Buffer zones
The Sunday Age
Sunday March 27, 2011
Protection from wild weather, plus cultural and eco demands, made this a challenging project, reports Sue Peacock. WHEN you build on the doorstep of the Southern Ocean, it pays to know what you are dealing with. Even in summer, you can expect a strong offshore wind, with the waves throwing up a salty spray.For the owners of a beachfront house on Victoria's far south-west coast, engaging a builder who lived a few sand dunes away was important; as was involving an architect who had already worked on three other projects for the family, including another house in the same area.Architect Marcus Roberts faced several challenges. The south-facing house was exposed to extreme windy conditions, with no protection between the front deck and Antarctica. He also had to overcome extensive environmental and cultural sensitivities, passive solar and sustainability demands, as well as practical limitations on what building materials could be used.His brief was to design a house that maximised the view and would divide easily, providing accommodation for grandparents - possibly with a friend in tow - as well as a separate area for family.Mr Roberts created a five-bedroom, five-bathroom house around an internal, open-air courtyard that allows the winter sun - a good source of passive solar energy - into the living spaces while giving the family a stunning seascape and protection from the elements. Every room has views of the ocean or the dunes.The living and dining area is a pavilion, and its roof, supported on two recycled timber trusses, cantilevers over the ocean deck. Sliding glass doors ensure uninterrupted views of the ocean from the courtyard. The doors can be pushed back to incorporate the front deck on those rare, still days.The central courtyard acts as a meeting point between the family bedrooms at the rear, the main bedroom and a second guest bedroom down the right, and the kitchen, entry, TV room and garage on the left flank.Three curved walls anchor the house into the dune and underpin the central courtyard design. Two limestone walls curve outwards towards the ocean, and the third, clad in timber, connects the rear to the building and "cradles" the family wing."We needed to create a large space at the back in order to accommodate all the bedrooms and the bathrooms, put the courtyard in the middle and then make a large dining/living space at the front. The curves did that for us," says the owner (who prefers not to be named).Mr Roberts says the inspiration for the splayed walls came from his client gesticulating with her arms about how she wanted the view framed. "It was really about expanding the view of the ocean, while limiting what could be seen of the blocks on either side," he says.The single-level house was designed to "nestle" into the sand dunes and to age gracefully, he adds. Building materials included limestone and weathered timber from a Brisbane wharf for the tresses, spotted gum - fixed with stainless steel nails - for the external cladding, as well as concrete and industrial-strength aluminium.The limestone is from Western Australia. "The local limestone was too soft, whereas WA limestone is much harder and would allow openings to be cut," says Mr Roberts. "Apart from its association with the sea and how it was formed, limestone offers amazing acoustic qualities. That [was] important in this house, which has hard surfaces everywhere. There is a nice 'quietness' [now]."And a warmth.The limestone walls, together with the concrete slab and tiles throughout, help provide thermal mass and keep temperatures fairly even."It has such a lovely, solid feel to it," says the owner. "The limestone walls make it feel like it won't move, no matter what the weather is doing outside."Other materials, like the aluminium used on the roof and the recycled timber for the trusses, were used for practical reasons. "We needed to use recycled timber because any freshly sawn timber had the potential to move," Mr Roberts says.All the external timber cladding, and that used on the decks, is designed to "grey off over time".An odd shape, height restrictions, the location of an Aboriginal shell midden and water supplies added to the environmental issues."This was a challenging block of land to build on," Mr Roberts says. "It is four hectares but the building envelope was only 580 square metres, which wasn't large enough for all the services."The planning permit took a long time. After the first 12 months, we were still dealing with complex title and legal issues associated with the archaeological site."Water tanks needed to be located outside the building envelope, there was no gas available and the power supply was barely adequate."We had to use electricity for heating and cooking. It was a balancing act when it came to the appliances," says the architect.He says his close relationship with the client meant the design was quickly finalised. "Having worked with them before meant I didn't take long to understand what they needed."They gave me a lot of freedom and trust, especially when the budget was increasing because of the materials chosen and the complex nature of the curved walls."The severe environment was one of the reasons local builder Michael Hearn - who has his own house a few hundred metres down the coast - was chosen for the construction."He understood all the challenges," says the owner. "He knew what needed to be weatherproof. He knew how to do the slab on sand and, given there are so many restrictions when it comes to what you can do on the coast, you need someone who is familiar with that."CONTACTS Marcus Roberts Architect 5429 2572 benlochstudio.com.au MM Hearn Constructions 5568 1745 mmhearn.com.au
© 2011 The Sunday Age
