The Blairgowrie Beach Club

Where Ease, Memory and Coastal Light Meet On Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, a new coastal home sits quietly among the dunes. Warm, timbered and low in profile, but full of life. Bower Architecture’s Blairgowrie Beach Club is less a beach house and more a social anchor. A place made for easy ritual, returning friends and the particular rhythm of seaside days. The brief was steeped in memory. The clients, Fio and Katarina, had spent years holidaying in a small, much-loved beach house on the same site. A modest structure with a front deck that served as a kind of local outpost. With their children now grown, they wanted a new home that could welcome extended family and friends, but still carry the intimacy, scale and familiarity they associated with the original. From the outset, the design was shaped by a single idea. Simplicity. The project was guided by the principles of Swedish Functionalism, Funkis, a philosophy Katarina introduced and which quietly underpinned every decision. As the team at Bower describe it, they were constantly asking; Is this the most simple, functional way to do this? Are we designing in a way that lets the family live with ease, without distraction or architectural ego? That discipline became the backbone of the house. Preserving the spirit of the old home was as much about scale as it was about sentiment. Bower kept the proportions tight and human, avoiding volume for volume’s sake, so that the rooms feel cosy whether two people are in residence or sixteen. A new front deck sits where the old one once was, re-establishing that familiar connection to the street and the coastal reserve. Inside, soft whites, pale timbers and places for personal objects hold traces of the house that came before. The procession from the front deck to the tennis court is one of the home’s quiet triumphs. The family are devoted tennis players and rather than treat the court as a separate zone, Bower wove it into the architectural experience. The L-shaped plan captures glimpses and long views from the deck, through the living spaces, across the central outdoor area and finally along the court’s sideline. At both ground and first floor, the circulation spine aligns with this axis, giving the house a sense of anticipation and generosity. It’s this view, the architects say, that gives the home its “beach club” character. Materially, the house leans into the quiet, natural language of the peninsula. The pre-aged timber cladding, treated with Scandinavian Sioox, gives the exterior the silvery, even tone of driftwood. It’s a finish that feels both contemporary and deeply coastal, while also ageing gracefully in this salt-heavy climate. Inside, small gestures carry big warmth. The architects speak with satisfaction about the sand-coloured grout in the bathrooms, paired with simple white tiles. A tiny “Funkis” move that adds softness and a coastal nod without shouting. The clients’ Swedish and Italian backgrounds bring a layered personality to the home. Fio’s heritage shows up playfully in the social spaces. The built-in sound system (with speakers even on the tennis court), the ingenious rising pool table, the neon sign, the record player and cocktail bar, the BBQ positioned to anchor the front deck. It’s a house that doesn’t shy away from joy. Katarina’s Swedish roots reveal themselves in hospitality and care. The ground floor bathroom is designed with thoughtful nooks for every guest’s toiletries. The bunk room has hooks and personal storage for each visitor. And the kitchen, drawing from her memories of Swedish kitchens, is crafted for baking, gathering and feeding the people she loves. Environmental performance is handled with equal clarity. In winter the home absorbs and stores warmth through concrete floors and internal brickwork, supported by high-performing glazing. In summer, pergolas, eaves, planting and cross-ventilation keep the home shaded and breezy. There’s no heavy-handed sustainability narrative here, just passive design doing its job. Perhaps the most surprising lesson from the project is a social one. As the architect reflects, coastal houses often retreat behind fences or dunes. Places to withdraw. But here, the opposite approach made sense. Fio loves cooking and talking to neighbours; the front deck and BBQ area were designed to support that. The house opens itself to the community, to passers-by, to the reserve across the road. It’s architecture as connection rather than enclosure. In the end, The Blairgowrie Beach Club is a home built on respect. For memory, for landscape, for simplicity and for the rituals that make a place feel like yours. It’s a house that invites people in, holds them close and lets the coastal light do the rest. Explore more projects from Bower Architecture here. Words: Tara Bird