Whale of a Beach House, Port Elliott, SA, 2010
AIA (SA) Residential Award, 2010
Timber Design Awards, SA, 2010
This is more a village, more a resort, than a house. Here, Chris, Marilyn & very-big kids can all have friends over, and cook up the largest barbecues ever seen. And there’s a place for all to collapse - 14 dedicated beds. with plenty of space to doss on top of that.
As a potential high-value holiday-rent, 2 equal double-bedrooms for cost-sharing was an imperative. We’ve added a 3rd with its own character (still with sea views). Bed 3 also adapts to a living-space - an adjunct to a bunk-house.
In max-party-mode the garage opens up to the courtyard space - in fact you can party from back-fence to the beach without interuption!
Fringing walkways and balconies form a theatrical backdrop, acting also as party-viewing stations.
But groups of villagers can also retreat - separation by level and place enable dissociation of groups not necessarily playing/ relaxing together.
All in an informal setting that says ‘South Coast SA’. This is a house-of-scale that best fits its front-row location, yet it’s a beach-shack. It sets a tone for informality, for the freedom is the Beach (and not the Burbs), and derives from the pattern of the traditional SA shack.