All good design is a product of its environment, but this is especially the case in the Sandy Point House. Kennedy Nolan’s design responds directly to the project site, along with the client’s many memories from decades of holidaying in the area. It was their aspiration for the house to reflect and amplify this genuine connection.
One of the biggest practical considerations of the project was to provide shelter from the often harsh weather conditions. ‘The weather is often bucolic, but is famously windy and can be wretched. The owners find beauty and a deep connection to all conditions,’ say the architects at Kennedy Nolan.
In response, this house was imagined in the shape of a pinwheel, creating four separate zones around a protected inner courtyard. This courtyard is the heart of the property, as it’s both the main entry point, directly accessible from almost every room, and provides the only way to move between each zone. The impact of this layout allows alone time to be easily facilitated (as is so often craved during family holidays!), while also encouraging outdoor socialising. Moving throughout the zones also provides a sensual experience, ranging from a view of stars, to a burst of cold air, and the sounds of the nearby ocean waves crashing.
The home is designed for extended year-round holidaying. The exterior is mostly made up of timber suitable for the bushfire-prone setting, while simultaneously helping the home camouflage into the Indigenous planted setting. The owners also did not want a ‘flashy’ house, but one in keeping with the existing community of modest dwellings and dirt roads. The use of warm timber panelling, slate tiles, and sage green walls (Dulux’s ‘Spores‘ and ‘Aloe Vera‘) in the home throughout the interiors adds texture and depth to the space, and earned this project a shortlist in the Dulux colour awards earlier this year!
The architects say, ‘This is a place deeply embedded in its landscape, derived from memories of family holidays past, and somewhere new memories can be nurtured.’
