This project was completed in December 2007. The brief was to design a family house on a site in rural western NSW. For this project we have taken the scale and construction technology of agricultural buildings in this part of the country into consideration. The harsh environment and the massive scale of the site have lead to a design that incorporates a series of enclosed courtyard spaces that provide protection from the elements around which the internal living spaces have been arranged. Water sensitive design, an environmentally sustainable construction methodology and hydronic geothermal heating and cooling system have been used to keep the life cycle costs of this house to minimum.