COMMERCIAL / RESIDENTIAL

The brief was to create a simple, easily maintained weekend family retreat, with easy access to the beach. The house can accommodate three couples with their children, as well as a dingy and surfboard lock-up storage. The house is sunken below road level, exposing only the vaulted roof and prominent chimney. It is secluded from the street, with the front door being reached by a descending ramp between two high walls. The six vaulted modules successively contain boat storage, with living and kitchen/dining area opening onto a sunken courtyard that lets in the morning sun. Each of the three bedrooms has a sleeping loft and shower and toilet cubicle. A single brick type was used for the paving, floors, walls and vaulted roof which provides for high thermal mass.