By Danielle Davey
Encouraged to draw a picture of his home when he was at kindergarten, Ryan Moody handed in a detailed floorplan. Clearly influenced by the architectural drawings he’d seen on his builder father’s desk, he was unfazed by the contrast between his picture and those of the other children. As an adult, his passion for architecture has grown – and he still dares to be different. Now he lives in a ‘cave’, his strikingly original home that featured on Grand Designs Australia last year.
The Moody name is well known on the Peninsula: Moody’s Motors, Moody’s Motel, Moody St in Rye. Ryan never met his grandfather Ted, but he’s grateful for his legacy, which began with the purchase of a piece of land in Rye in the 1950s. Part of the property was used as a builders’ yard when Ted started Moody Builders in 1953, now called Seaspray Homes by Moody Builders.
After studying at AIS and becoming a professional water polo player, Ryan completed a double degree in environmental design and architecture and returned to the family business as a builder architect, working alongside his dad, John and sister, Jade. He has happy childhood memories of exploring rock formations at Rye Ocean Beach, a pastime he now shares with his own children: Finn, 11, and Lily, 9. It’s also the source of inspiration for his home.
Considering the rocky arches and caves with an architect’s eye, Ryan long visualised the prospect of creating a building that brought the outside in, capturing the same feeling of enclosure and security he felt when standing beneath these formations. After two years of planning, his dream was realised, and he and his children moved from their cramped apartment above a kebab shop into the spacious free-form passive home on part of his grandfather’s land. Known as Rye Cave House, Ryan describes it as “a tropical fruit garden, a cave, and a ’70s Hawaiian beach shack”.
The key principle of passive house design is to use solar orientation, airtightness, and high-performing insulation to maintain a comfortable temperature requiring minimal energy for heating or cooling. Rye Cave House is highly insulated on all six sides. With triple-glazed windows, solar panels, and 100 per cent airtightness, a heat recovery ventilation unit brings fresh filtered air into the home and keeps the inside temperature a constant 20C.
Passive house design is often executed by engineering principles in simplistic form – there’s definitely an element of science to it – but Ryan has his own creative spin. On entry, guests are greeted by an internal garden. A mango tree expected to grow to 5m takes pride of place in the double-height living room, which is lined with reclaimed oregon timber and adjoins an open-plan kitchen.
Ryan’s bedroom is a cave/wave-like concrete arch, a cocooning space that captures the feeling of his beloved rock formations at Rye back beach. And on the upper floors there’s a Japanese-inspired tearoom precariously accessed by a hanging cargo net, and tomato vines cascading from steel beams.
Sounds unbelievable? See it for yourself on season 12, episode 3 of Grand Designs Australia on ABC iview, or take the opportunity to experience it firsthand: Rye Cave House is available for guest bookings on Airbnb throughout summer @ryecavehouse
