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House for Lichen 
Rural Victoria
2024

Ground floor plan North elevation



A house for Lichen is intended as a ‘house’ in service of lichen. The conditions for lichen to thrive are the principle basis for the architecture, which then humans may be able to cohabit. If architecture - and by extension the urban environment - is capable of cultivating lichens, this signifies a healthy ecosystem for human and non-human alike.




Lichen in rural Victoria South perspective North-East perspective Western elevation Victorian basalt blocks at the depot Eugène Trutat: Dolmen de Brillant, Mas d’Azil Front view with the misting nozzles enabled




The house acts as a rudimentary bothy, recalling proto-architectural forms like dolmens, megalithic structures built primarily as tombs or burial chambers dating back to the Neolithic period. Its mass is formed from disused basalt blocks, remnants of Melbourne’s civil infrastructure works, the same material that defines the retaining wall at the Royal Exhibition Gardens. Mined from the Newer Volcanics Province of Western Victoria — a vast basalt plain created by lava flows which began 7 million years ago and blanketed much of Victoria’s west in lava flows, which formed extensive basalt plains. Slowly over time these plains produce the magnesium and iron rich soils upon which our agricultural industry relies.




Zero-point perspective
  1. Gutter
  2. Water trough
  3. Productive garden
  4. Solar panel
  5. Mister
  6. Solar oven
  7. Wind speed sensor
  8. Outdoor kitchen
  9. Weather station



Lichens grow at a glacial pace, typically growing from 0.1 to 15 millimeters per year, depending on the environmental conditions. They also, over long periods — think 50 to 1,000+ years — can visibly etch and pit rock surfaces through a combination of physical and chemical processes. This gradual breakdown contributes to the first stages of soil formation paving the way for ecological succession. Though subtle and almost imperceptible in the short term, the cumulative effect of this activity helps to shape landscapes over geological timescales.
Lighting and moisture sensitivity for different kinds of lichens




Water collection and mister; stage 1 Water collection and mister; stage 2




An environmental sensor attached to the top of the house logs temperature, pollution, humidity, and air quality, to monitor conditions relative to lichen growth. A misting system circulates humidity along the parapet to optimise an ideal microclimate. In doing so the house also becomes a site for a long view, where lichen growth registers environmental history, not in real time, but accumulated over seasons and decades. As the lichens etch and pit the surface of the bluestone — over centuries — they perform the quiet, geological work of breakdown and renewal. Through deep time, the structure will be gradually reclaimed and folded back into the landscape it once observed.



Air quality monitoring Wind speed monitor and solar setup
Front elevation


Lichen growth mapping, 2025 Lichen growth mapping, 2040 Lichen growth mapping, 2055





This project started a couple of years ago, while walking through the former Spring Gully Junction Mine in Chewton, when we were struck by how the remnant dry-stacked stone structures were overgrown with lichen. The former gold and quartz mines erupted in the 1850’s on Dja Dja Wurrung Country, with mining activity mostly ceasing by the early 20th century. During this tumultuous period, the entire gully was upended in the search for gold amongst the sandstone, quartz reefs, and shallow alluvial deposits. It’s hard to think a landscape could recover from this type of upheaval, and in the 100 or so years since mining operations stopped, it still wears the scars of this period, but the traces continue to fade under the gradual regrowth of plant life.




Ground floor plan



What made this particularly interesting was the diverse ecosystem of different lichen covering the surface of every exposed rock, signifying rejuvenation and symbiosis. Lichens are natural environmental sensors — acting as excellent bioindicators of air quality and environmental health. In a healthy or ‘clean’ environment, you'll find a wide diversity of lichens. Being particularly susceptible to poor air quality, heavy metal deposits and low moisture levels - in polluted areas only a few hardy types may survive, or none at all. Since lichens absorb everything directly from the air, pollutants like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from car exhausts, mechanical systems and industrial activity are toxic to lichen. This along with low humidity, high temperatures (further induced by urban heat island effect) and less stable moisture levels mean lichens don’t often survive in urban areas. When returning to the city from our journey through a lichen-rich landscape, we struggled to find a single lichen until we stumbled upon the heavy basalt retaining wall surrounding the Royal Exhibition Gardens in Carlton. The combination of basalt’s mineral-rich surface, consistent moisture, and a buffer from urban pollution provided by the adjoining park had created one of the few thriving lichen cultures in the city.





South-West perspective Victorian basalt drill cores West elevation South-West perspective Lichen growing around the window Eugène Trutat: Dolmen du Mas d'Azil Lichen in rural Victoria






Team
Simulaa is an architecture practice based in Naarm, dedicated to both built commissions and research projects. The work of the practice is defined by considered analysis and a research-based approach that prioritises a time-based design thinking that recognises architecture’s inherent entanglement with social, economic, aesthetic, political, and environmental concerns. The practice has a particular interest in reconciling architecture’s relationship with technology, energy, waste, and ecology through critical experimentation. As architects and design professionals we must demonstrate the social and economic advantages of new and better ways of thinking about the built environment. It is critical we re-evaluate and reset our priorities on a more empathetic and resilient path. 
Simulaa is an architecture practice based in Naarm, dedicated to both built commissions and research projects. The work of the practice is defined by considered analysis and a research-based approach that prioritises a time-based design thinking that recognises architecture’s inherent entanglement with social, economic, aesthetic, political, and environmental concerns. The practice has a particular interest in reconciling architecture’s relationship with technology, energy, waste, and ecology through critical experimentation. As architects and design professionals we must demonstrate the social and economic advantages of new and better ways of thinking about the built environment. It is critical we re-evaluate and reset our priorities on a more empathetic and resilient path.