sunday house
little cove, noosa, australia
a subtropical beach sanctuary opening onto a national park
‘There’s nothing in the house we would change – we always say that to David.’’’
Sunday House client
Our clients purchased their property in Little Cove, Noosa for a subtropical retreat from their home in Melbourne.
The house was located on a wonderful site that backed onto the Noosa National Park and surfing beaches.
The existing late 70’s brick beach house had dated and did not take the best advantage of the unique site that backed onto a subtropical rainforest.
The owner’s brief was to modernise the house for extended family holidays.
One of the challenges with the existing house is that it did not take full advantage of the location backing onto the Noosa National Park. The rear of the house was largely a solid brick wall looking onto a beautiful view.
Our solution was to remove the rear brick wall of the house so that bedrooms and bathrooms would look out onto this private serene landscape.
Originally the house was dark internally, so we pushed a series of timber-lined light wells up through the roof. This allowed natural light to flow in from above, as well as from new openings in the north-facing brick walls.
The other challenge was how to modernise the front street elevation. The original house had an unflattering dark brown brick facade with two equally mission brown garage doors.
A separate consideration was that the street elevation faced east and the hot morning summer sun would blast in through the kitchen and dining windows.
Our approach was to render the brick in a natural cement finish and design a fine timber screen that sat in front of the original facade.
This lightweight hardwood structure resulted in a refined modern elevation to the street, while also providing sun protection and privacy for the internal spaces.
One of the most unique and delightful design features of the new house is the semi-outdoor bathrooms that look out onto the national park.
The original house had an aged light brown plastic shower unit that sat on the back deck, where you could shower outside looking into the forest.
The owners loved this feature, so we designed the new bathrooms as hardwood boxes with copper fittings that open onto the private subtropical rainforest.
Awards
2016 Australian Institute of Architects Queensland State Award
2016 Australian Institute of Architects Sunshine Coast Award
2016 Houses Award for Alterations & Additions over 200m2
Photography
Jared Fowler
