Waratah Weekender | Australia


The living platform raised 1.5m gives good view lines out into the bay while seated around the fire. It grants an easy transition to full width exterior platforms opening out each side to the southern sweep of the coast or the northern sunlight beneath the gum trees.

With its conscious visibility from the public roadway through to the ocean surf, the raised ground of the living room becomes a ‘little plaza’- a gathering place for the holiday community amplified by the open home generosity of the owners and their three children.

The brief was unusual. The children were to have no allocated rooms but rather a locker and an invitation to live more spontaneously to counter the highly structured time of the city.

There is always the possibility of escape, above, via a narrow stair to the security of the plywood sleeping pods suspended between the recycled blackbutt timber columns. These mezzanine ‘tree fort’ retreats hung within the timber lamella can be opened up to connect with the bustle of the big room below. There is alternative escape below to the more subdued light of the half basement bunkrooms. Glimpses of the ground line beyond the heavyweight blockwork walls contrast with the tectonic timber frame above holding the pods suspended over the land.

Awards


Victorian Architecture Awards, 2012 Shortlisted

Publications


On the beach: best of the best 2012. (2012). Urbis. (71). pp. 66-76.

Waratah Weekender. (2012, October). Houses. (88). pp. 48-54.