The Hilltop House was the winner of the national and regional Australian Timber Design Awards for new residential buildings. This house located on the steep slopes above Clareville Beach in Pittwater is surrounded by Spotted Gum Forest. The compact steel framed house featuring Blackbutt timber framing and Jarrah floors and joinery responds to the slope by terracing down the hillside. Low pitched roofs, wide eaves and large windowseats create a horizontality that echoes the western foreshore and screens sun from the western orientation. The owners wanted a contemporary dwelling in the tradition of the crafted cottages of the Pittwater area. With its precisely detailed and constructed structure and joinery, modest size and vernacular materials, this house is an embodiment of that idea. This project features on the online design magazine: https://archnewhome.com