• Location
    Sorrento
  • Status
    Complete
  • Type
    Residential
  • Size
    745sqm
  • Internal Area
    495sqm
  • Team
    Rob Kennon, Monique Woods, Lily Szumer
  • Collaborators
    Bartlett Architectural Construction Pty Ltd, Renata Fairhall Garden Designs, Meyer Consulting
  • Photographer
    Derek Swalwell
  • Tags
    Brick, Beach House, Coastal, Garden Setting, Landscape, Timber

Coastal House is a home designed to adapt to changing occupation over time. The dispersed built form – no more than one room deep – increases light and ventilation and allows for acoustic separation between programs [1]. Landscaped courtyards, decking areas and covered walkways occupy the spaces in between and connect life within the home to the elements outside [2].

The site is set back from the street behind a portion of densely vegetated public land. We wanted to extend this native planting into the site to blur the distinction between public and private and connect back to the site’s broader ecology. This was achieved by reversing the typical front / back yard relationship via a dedicated, north-facing entertaining area at the front of the site. You walk through the garden to access the house, arriving at the kitchen/dining space which is the heart of the home [5]. We deliberately chose to keep the ground plane free of cars and services, opting instead for a basement with a discrete, ramp entry. The decision to orient the house to this more public interface suits the casualness of a coastal environment. This sense of ‘opening up’ is further articulated through large, sliding doors and bifold, servery windows [3].

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[1] Communal programs and the main bedroom suite is located in the front, while more private bedrooms, bathrooms and a rumpus room is located at the back
[5] The heart of the home, the kitchen & dining spaces, are located at the front to welcome guests as they arrive
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A textured, render finish wraps both sides of the brickwork, allowing the walls to be less about distinguishing the interior from exterior and more about defining space
[3] This sense of ‘opening up’ is further articulated through large, sliding doors and bifold, servery windows
[2] Landscaped courtyards, decking areas and covered walkways occupy the spaces in between and connect life within the home to the elements outside
[4] Concrete, the most logical material to build the basement with, forms the ground floor and kitchen benchtop

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