Sunshine Beach House is a contemporary home inspired by the sun, surf, sand and waves.
The house has been designed for a young family of surfers with an active beach lifestyle. The ground floor kitchen and living areas open onto the garden and pool. The family can move seamlessly from house to garden, pool to beach, and back again. Bedrooms and bathrooms are located on the more private upper level.
A refined material palette of local hardwood and white sand cement reflect the character of the local beach environment and coastal landscape. On a practical level, the materials employed are robust in nature, to withstand sand, salt and water coming off the ocean and little feet. Contemporary interpretations of the traditional Queenslander metal window hoods and hardwood screens have been used to provide protection from the hot sun and summer rains.
Our architecture practice is enamoured with the beauty of the beach and ocean. The delightful balance of repetition and variation found in the waves and sand dunes are echoed in the design of the house.
What was the brief?
The clients brief was for a family beach house that had living areas on ground opening onto garden and pool and bedrooms on the upper level.
What were the key challenges?
Density of sunshine beach is increasing. High cost of land, placing pressure on people to maximise their building foot print. Not a lot of soft landscaping on many of the new houses. Lack of privacy and overlooking issues.
What are the sustainability features?
We design our buildings to let the winter sun in and keep out the summer sun out, so the house is naturally cool in summer and warm in winter. We use natural light, ventilation, generate solar power and collect rainwater for this house. We also place a strong emphasis on integrating native landscape into our architecture to contribute to biodiversity and native fauna habitat.
What were the solutions?
We worked on the assumption that in future there would be new houses built all around our clients property, however we could preserve our clients amenity by focusing their views into their own garden….. and provide privacy screening for the bedrooms and bathrooms on the upper level. The new subtropical gardens we created could add natural landscape character to the street.
What building methods were used?
We like to use a refined palette of materials to heighten your experience of space, light and shadow. Beach houses have to withstand extreme sun, sand, salt and rain. So we design our houses out of robust materials that require relatively little maintenance.
