Photos by Derek Swalwell.
St Andrews Beach House is a two storey circular holiday home in Victoria, Australia, that takes advantage of the remoteness of site and expansive views - which extend in all directions. With no neighbouring forms to respond to, the brief - to design a modest, two-bedroom beach shack, was freely imagined. The house stands alone, a circle in the sand, amongst the wild bushland, rugged dunes and scrub. Standing less than five metres in radius, the structure is an object in the landscape. A Euclidean form set amongst rolling coastal terrain, it provides, in modest form, everything you would need and want in a beach house.
Observing the fragility of the location, the house respectfully integrates into the environment. The shape grew from a response to the views (no dominant focal point) and the simplification of the interior spaces. A house with no corridors and no wasted space lends itself to a circular design. The plan of the house uses rational and precise geometry, as the circle extrudes into a tube. The internal spaces adhere to the rules of form, guiding and arranging segments that divide the space, with a spiral staircase as its central core, providing light and air but also snug spaces. The ground floor comprises kitchen, living and dining, with a bathroom and a laundry. Upstairs the sleeping area is essentially one bunk room separated by curtains- informal, casual and relaxed.
The house displays an innovative use of timber, with chunky details and exposed portal frames. This is not a slick beach house, but a relaxed and informal escape, built with materials that will patina and weather, like an old coastal wharf. Small and befitting of the landscape, it has been designed with just the right amount of space and amenity to escape city life.
Credits:
- Perrett Simpson (Engineer)
- Spence Construction (Builder)
- Austin Maynard Architects - Project Architect/Associate - Ray Dinh
- Austin Maynard Architect - Design Architect - Andrew Maynard
- Austin Maynard Architects - Design Architect - Mark Austin
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