The program dictated by the client required a house of approximately 300m2 incorporating four bedrooms. Our client’s were retired “emptynesters” and intend to live on their own in the house, however, they anticipate frequent visits from their children and grandchildren and requested in the program that there be some separation between “visitors” and the main living / bedroom area.

The site had direct frontage to the east to a linear park / reserve. The east elevation also had aspects to the beach capturing sea breezes although the beach cannot be seen from the site elevation. In keeping with the program set by the client the house has been designed as two apartments. The first apartment (residential) accommodates our client’s main bedroom area together with the main Living / Dining / Kitchen areas and outdoor deck areas. The second apartment (service) is utilitarian in nature providing a Media Room, secondary bedrooms and a carport. Each of the apartments is aligned to the front and rear boundaries that are not parallel. This means that the apartments are skewed relative to each other and this space has been developed into a circulation / breezeway.

The approach to the house and entry is through the breezeway that is a glazed space to provide articulation between the two apartments and acts as circulation to all areas. To further emphasise the change in functionality between the two apartments the residential apartment uses timber extensively for window joinery and external cladding with aluminium inserts to articulate joints. The service apartment uses aluminium metal cladding extensively with a small hint of timber used in selective locations.

The edge of the residential apartment that fronts the park, which is essentially the outdoor deck area, is stepped to create an amphitheatre to the park. Louvres are used extensively in the breezeway to capture sea breezes and to create crossflow ventilation to the apartments. Because the site did not have direct access to the street frontage (access to the site is through the narrow driveway) the landscaping and treatment of the driveway was heavily articulated to provide relief and “softening” of the approach to the house.