PROJECTS
Archer house
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DETAILS
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Craig Rosevear
(email)
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| Bellevarde Constructions | ||
| Beach House | ||
| 2001 | ||
| Sydney | ||
| Giorgio Possenti (web) |
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Archer house in Whale Beach, north of Sydney, is an unusual combination: while quite severe in its steel and concrete minimalism, it is considerately designed so that surfers who slow down along Whale Beach Road can see over and above it to the ocean. If they duck down, they can even see the waves through the glass walls of its upper storey.
Rosevear says that while building higher was permissible, the client, a surfer himself, preferred that the bottom half of the house be "tucked under". Rosevear says the clients were also unusual in that they were content with the view to the northern end of the beach. So the house "doesn't try and push forward" to get the southerly views, which most others around there do. It is set back, built into the contours of the slope.
In plan, it is straightforward: above, a glass pavilion containing the more public spaces, the living room and kitchen, and below, a more sealed, secure podium with bedrooms and bathing. The pavilion can open on both sides with glass walls that slide away to form a continuous platform from the terrace in front to the courtyard at the back, which has a huge open fireplace. In contrast, the bedrooms below are "a place for hibernation", Rosevear says. "I think things should be rationally planned and simplified so it takes away some of the complexities that already crowd your mind."
The materials concrete, steel, unpainted fibre-cement and wooden decking are low maintenance, needing no treatment. Inside, the floors are polished Danish white concrete with underfloor heating.
It is a house of straight lines and neutral colours, a perfectly planned, if somewhat cold, shell. Rosevear says colour wasn't necessary – after all, its setting is the "huge blue" of the sea, the orange sand and the native vegetation with its fabulous purples and oranges. The house doesn't have to compete with that, he says.
The Archer House is a celebration of the architect's singular design skills and refined tectonic sensibility converted, in the hands of a master builder, to a masterwork. This house is sourced from the mainstream of modernist sensibility but soars into the realm of calm, zen-like architectural unity through its careful siting, spatial/compositional strength, and extraordinarily executed construction. The house resonates with the idea of a simple, but elegant, coastal weekender. Although simple in concept " living "pavilion" over bedroom "podium" the architecture is of great sophistication. The roof plane hovers magically over the transparent living space, framing a beautiful view over ocean and beach. This is a house designed and built with great care and unusual attention to detail by an exceptionally talented architect with a sure hand.
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