DS House, Blairgowrie

This project was submitted by Planned Living Architects and has been selected as an Editor’s Pick.

“In the ocean beach environs of Blairgowrie on the Mornington Peninsula, this house presents itself as a robust, tactile and refined combination of raw concrete and timbers. With privacy and understated presence, it embraces the coastal streetscape before opening up through seamless connections to the secluded sun filled backyard.
The home is initially designed for a young couple, with short-term plans for a family, but with a requirement for a home which will not exclude itself from a possible future life as a holiday home. The spatial planning is designed for flexibility through its zoned spaces. This allows the main users to live in the key parts of the house the majority of the time but providing for impending family growth or use as a multi-generational holiday house through the separation of the second wing.
It provides its inhabitants a sanctuary through its relaxed atmosphere and privacy and gains warmth through extensive use of timbers, complementing the strength and raw tactile character of the in-situ concrete walls. It encourages the inhabitants to connect with the outdoor spaces through cleverly planned orientation, and extensive glass to the north-facing backyard.
The house and its layered built forms sit harmoniously within the sleepy streets of this ocean beach environment whilst also providing for flexible privacy and security. The bold concrete forms create a blank backdrop for the reinstatement of the indigenous landscape after bushfire overlays of the planning scheme triggered a requirement for the majority of the vegetation to be removed. The orientation and site layout was dictated by a desire to embrace passive solar principles from the outset. Strong connections from indoors to out is enhanced via continuous material links and well considered glazing elements.”