This sleek Byron Bay home is located on the fringe of coastal suburbia, and backs onto a wilderness reserve of wetlands and sand dunes. The architects, Vokes and Peters designed the property to nestle into its environment, by envisioning a low-lying, single storey home, and a recessive, black exterior. This dramatic colour treatment creates a subtle trick of the eye, conjuring a sense of ‘a shadow under the canopy of the vegetation in the reserve.’
The owners of the house are the co-founders and ex-chair of the Byron Bay Writers’ Festival – and this connection to literature is visually apparent all throughout the home! The architects describe, ‘We discussed the idea of a house as a library, with books occupying every room, almost as co-occupants or pets of the household.’ The interior design of the home, where there is no distinction between the internal walls and solid hoop pine cabinetry, enhances the feeling of the library as centrepiece.
This home also features an independent writer’s studio, as the owners plan to establish a young writers fellowship. This space provides accommodation and mentorship to a young writer during the yearly writers’ festival. We can’t think of a more ideal writing environment!
