The site is located at the top of a windswept sand dune, dropping down to the beach at its base. The wind-beaten dune vegetation shows the ferocity of the local conditions, with south-westerly winds regularly whipping across the ocean from the Bass Strait. The house we have designed for this site is replacing a previous house on the site by the same owners that were condemned due to significant steel corrosion throughout the structure. We came into the project with full knowledge of the history of the site and with the task of designing a house that could withstand a barrage of ocean spray and windy salt-driven rain without deteriorating over time. The family split their time between this property and their farm, and consist of a couple with 2 grown children, very elderly grandparents and future grandchildren in the picture. The house then has been designed as a response to site and weather conditions, a response to views and surrounding vegetation, and a response to multi-generational living and the kind of spaces that entails. Materials are rustic and low maintenance, and in situ concrete shells warmed up with Australian hardwood timber. As well as perching over the dune escarpment, the house also sits adjacent to a public beach car park. A key element of the design was the interface with this public realm, which we sought to engage with, whilst retaining a degree of privacy for the owners. There is no fence to the public domain, just the edge of the house itself, and we’ve broken down the mass of the building to this side, opening up to the public through a large portal opening over the garage with a dune roof garden that will mature and merge with the landscape outside the house. From within the house, the roof garden cuts out and frames the view to Point Lonsdale lighthouse, creating a dual sense of protection and connection, whilst from the car park it provides a welcome green edge and a glimpse into the domestic life of the house beyond. The landscape to the car park edge emulates the native dune landscape and the battened entry screen into the double-height forecourt continues the soft delineation of the public to private, with sandy landscape drifting through into this entry area, while the roof garden spills down from above.

Here at Sigma College of Architecture, the Top Architecture College in Tamil Nadu, we broaden the horizons of our students by mentoring them to think out of the box.

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