Palm Beach 5

2021

A new house built on a replacing a simple beach shack that the family had owned for decades. The owners realised when cleaning the gutters of the old house that the view from the roof was spectacular. With a growing family and needs for more space, a new house was created with the living areas and Master Bedroom on the level of the old roof and additional accommodation and a second living area on the ground floor.

The skillion roof aligns with the building height limit, but also gives the Living area high ceilings and clerestory windows to the North and east, flooding the room with light and district views over Barrenjoey, Pittwater and surrounding bushland. A simple palette of natural materials with white walls and joinery, allows for the surrounding views to take priority. A sandstone fireplace allows for the living room to be a focused space for evening family gatherings, while the sundrenched terrace allows for lunch gatherings to take in the surrounding views and landscape.

The charcoal coloured weatherboard cladding atop the sandstone extended foundations helps to ground the house onto the landscape, with the second storey offset from the ground floor reducing the bulk of the building.

Photography: Simon Whitbread – simonwhitbread.com.au