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Churchill Residence
Churchill Residence
Dolphin Sands, Australia
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Churchill Residence
Dolphin Sands, Australia
Firm
Type
YEAR
2013
SIZE
0 sqft - 1000 sqft
BUDGET
$500K - 1M
The Churchill Residence is located on the East Coast of Tasmania at Dolphin Sands – a low lying stretch of beach, dune and bush which spans around twenty kilometres from Swansea in the west to the Swan River mouth and Swanick in the east. To the south lies Great Oyster Bay and to the north, the Swan River and Moulting Lagoon. The result is a broad sand isthmus with dramatic views of southern skies to the south and the Freycinet Peninsula to the southeast. However with this beauty comes a harsh reality of frequent high winds driving rain, salt and sand. In summer, bushfire compounds this already tough environment for building.
Our clients Jennie and Rob first approached us in 2006 to design their beach retreat (and future permanent home) but made it clear they would not be ready to build for 5 years. Their brief was for a minimal two bedroom house which could accommodate frequent guests and focus itself on the dramatic views. A concept of a long lean rectangular plan integrating two pavilions separated by an enclosed courtyard was quickly bedded down and the siting defined.
Before they were ready to start building, Jennie and Rob travelled frequently from their home in Crookwell New South Wales to spend time on their five acre block. In typical Tasmanian style, their new absentee neighbours offered their shack as accommodation. Over the ensuing five years they worked to enhance their block with local native planting, becoming more intimate with their land, the local micro-climate, wildlife and weather patterns. They also valued this extended time between acquiring their land and construction, using it to reflect on their brief and our initial concept. Unfortunately their hard work was devastated by a bushfire in 2009 which swept through 3km of the beach, razing the site, destroying existing old banksias and reducing the surrounding landscape to bare sand and ash. Not long after we were scheduled to start documenting the project for construction and unperturbed, Jennie and Rob asked us to push ahead albeit with a renewed focus on the climatic challenges: both from the experience of bush fire as well as their time on their land.
Extensive use of concrete and glass had always been a desired palette for the construction. This stemmed from the clients’ minimalist aesthetic appreciation and a desire for an enduring low maintenance structure as well as a like for our previous projects such as Avalon Coastal Retreat and Rocky Hills Retreat. Conceptually concrete, or a masonry material appealed for external walls as it gave the home a defensive psychological ‘backrest’ to balance the large southern exposure immersing one fully in the view – without such an approach, we were concerned one would feel too exposed. Concern for the reliability of local concrete supply combined with prohibitive cost forced us to reconsider off-form concrete walls and led us ultimately to select concrete block.
In this case, we opted for standard grey concrete block faced with slightly struck joints. This emphasises the material over the individual block and the complete wall over its units.
Functionally the choice of concrete block meant no maintenance and provided a confidence the building would cop a beating from the southern ocean, age with grace and be safe when bush fire returns.
In contrast to the frameless glass southern facade, the concrete block walls, which complete the remaining three sides of the rectangular perimeter, are the anchor to the site and the desired ‘back rest’ to allow such a grand southern exposure. Together the material contrast allows environmental challenge with assurance, exposure with comfort, prospect with protection. Jude Abel, in Houses Magazine, described the house as an ‘elegant hide’. For two keen bird watchers, this was the perfect description. The clients love the way the house keeps them in tune with the environment – whether it’s walking across the deck on wild, windy nights to their bedroom, taking breakfast up the spiral staircase to the viewing deck and watching gannets plunge into the sea, or seeing the southern cross move across the night sky from their bed.
Little material gymnastics or detail expression was seen as necessary in favour of simplicity to emphasise the whole over the block unit. The ability to core fill and reinforce concrete block allowed us to use block lintels to make large simple openings in the overall wall without additional detail - such as steel lintels – again emphasising the whole over the detail. In engineering terms, this also provided a very rigid perimeter which in turn permitted light and economic timber internal wall and roof framing where steel would have otherwise have been required.
