Perched high on the escarpment above the Northern Beaches, Freshwater Residence is in harmony with the seaside landscape, celebrating its location with a bold statement of contemporary architecture and structure.
Uniquely crafted for a young family it is functional, versatile, filled with light and endless views.
Freshwater Residence is built upon an extensive client brief spanning over 520 m2 of built form with the goal to create a comfortable and versatile family home on an impressive coastal site.
The original house was simple – a pitched tile roof, solid rectangular body and square cross hatched windows.
It was misplaced, out of sync with the environmental context and did not utilise the site to its best advantages.
Founded on the ideology that the site warrants a harmonious and natural architectural flow drawn from the environment, the Studio P Architecture and Interiors team aimed to achieve a resulting design that reflected the expanses of surrounding ocean and captured the sea breezes.
With intensive spatial planning – utilising split levels, angled orientations and detailed structural engineering, we created Freshwater House.
Every design decision, angle and framing was influenced by the surrounding environment.
The first main challenge of the project was the structural engineering.
Working with a steep sloped site whilst trying to get the most building area possible and still remaining within all council restrictions, the Studio P Architecture and Interiors team did not leave much room for the structural engineers to breathe.
The second challenge that remained throughout to project was being incredibly aware and considerate of all the neighbouring properties.
As the design was drastically increasing the amount of built form and sought to capture the beautiful coastline views, the design team knew they needed to ensure the building completely complied with all Council regulations.
Studio P Architecture and Interiors also researched and studied all view lines from the neighbouring properties to ensure their design would not block important water views.
They did extensive amounts of 3D modelling, used height flags, and had the site resurveyed throughout the build.
Project Details
Project Size – 593 m2
Site Area – 757 m2
Completion Date – 2016
Building Levels – 3
Project Team
Architecture
Studio P Architecture and Interiors
Established in 2015, Studio P (formerly known as Pouné Design) is an award winning Sydney based architectural practice with a commitment to providing poetic and pragmatic architectural design befitting its region and context.
Photography
Brett Boardman
Brett is a well-established commercial and architectural photographer based in Sydney.
Adam Powell
www.adampowellphotography.com.au
Photo Gallery
Click on a thumbnail image to enlarge.
Design © 2021 Studio P Architecture and Interiors. All Rights Reserved.| Images © 2021 Brett Boardman and Adam Powell. All Rights Reserved.
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