Tranquility Beach House

Portsea, Australia

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Tranquility Beach House

Portsea, Australia

Firm

Wolveridge Architects

Type

Residential › Private House

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2015

Practice Team: Jeremy Wolveridge, Nick Wheeler, Sina Petzold
Builder and Construction Manager: S Smith Builders
Structural/Civil Engineer: Don Moore and Associates
Landscape Architect: Fiona Brockhoff
Building Surveyor: Nepean Building Permits
Photographer: Derek Swalwell

On the rear site of a sub-division in Melbourne’s Portsea, this family home provides expansive views of a nearby golf course that are carefully orchestrated to provide a sense of seclusion from the neighbours, despite the extensive glazing.
The brief was for a 4 bedroom family home with a strong connection to the outdoor living spaces which including a pool, tennis court and outdoor kitchen/dining area. The garden suite provides a space for kid’s activities, large family functions and doubles as a guest suite. Living spaces are generous in order to encourage a communal approach to living rather than a multitude of individual spaces. The arbour provides the guest with their own sense of seclusion and will eventually provide shelter when the vegetation matures.
The arrival to a beach house is often met with great excitement for the weekend-visitor and it was the intention to provide this anticipation for the client who uses the home as their primary dwelling. To achieve this, the long driveway that was the result of the subdivision was leveraged with a bold entryway at the end that divides the building into two main forms. A long rammed-earth wall separates the building into two forms each side of the entry and creates a sense of arrival whether by car or by foot.
Formally, the single story box forms the master-wing with the cladding reflecting its horizontality, whilst the large two-story box hosts the living spaces and bedrooms above and is clad vertically. The cantilevered balcony provides weather protection for a range of outdoor activities below and a generous space to enjoy views from the bedrooms above. The simplicity of the forms was further highlighted by the commitment of the contractor to fully understand the concept behind the documentation and facilitate the realisation of the project in accordance with the architectural details.
Computer-generated sun-studies were used to position timber screens to the balcony to provide solar protection from afternoon sun and provide privacy from neighbouring dwellings. The engineer incorporated the screens into the structural design to add stiffness to the cantilevered structure.
The robustness of the exterior materials were continued indoors with a highly textured and earthy palette that resonates with the costal location and the extensive indigenous costal vegetation.