During the design process, Jennie and Rob talked about the possibility of injecting bold colour into the house and its façade. We used the three large breaks in the block work to create an outside/inside colour link, and the clients responded with enthusiasm to the simple red, black and white theme (one of their favourite rooms in the house is the post office box red mosaic tiled guest bathroom). To build on this concept, the decision was made to play with the exterior white wall and use it as a blank canvas. In line with Jennie and Rob’s strong desire for a geometric artwork, artist Alex Miles created an installation called Home. Each of the four sections represents one semaphore letter of the word home.
Our clients Jennie and Rob first approached us in 2006 to design their beach retreat (and future permanent home) but made it clear they would not be ready to build for 5 years. Their brief was for a minimal two bedroom house which could accommodate frequent guests and focus itself on the dramatic views. A concept of a long lean rectangular plan integrating two pavilions separated by an enclosed courtyard was quickly bedded down and the siting defined.
Before they were ready to start building, Jennie and Rob travelled frequently from their home in Crookwell New South Wales to spend time on their five acre block. In typical Tasmanian style, their new absentee neighbours offered their shack as accommodation. Over the ensuing five years they worked to enhance their block with local native planting, becoming more intimate with their land, the local micro-climate, wildlife and weather patterns. They also valued this extended time between acquiring their land and construction, using it to reflect on their brief and our initial concept. Unfortunately their hard work was devastated by a bushfire in 2009 which swept through 3km of the beach, razing the site, destroying existing old banksias and reducing the surrounding landscape to bare sand and ash. Not long after we were scheduled to start documenting the project for construction and unperturbed, Jennie and Rob asked us to push ahead albeit with a renewed focus on the climatic challenges: both from the experience of bush fire as well as their time on their land.
Extensive use of concrete and glass had always been a desired palette for the construction. This stemmed from the clients’ minimalist aesthetic appreciation and a desire for an enduring low maintenance structure as well as a like for our previous projects such as Avalon Coastal Retreat and Rocky Hills Retreat. Conceptually concrete, or a masonry material appealed for external walls as it gave the home a defensive psychological ‘backrest’ to balance the large southern exposure immersing one fully in the view – without such an approach, we were concerned one would feel too exposed. Concern for the reliability of local concrete supply combined with prohibitive cost forced us to reconsider off-form concrete walls and led us ultimately to select concrete block.
In this case, we opted for standard grey concrete block faced with slightly struck joints. This emphasises the material over the individual block and the complete wall over its units.
Functionally the choice of concrete block meant no maintenance and provided a confidence the building would cop a beating from the southern ocean, age with grace and be safe when bush fire returns.
In contrast to the frameless glass southern facade, the concrete block walls, which complete the remaining three sides of the rectangular perimeter, are the anchor to the site and the desired ‘back rest’ to allow such a grand southern exposure. Together the material contrast allows environmental challenge with assurance, exposure with comfort, prospect with protection. Jude Abel, in Houses Magazine, described the house as an ‘elegant hide’. For two keen bird watchers, this was the perfect description. The clients love the way the house keeps them in tune with the environment – whether it’s walking across the deck on wild, windy nights to their bedroom, taking breakfast up the spiral staircase to the viewing deck and watching gannets plunge into the sea, or seeing the southern cross move across the night sky from their bed.
Little material gymnastics or detail expression was seen as necessary in favour of simplicity to emphasise the whole over the block unit. The ability to core fill and reinforce concrete block allowed us to use block lintels to make large simple openings in the overall wall without additional detail - such as steel lintels – again emphasising the whole over the detail. In engineering terms, this also provided a very rigid perimeter which in turn permitted light and economic timber internal wall and roof framing where steel would have otherwise have been required.
During the design process, Jennie and Rob talked about the possibility of injecting bold colour into the house and its façade. We used the three large breaks in the block work to create an outside/inside colour link, and the clients responded with enthusiasm to the simple red, black and white theme (one of their favourite rooms in the house is the post office box red mosaic tiled guest bathroom). To build on this concept, the decision was made to play with the exterior white wall and use it as a blank canvas. In line with Jennie and Rob’s strong desire for a geometric artwork, artist Alex Miles created an installation called Home. Each of the four sections represents one semaphore letter of the word home.
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