House S
Tamarama, NSW, Australia
Stage: Documentation - Planning Approved
Type: Living - Single Residential
Client: Private
Located in a beachside suburb, the corner site is bounded by a busy beach access road and a quiet suburban street and has ocean views to the South. The brief called for a home that responds to the daily life and ever changing needs of a young family.
In response to an apartment block which looms over its back yard, the house is organised around a series of courtyards and internal voids, screening the apartment block and allowing the occupants to utilise the external living areas. Taking advantage of its coastal location and warm climate, the house establishes a direct relationship between a series of double height internal voids and external areas. To the South, the house opens itself up, allowing the view of the ocean to penetrate deep into the plan.
Integrated into the built fabric are a series of screens, operating at a range of scales and in response to different aspects of the context. The strong summer sun, traffic noise and privacy are controlled by a deep metal screen within the Western facade. Its operability gives the ability to control privacy, direct cooling breezes or warming winter sun into the house. At night, the role of the screen is reversed, providing visual and acoustic privacy.
