2021 National Award for Residential Architecture – Houses (New)

Jury citation

The term “beach house” immediately conjures a sense of indoor–outdoor informality and a relaxed lifestyle and state of mind. The substance of this particular proposition addresses these notions superbly.

A clearing in the Burrawong woodland of scrub and rainforest species determined the site for this house, which has an inclined sequence from the access road below. The conceptual generators for the design are founded in the basic environmental considerations of solar orientation, natural ventilation, thermal mass and bushfire safety, underpinned by an objective to maximize outdoor living and minimize contained internal space.

The client’s desire to build a concrete house was conditioned by budget constraints, resulting in the architect’s material choice of concrete masonry with off-form concrete structural elements where required.

The building presents itself as a slender tower form to the street before stepping up the site in a semi-public to private sequence, from entry below to outdoor living areas above. The monochromatic nature of the masonry and concrete establishes a beautiful dialogue with the colours of its landscape setting.

The house sensitively provides moments of visual connection to the surrounding bushland with a minimum of carefully scaled glazed openings in the solid masonry enclosure. The north-facing external living areas are a natural extension of the indoors and capture as much sun as possible.

This is an exceptional and beautiful project, with the client concluding that “the experience of living in the space is transformational.”

Project credits

Architect: Polly Harbison Design; Project team: Polly Harbison, Ron Woods, Bridget Webb, Jincheng Jiang, Gracie Grew, Giorgi Jardine, Trias; Builder: Paterson Builders; Structural engineer: Tihanyi Consulting Engineers; Interior architecture: Arent and Pyke; Landscape consultant: Michael Cooke Garden Design

Pearl Beach House is located in Pearl Beach, New South Wales on the land of the Guringai people.