Summer House

Summer House is a timeless weekend beach house for a young family consisting of simple forms, textured surfaces and open spaces which provide abundant opportunities for relaxed holidays and weekends away. The simple beach shack is fast becoming extinct in some of Victoria’s coastal hotspots however the response to the client’s brief was to retain the charm of the existing cottage and create a contemporary pavilion with the same qualities of space, simplicity and charm. Being a weekend house, the interiors are stripped bare to the essentials only, with simple unadorned rooms to remove visual clutter such that the owners can focus on the important things such as the coming together of family and friends. A restrained palette of white painted materials unified the project, linking the original cottage and new pavilion. The highly textural materials like rough sawn vertical planks with deep reveals, and bagged brickwork contrast the smooth weatherboards. The new architectural form reinterprets the gable roof in a contemporary way whilst unmistakably referencing the past. Summer house creates a timeless family home which will grow and adapt with the family over many years, creating space for family gatherings, and providing a weekend escape.