Austinmer Beach House
By Alexander Symes Architect
Austinmer Beach House is an eco-friendly family home designed to connect sweeping coastal views to the east and the dramatic Illawarra escarpment to the west. The house is organised around three elements; the top floor is conceived as a floating box containing private spaces such as bedrooms and bathrooms. The ground floor is the second element, comprised of generous communal spaces that connect to the garden. The final element is the subterranean loggia space that is used for storage and as a secondary communal space during inclement weather. These three elements are linked by a spine wall and double-height atrium that draws air through the house, providing passive ventilation.
This home incorporates world-leading sustainability initiatives such as; electronic home automation; recycled and low environmental impact materials; high-performance thermal envelope; high-performance and high transparency glass; a passive thermal comfort strategy; solar hot water heating and electricity generation. These elements combine to create a thermally comfortable sustainable home without the need for air conditioning and that produces more energy than it uses.
The project was designed in collaboration with Furio Valich of g+v architecture.
Awards
2012 – National Winner | Austinmer Beach House | Boral National Environment & Energy efficiency Residential Building Award | In association with MJB – Master Builders Australia
2012 – Think Brick | Austinmer Beach House | Reuse Award
Project Team
Alex Symes
Furio Valich
Marc Oberhauser
Edwin Vanegus
Alicia Pozniak
Builder
Matt Jolley Builder
Consultants
Maven Creative – Interior Design
LightCo – Lighting Design
MPI Consulting – Services Design
Detom Design – Structural Engineer
Group GSA – Town Planning
Photography
Nicholas Watt
Council
Wollongong City Council
Products used in
Austinmer Beach House
Professionals used in
Austinmer Beach House
More projects from
Alexander Symes Architect
About the
Professional
Alexander Symes Architect was founded in 2014 with a mission to advance sustainable architecture. The world’s climate is changing and we believe that architecture must lead the way in changing how we utilise resources to contribute to a sustainable future.
This vision for sustainable architecture is layered through all aspects of our practice and through all the stages of a project. This starts with the examination of a project brief to ensure the grounding principles of a project support a sustainable way of life. As the project takes shape, Alex deploys his depth of technical expertise to realise the project to its full potential.
Alex’s technical expertise in building physics and facade system design is built on the experience he gained working in Arup’s Building Physics and Facade Engineer teams from 2010-2014. He has hands-on experience with construction and design for manufacturing assembly (DFMA) and a passion for how buildings are put together.
Alex has specialist training in the design and delivery of passive houses which we believe offer a pathway towards exceptionally comfortable and healthy homes. Alex loves collaborating with like-minded individuals and testing the boundaries of how we can challenge the status quo to advance sustainable architecture.
- Year founded2014
- ArchiPro Member since2023
- Follow
- Locations
- More information