est living Home Tour - Alba, Clovelly Beach House
“Just a short, barefoot walk from Clovelly Beach on Gadigal Land, New South Wales, is Alba — home to a family of five surf enthusiasts whose vision for their home was grounded in a want for connectedness with nature, every day.
Engaged in transforming the existing house that had suffered from a number of additions over time, Studioplusthree worked closely with their client to ensure the alteration and addition of Alba would invite more natural light into the home, to the materiality choices that echo the colours and textures of the nearby beach.
With an addition of only 10 sqm, Studioplusthree focussed on the renewal of spatial quality—over quantity—and how the outdoors could be brought in through the concept of a ‘portico’ that mediates between spaces, transforming how they’re used.
A custom credenza and coffee table by Studioplusthree, sofa from Kenz Design, easy chair from Franka and rug from Armadillo features in the open plan living space. Nearby, the dining area includes the Great Dane Møller 77 dining chairs and stools.
“Each time we are given the opportunity to transform a family home, we respond very specifically to our clients and the site,” shares Julin Ang, Co-Director of Studioplusthree. “A common theme in our work is the connection to the outdoors, and for Alba, this resulted in the fluid transition from inside to out, mediated by the portico space, in keeping with the client’s love of nature and the outdoors lifestyle,” she says.
Upon entering the home, guests are immediately orientated towards the garden and sunrise via open living spaces that invite natural light deep into the home. The curved brick portico extends the living space outside, with deep reveals that offer a comfortable and inviting space for social gatherings.
A refined and restrained palette of timber and pale masonry mimics the coastal landscape beyond.
In a reconfiguration of the existing house, the stair was moved to a more central location so as not to disturb the outlook of the garden — a decision that also allowed bathrooms and wet areas to be contained within the central core. Upstairs, a skylight bathes the terrace in natural light, tempering head through fine timber batten screens. “In this way, the terrace offers varied ways to enjoy the seasons — sheltered from the hot summer sun yet inviting the winter sun in,” comments Julin. “Looking over the garden, the natural variation of handcrafted bricks is set against blackbutt timbers, with planting softening the form against the backdrop of the sky,” she adds.
The bathroom features vanities in Perla Argento Honed and walls in Urban White porcelain panels from Artedomus. Kayoborder mosaic tiles from Academy Tiles are laid alongside Icon tapware from Astra Walker and a Cassa Design Egg Shell bathtub.
Positioned to face the sunrise from which the project draws inspiration for its name, Alba features a material palette of pale masonry and timber throughout. A sense of softness emanates throughout the home, with custom-shaped bricks crafted by Krause Bricks enabling a flow from exterior to interior and unifying the façade of the home. Unifying the principal elements of the house via formed columns, seating alcoves, openings, and planter boxes, the use of brick brings a sense of mass and solidity to the home, comfortably contrasting with the use of blackbutt timber and white aggregate-flecked concrete floor.
“Clovelly Beach is known for its natural sandstone outcrops and manmade concrete platforms, and we wanted to evoke a sense of the rugged and refined existing adjacent to each other within the project,” reflects Julin. “This can be seen in how the brick columns extend deep into the interior, giving a texture and tactility to the space,” she says.
In Alba, the reconfiguration has allowed for a transformed experience of living — an aesthetic that acts as a seamless extension of the natural landscape that surrounds it. “For us, the joy of projects comes in the realisation of a feeling or quality of space that may not have been able to be articulated up to that point,” shares Julin. This project, common with others that we work on, was not about the size, but the quality of space; the reconfiguration has allowed for a transformed experience that we hope brings happiness and comfort to this family for many years to come,” she adds.”
Link to full article here
Words – Cardia Speziale
Photography - Tom Ferguson
