Jean Graham, Winter Architecture, Melbourne, Australia : Student Summer School 2005 

Bermagui Beach House, Bermagui, New South Wales, Australia
Completed August 2021

[family beach house, coastal clifftop site, modern, weatherboard vernacular]

On a clifftop bordering Bermagui’s famed Blue Pools, the house is a sensitive reimagining of a treasured retreat. Shared by the family for decades, an existing weatherboard shack was relocated to make way for a new home, drawing on the clients’ connection to place and refining the informal character of the classic Australian beach house. The response is directly influenced by the project’s coastal surroundings, with thoughtful spatial planning, strategic orientation and materiality supporting the family’s traditions and idyllic beachside lifestyle. The house comprises three solid volumes wrapped in a timber skin, with openings on each facade. By positioning the home close to its rear boundary, an immediate dialogue was established with the garden, and distant connection to the ocean. This intentional placement and layered landscaping create peripheral outdoor spaces, to provide sun and shelter among the pavilions. Raw and tactile materials, contemplative spaces and purposeful transitions ground the home, which can be traversed entirely barefoot, a calming counterpoint to its harsh coastal environs.

The house comprises three solid volumes loosely wrapped in a timber skin. Positioning the home close to its rear boundary abolished the traditional model of backyard and front fence. This intentional placement combines with layered landscaping to create peripheral outdoor spaces, providing opportunities for sun and shelter among the pavilions. The house and garden have a functional relationship with the coastal climate, creating a dynamic experience for the occupants. This relationship to the elements also informs the rhythm of openings along each façade. Though strictly ordered and proportioned, these are enlivened through shallow shifts in depth and sliding timber screens, lending an informality to an otherwise formal facade.

The placement and program of each pavilion defends the privacy of its inhabitants. The living pavilion sits at the site’s northernmost point, connecting the main pavilion and the guest pavilion by a glazed link, and extending them to the southern boundary. The plan comfortably accommodates guests and hosts while gathering and being apart. Downstairs, covered dining areas and guest sleeping spaces spill out onto sheltered courtyards. Upstairs, flexible living spaces can open up or bunker down, with separate sleeping areas providing temporary sanctuaries for the home’s main occupants. 

Materials selected for Bermagui House tell a nuanced story. Externally, the deliberate weathering of timber cladding and dune-like landscaping reflect its rugged context. Interiors feature a curated palette of white surfaces, soft sand, timbers and robust brickwork; a minimalist iteration of rockpools, beaches and cliffs nearby. Raw and tactile materiality, contemplative spaces and purposeful transitions ground the home. A calming counterpoint to its harsh coastal environs, and a restorative base for family getaways. 

Credits

Project Team – Jean Graham, Cara Rodrigues, Claire White, James Embry, Helen Pallot, Jack Mounsey, Philip Culpan, Emily van Moger, Isabella Hatward, Issa El Assaad

Builder – D.D.Funston

Structural Engineer – Andrew Marshman Engineers

Landscape Architect – Kelly Royle Landscape Architect

Photography – Jack Mounsey

www.winterarchitecture.com.au