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Above the clear blue water of Gordons Bay, this house embodies the spirit of seaside living in response to a magical site: endless ocean, rocky headland and an ideal north-east aspect. The building’s nuanced design shies away from a ‘look how clever I am’ approach. Its discreet scale, quiet focus, and layered materiality, are sensitive to site and neighbours, and provide mystery and privacy along one of Sydney’s busiest coastlines.
Conceptually, the starting point began with Gordons Bay. The clients’ like simplicity and the house needed to speak their language: lean and raw and full of spatial experiences that respond to the seaside location. Bedrooms, living, kitchen, music room, cellar, study, teenage retreat and terraces protected from the weather were all part of the brief. Spaces are designed to connect with the view, but often in more subtle layered ways to create interiors that are private and introspective too. Materials had to be robust: brick, stone and concrete are left raw and wrap, reveal and protect.
Related: Italianate House in Surry Hills by Renato D’Ettorre Architects.
Inside the gate the house slowly unfolds. A reflection pond and the sound of waves on the rocks below lead to the main entry where views open up to the horizon. This dynamic connection with nature continues throughout the interior. Terracotta bricks, perforated and finished in white ceramic glaze on one side wrap the façade like a veil, tempering views and letting the house breathe, while a catwalk along the double-height breezeway provides a lookout. It’s a grand gesture that offers two-way privacy and a refracted play of light to the living areas below.
At ground level where the family gathers, the view opens up to the ocean while strategically angled walls and openings for privacy and discovery lead through private, communal and cosy areas. In the master bedroom and bathroom above, this takes shape in a series of concealed peepholes for gazing at the water and along the rocky coast. On the entry level, the office has a primary view to the horizon. In dramatic contrast, the music room below evolved in response to the site’s excavation and is introspective, enjoying the quiet beauty of the site’s subterranean sandstone rock face. Sliding doors allow you to open up the space to the breeze. A landscaped courtyard flows from the main living space at ground level. Here relaxed outdoor dining is private and sheltered from southerly winds. The reticulated pond, trees and awnings for shading, and an inbuilt pizza oven, has created a space the family is drawn into. Walking down the stairs to the waterfront garden, light is dappled through breeze blocks. Way above, the rooftop terrace is the place to watch swimmers diving off the rocks into the sea below.
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