Coast dwelling is a particularly Australian habit, so it is not surprising that it has given rise to distinctive housing types. Yet there are clearly displayed regional variations. In Victoria it has resulted in more complex and formal solutions (Barrie Marshall, Nonda Katsalidis). Up north, the flavour is more essential and delicate (Gabriel Poole, Clare Design). In and around Sydney, steep topography and coastal bush have conspired with the modernist aspirations of local architects to produce work preoccupied with frames, platforms, strong roofs and a somewhat tropical sensibility. Examples abound, including early seminal works by Russell Jack and Bill Lucas, and variations as diverse as Ken Woolley’s Mosman house to some of Richard Leplastrier’s Pittwater projects.
This rich and valuable tradition explores the tensions between a kind of essential abstract modernism and “the poetic awareness that is the essence of dwelling” (Christian Norberg-Schultz). Jon King’s Forresters Beach house continues this regional preoccupation, and is a strong response both to its particular site and the universal program of “the interpretation of man’s being between earth and sky.” Perched over a steep sandy slope above Forresters Beach on the central coast, this house for a young family is tucked into a bush setting connected to a reserve to the west. It is a house which enjoys the search for transparency and ‘lightness’. The simple language of frame and skin is engaged to accommodate platforms held together by the discipline of a strong directional roof, all achieved with a direct clarity.
The design strategy, while not radical, is refreshingly simple. The carefully ordered plan is based on a three by four-bay grid, with kitchen and services as a central core behind open living spaces permeating the house in all directions. Sleeping areas are simply divided, with children on the north and adults on the south. A central stair provides visual connection along the east-west section. A simple description of the plan reveals little of the spatial order of the whole. Interlocking spaces through the section from east to west lend a unity and transparency, and surprisingly result in a sense of both compactness and generosity.
The steel frame gives a strong sense of order, yet internally it is subtle in its expression. It is an economic response to the need to anchor the house in its sandy site. The single roof plane expresses unity and gives emphasis to the primary view. Generally the external living spaces are contained within the frame, maintaining the formal clarity of the structure, and providing protection from sea breezes. As a place of arrival, a large contained deck on the northern side sits at the lower floor level. This is a generous space contained by a timber batten screen on the northern boundary, reached from a track connecting streets above and below. From here there is no formal front door – you are already in the territory of the house, and can enter directly to the living space or the kitchen. As you are drawn further in, the presence of the ocean is compelling, as is the quality of light.
Living areas, seemingly suspended in space, are positioned across the eastern side of the lowest platform. The more private parts of the house are layered on platforms above. Here the idea of the section can be clearly understood, with the private spaces looking towards the ocean through glazed screens and over decks. While there is a strong sense of continuity and transparency from below, the change in level cleverly prevents views into the central core. A real discovery in moving through the house is the clever arrangement of the kitchen, bathroom and laundry, which allows each to be remarkably transparent and focused, again, on the ocean outlook.
Everything about this house is direct and unpretentious. The detailing is neat and spare. External cladding forms a smooth skin, with fibre cement modular panels sitting within the expressed steel frame. Glass walling comprises a simple combination of glass louvres, sliding doors and fixed panels. Internally, walls and ceilings are clad with white plasterboard, doors are sliding screens and the flooring is polished hardwood. The restrained use of timber for external screens and floors provides just the right amount of texture, richness and warmth to the interior.
This is truly a coastal house. It makes no grand gestures but is redolent with intelligent and thoughtful design. It demonstrates a commitment by the architect to providing a delightful place of ‘dwelling’ through the disposition of spaces and manipulation of light. However, there are some minor questions about the design. For instance, would the clarity of the steel frame be greater if the internal cladding was also modular, and if the frame did not disappear into the ceiling on its eastern edge? The rigour of the frame and the plan is also diminished by locating the parents’ bathroom on the external wall. An internal bathroom, with transparency, would have allowed a stronger visual link to the adjoining bush.
And while the house works well in summer with its generosity of cross-ventilation, will the unprotected eastern glazing be a problem, and will the thermal mass be sufficient in winter? This notion of ‘open’ platforms in our climate may require a bit of rugging up in winter.
This is a small price to pay for the connection to the landscape provided in other parts of the house.
As a model for a place of coastal living that is both universal and particular, this project has much to offer. It displays a timeless confidence, is sensitive to site and habitation, and stimulates the senses. It accommodates open living with care for privacy. The great strength of this compellingly direct house is its sheer sense of delight, achieved by means that are assured yet disarmingly modest.
Ken Maher is the managing principal of Hassell in Sydney, and an adjunct professor with the Faculty of the Built Environment at the University of New South Wales | | Wand House, Forresters Beach, NSW
Architect Design King Company – architect Jon King, assistant David Astridge. Structural Engineer Colin R. Kneebone. Builder John Greenwood Constructions.
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