Vipp travels to the Southern Hemisphere for its 11th guesthouse opening. Cantilevered over a sloping hill on Tasmania’s Bruny Island, the architecturally daring and sustainably designed Vipp Tunnel by Hobart-based studio, Room11, balances beauty and brutalism.

In the 160 m² tunnel stretching 30 meters, wall to wall glass and recessed steel doors provide unobstructed views to the soulful landscape of the Tasmanian sea and mountains. Floor to ceiling windows and lightwells imbue the space with a sense of luminosity. An atrium yard separates the main living space from the master bed and bathroom, while at the end of the tunnel, a glass door leads to a framed terrace floating above the land – showcasing an architectural finesse that underscores the sensation of being at the edge of the world.

Whereas Tasmania provides the breathtaking exterior, Vipp supplies the interior. As if made for this project, Vipp’s all-aluminium V3 kitchen is the centrepiece of the main space. With a monumental stainless steel counter and fluted aluminium doors, the kitchen island mirrors the materiality of the building’s architecture.

As a nod to its location, Vipp Swivel chairs are upholstered in Australian sheep skin which provides a sense of sophisticated elegance against the raw shell of the tunnel.

Often referred to as ‘the edge of the world’, Tasmania is distinguished by its sense of otherworldliness. The same characteristic applies to the architecture. A project three years in the making, the finished guesthouse embodies Room11’s interest in craftsmanship and distinctive approach to architecture that is sensitive to landscape, detail, and materiality.

LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL

Inspired by the area’s natural phenomenon known as Aurora Australis, or Southern Lights, when the night sky is transformed into a dreamscape of colour, Room11 has added chromatic glazing to the building’s central skylights. Polished concrete floors and walls further enhance the effect, reflecting the ever-changing interplay of light that dances throughout the otherwise understated interior like an ever-changing artwork.   

“The kaleidoscopic lightwell installation offers a dynamic interplay of colour and time. As the sun moves and seasons shift, vivid hues of yellow, pink, and orange are cast across the concrete interior marking the changing light at 42° south. Designed to respond to seasonal transitions, the installation ensures that no two visits are ever the same”

Entrepreneur of the project, Dane Taylor.