Rose Bay House takes the experience of a plateau as the inspiration for its architecture and interiors. In this new design, the ground is sculpted to fuse with the built form, folding upwards to create a plinth on which the main living spaces of the home rest. The plateau creates the feeling of floating on solid ground, while the steep and sudden rise of rocky terrain forming an elevated platform towering above the land below.
Bringing the outdoors in, large full height glazing to the front of the building creates wide vistas of Sydney Harbour accompanied by integrated planters and landscaping layered seamlessly into the main living spaces. The northern facade features a sheltered courtyard carved into the built form to allow natural light to the kitchen, living and bedrooms.
The floors and roof above are expressed as linear planes suspended above the solid mass of the plateau below. Light penetrates into the building and trickles down into the spaces within through carved slots in the roof and floor planes.
A free-flowing timber and steel stair is bookended by a three-storey off-form concrete wall, linking the upper floors. Sweeping organic voids are carved into a series of horizontal and vertical concrete planes, allowing light to penetrate deep into the building through extensive glazing and skylights.
At the back of the house where the ground plane is highest, the house opens onto the more private greenery of the backyard, creating a wide view corridor that flows through the entire main floor of the home. The sense of lightness and transparency contrasting with the solid floors and walls, creating a warmth and distinctly human scale for the owners.
