丨澳大利亚新南威尔士丨Watershed Architects

Architects:Watershed Architects

Area:240m²

Year:2025

Photographs:Simon Whitbread

Lead Architects:Mark Korgul, Matt Cernec

Category:Houses

General Constructing:Skwarko Constructions

City:Bawley Point

Country:Australia

Text description provided by the architects. Bawley Point, on the south coast of New South Wales, is familiar terrain for architect Mark Korgul, director of Watershed Architects. A regular visitor while studying architecture at Canberra University, this idyllic township is still a favourite location for surf trips and family holidays. The coastal hamlet is now the site of this holiday home, designed for a family, children, and grandchildren.

Unlike many coastal townships, where humble post-war shacks (post-1945) have been demolished to make way for oversized monoliths, Bawley Point has retained its modest and laid-back character. In an area built on volcanic rock, four-and-a-half hours' drive from Sydney, it's views over the Pacific Ocean and the proximity of renowned surf beaches that attract people making the long drive.

Rather than demolish a simple brick house and build from scratch, Watershed Architects took the approach of retaining as much of the original structure as possible. The 'silhouette' of this former home, now bagged and painted white, is clearly delineated from the new addition – clad in black Weathertex cladding. What was originally a basic floorplan of two bedrooms, a bathroom, a modest kitchen and living area of approximately 100 square metres, is now doubled (250 square metres) in size – with two living areas, four bedrooms, including the main bedroom, and given the water views, generous outdoor decks that can be used all year round. While Watershed Architects could see the house needed enlarging for an extended family, it also appreciated how the original house sat comfortably on the site, nestled behind the grassed foreshore.

The architects' brief was to design 'a house to gather in' for all seasons; therefore, an important feature of the house is the generous outdoor deck, orientated to the east. Complete with a built-in barbeque, this deck is endowed with expressed timber and joints. And to provide for privacy, given there are two-storey houses on either side, Watershed Architects included a fixed aluminium screen on the deck's southern elevation. On the northern edge, there's a retractable awning on the upper level to diffuse the harsher sunlight during the warmer months of the year. Generous balconies were also included in the scheme, with a garden-framed balcony at the front of the home and a considerably larger deck that leads from the main bedroom and ensuite located on the first floor.

Unlike the former house that was fairly enclosed with relatively low ceilings, the new house has been thoughtfully crafted with double-height spaces over the entrance and in the main living area, the latter focused on an open fireplace during the colder months of the year. The kitchen also takes advantage of the sandy/grassed terrain. It's simple and contemporary with stone benches and laminate joinery – low maintenance that allows time spent at Bawley Point to be on the deck rather than at the kitchen sink. The other clear strategy was to provide two separate staircases, one inside the front entrance, the other connecting two levels of the deck without having to enter the house.

Given the distance from Sydney, it's more than likely that Bawley Point will largely remain a secret for those looking for a weekender. It remains, like this house, simple and unpretentious yet with all the creature comforts required.

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