The site for this project is on a slight hill overlooking the sea on the Mornington Peninsula. A weatherboard dwelling, which originally sat within an established garden, was demolished to make way for the new house. The views to the sea dictated the positioning of the house between the existing established garden and the open paddocks. A ramp structure was established to connect the old garden and the living areas in the new house.

The ramp was designed to resemble a “jetty”, a common object in this part of Victoria. Through it’s scale, it extends the ground of the upper established garden and the new house, so that one always feels connected with the garden.

The lower rooms accommodate the sleeping quarters and a studio. Their arrangement is expressed in the composition of the lower part of the south facade. Here the alternating pattern of bedrooms and bathrooms is played out in the rhythmical wall treatment.

The upper living spaces are arranged according to their relationship to the different aspects of the site. The south facing are oriented towards the sea, and expressed in a single large window. The north view to the garden is made up of an attached wing of three separate bays.

The bays disguise a single living space with an external scale appropriate to the old garden and a connection with bathing huts.

The high room above the upper living spaces breaks the roof line and projects into the treetops. It’s suspension lets the room live in the bush, just when the trees thin out right in the midst of the foliage. A ring beam clasps this exceptional room, and provides a interesting scale to its structure, expressing light, shadow and weight through it’s profile. The corner windows of the room open completely at the height of the branches, entering into dialogue with the sky, the sea and the site itself.