Another successful Australian beach holiday themed exploration, this house takes an inventive approach to its sensitive coastal site.
The opal coloured aluminium rooftop blends comfortably with the surrounding trees. The materials are carefully selected to blend in with the natural surroundings, the dark aluminium roof and timber walls sitting harmoniously among the surrounding trees. But it is the internal divisions and arrangement of the small house which have earned the greatest praise.
ARCHITECT’S WORDS
On topography of undulating sand dunes and within a subdivision of quarter-acre blocks, this new house is offset from its neighbours to maintain privacy for each and continue the existing sense of small buildings floating irregularly within a continuous layer of coastal vegetation.
The main floor level engages with natural ground only at the top of the slope, providing views through the site at ground level and allowing space for informal uses underneath.
Internally, the plan is subdivided into an arrangement of many different rooms, each with its own relationship to the enclosing roof volume and sense of ‘house’. Each space is both discrete and connects to at least two others, allowing many possible circulation paths and different groupings of people and activities within a compact footprint.
Similar materials treated in different ways reinforce relationships between the spaces, and the relative position of each space to the next. The inner core of rooms is surrounded by a perimeter zone of small vestibules and flyscreen-enclosed spaces allowing a casual openness and ventilation within the house proper, free of insects.
Two larger semi-external verandahs are able to act as shaded breezeways or ‘sleep outs’ in summer and glazed sunrooms in winter, weatherproof enough to keep furniture, due to the half-glazed and half-timbered external shutters.
The perimeter flyscreens also serve to protect the external envelope of the house from possible embers as the site is within a moderate bushfire zone. An industrial roof-lighting technique above two sealed light-well spaces provides unexpected natural light to the interior of the relatively deep (12.5x12.5m) plan; balancing the relationships between inner rooms, perimeter annexe-spaces and the outside environment.
ACCOLADES
AIA Victoria Awards, Harold Desbrowe-Annear Award 2011
PRODUCTS
WALLS
RADIAL, SILVERTOP ASH
CLADDING
TIMBER
METAL SHEETING/SOFFITS
GALVANISED
ROOFING
BLUESCOPE LYSAGHT, CUSTOM ORB
AMPELITE AUSTRALIA, FIBREGLASS SHEET
INTERNALL WALLS
C-D FACE STRUCTURE, PLYWOOD
AMPELITE AUSTRALIA, FIBREGLASS SHEET
WINDOWS
KDHW FRAMES
ALUMINIUM ANGLE GLAZING BEADS
DOORS
CAPRAL ALUMINIUM LTD, ALUMINIUM SLIDING DOORS
PLY-FACED TIMBER DOORS
FLOORING
STRUCTURAL PLYWOOD
CYPRESS PINE TIMBER BOARDS
LIGHTING
SUPERLUX, EQUIPOISE ARM LIGHT
ISM, POP PENDANT
THORN LIGHTING, IMPACT FORCE
KITCHEN
RECYCLED STRINGYBARK BENCHTOP
PLYWOOD JOINERY
ABEY AUSTRALIA, BARAZZA SINK
APPLIANCES
GESSI, JUST MIXER
LIEBHERR AUSTRALIA, REFRIGERATOR
IIVE, T90 WMP COOKER
BATHROOMS
LAMINEX, LAMIPANEL
PERINI TILES, 100 BY 100 TILES
ROGERSELLER, STEEL ENAMEL BATH WITH CUSTOM SURROUND
CUSTOM TOWEL RAILS
LANDSCAPE/PAVING
HENDRIKX CONCRETE
