A Raw Yet Refined Bondi Beach Home Opens Up to the Neighborhood

This revamped Bondi home isn’t your typical oceanside pad. Although it’s light and airy inside, there’s a rawness to its materiality that gives it a more industrial vibe. Andrew Burges Architects worked extensively with the homeowners, Will and Julia Dangar, who took a hands-on approach to the design.

The couple are involved in the renovation industry themselves—they run a landscape design business, and Will is a partner in a construction company. "It was a very integrated process," remarks architect Andrew Burges.

With a solid eye for residential remodels, Will and Julia had a very specific brief in mind. They wanted to orchestrate social engagement between the public spaces of the home and the exterior laneway, and it had to work as both a vacation rental and a secondary home.

While Bondi is know for its array of architecture, this particular neighborhood features a mix of homes, cafes, and restaurants—and lots of foot traffic. In order to maintain a sense of privacy, Burges and his team transformed the long, thin Federation-era home with various materials, and took extra care to position the private spaces on the second floor.

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"We didn’t want the upper-level bedrooms seeing into the backs of these properties, so we looked into a more diagonal usage on the upper levels," Burges says. The northern wall, which is the wall directly facing the street, was also rebuilt with recycled bricks from the original home.

Other materials include corrugated steel, which was used for the roof and side walls, along with pleated perforated aluminum sheeting. "It gives a blurry, ambiguous edge to the house that we quite liked, and the curve has this lovely endless feeling to it," says Andrew Burges Architects practice director Min Dark.

Inside, the walls are coated with a mixture of limewash and hand-applied local acrylic products. There’s a minimalist brick staircase, and a large piece of red steel joinery in the living room. "It was conceived as if every material could be an external material," Burges adds. Upstairs, the couple requested a more delicate palette of plaster and tile.

The garden, which fully surrounds the home, holds a beautiful Bismarck palm, olive trees, cacti, and other plants that thrive with sporadic rainfall. 

The Bismarck House  currently listed for $4,150,000 AUD (approximately $2,797,930 USD) by Alexander Phillips and Vince Licata of PPD Real Estate

Related Reading:

Like its Moniker, the Cloud House in Bondi Beach Feels Light as Air

A Bondi Beach Penthouse Designed For Barefoot Luxury

Living Screens Conceal a North Bondi Beach House and a Semi-Indoor Pool

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: Andrew Burges Architects / @andrewburgesarchitects

Builder/General Contractor: Robert Plumb Build / @robertplumbbuild

Structural Engineer: E2 Civil & Structural

Landscape Design Company: Dangar Barin Smith / @dangarbarinsmith

Interior Design: Andrew Burges Architects and  Design Daily

Cabinetry Design/Installation: Cranbrook Workshop / @cranbrookworkshop