhouse whose built form would be ‘big enough and protected enough for the landscape to flourish, inside’.  

The project can be a good example of how pastoral setting can be combined with a simple and contemporary look, while meeting all demands inside. 

According to the studio, the "poetic and immensely comfortable outcome is the result of highly rational and deductive moves." The Longhouse’s 1,050-square-metre roof harvests every drop of precious rainwater, which is collected in 340,000 litre capacity tanks, some for on-demand use and others for firefighting. 

Timothy Hill, Founding Partner of Partners Hill, used complex algorithms to calculate the optimal roof area to capture the amount of water required to grow the garden and be ample for everyday use as well as plentiful for the cooking school. 

The strategy to profoundly enlarge the roof harvesting capacity proves an equal match for water demand and bushfire defence.

Revitalising pastoral shed vernacular, the industrial superstructure sits on minimal footings with a gravel floor. Economy and sustainability underpin the project. 

The Longhouse is built to passive house standards with very few heating and cooling inputs and has off-grid ambitions with provision for solar panelling and battery storage. 

The architects used a translucent glass-reinforced polyester skin for the building to guarantee passive house standards. Smart gel-coated cladding provides different levels of UV and infrared resistance and panels with different finishes have been deployed to optimise 

Thermal performance stabilises temperatures inside year-round so there is warmth in winter and a cooling effect in summer. Large openings and high fenestration frame views of the surroundings and skies, and control ventilation. Agricultural advances have been harnessed for crop yields and building efficiency.    

"Arriving into the property from atop a crest means the first sighting of The Longhouse is at a distance," added the office. 

"The building forms a datum line in the middle ground, echoing the horizon beyond. Continue along the winding drive and the building disappears behind dense trees."

Once it re-emerges, visitors can see straight through the open portal to the countryside beyond. Gentle landscaping of mounds and miniature hills softens the rectilinear form. Planting schemes establish adjacent areas as orchards.

Entering from the western end into the store and garaging, little is given away until one moves past the tractors and farm machinery through barn doors into a surprisingly lush haven. 

Inside, generous verdant reception areas bookend the central kitchen and cooking school, providing a nuanced setting for casual dining, formal ceremonies, and memorable occasions. 

The immense internal volume is modulated by timber and brick insertions laced with foliage. Planting beds, triffid-sized trees, The Lodge (owner’s residence), and The Stableman’s Quarters (guest house nestled in a mezzanine pod) are all contained within this protective sanctuary.

Plans and sections

Axonometric drawing 

Project facts

Project name: Longhouse

Architects: Partners Hill

Location: Daylesford, Australia 

Size: 1050m2 

Date: 2019

All images © Rory Gardiner

All drawings © Partners Hill

> via Partners Hill