Embrace Coastal Tranquility Inside This Minimalist Beach House

By MiNDFOOD

Embrace Coastal Tranquility Inside This Minimalist Beach House
This open, minimalist beach house is what dreams are made of.

Like all the best ideas, the basics for this stunning coastal home were laid out on a paper napkin over lunch. The result is a synergy of elegant minimalism, harmonious fluidity and a distraction-free, 360˚ vantage point for the surrounding natural beauty.

There is something about the idea of a beach house that tugs on the soul. Set on its own north-facing peninsula among the dunes, this marvel of design takes the beach house genre to new territories. Glass on all sides, with shutters that close at the touch of a keypad, the entire house opens onto the deck. The landscape isn’t separate but becomes part of the house: an expanse of sky, the sea stretching into the distance with the mountains standing beside you and hazily sketched on the horizon.

The interior has space-altering powers. The owner lived in Japan for a year and was inspired by the modular design of tatami mats and shoji screens that link and separate spaces. One moment the entire house is an extended open space; the next, screens break up the room into separate living areas and four bedrooms, each with its own bathroom. The pièce de résistance is the automated shutters that wrap the house. They swing up to a 90˚ angle, offering shade and uninterrupted views; when down, they lock – providing security and meaning you can lie in bed with all the doors open, feel the breeze, listen to the waves and be safe at the same time.

View this incredible beach house in the gallery below.

Looking across the main bedroom with the glass doors folded back on both sides, with the surf crashing onto the nearby rocks.

The deck is a dreamy place to soak up the grandeur and beauty of the surroundings. The colours of the house reflect the tones of the nature reserve.

The house almost floats above the ground. Steel was used for the main structure, as the large cantilevered decks needed a very light roof. To protect the steel from the elements, a unique galvanising technique was trialled. Paired with glass for transparency, concrete for resilience and timber for warmth, the materials achieve a harmonious balance.

A mix of glass, ash wood and ocean views rules the main bedroom and bathroom. Almost everything in the house was custom made. The bathrooms are automated: there are no taps or light switches and there are automated lights in the toilet.

The automated shutters rise up to a 90˚ angle to shade the deck. When closed, they allow the house to remain secure while the glass doors are open. With each panel weighing around 300kg and standing 2.4m high, a powerful opening mechanism was needed, with each mechanism concealed in a 200mm slot in the steelwork.

In the kitchen, all of the sockets are hidden behind touch-press cabinetry. There are no switches either: lights, blinds, shutters and air conditioning are all run from electronic pads. All wood planks used for furniture, cupboards and walls have the same grain and are the same length and width throughout the house.

The design of the courtyard and the barbecue are perfectly in line with the minimalist spirit of the house.

The ocean is visible on three sides of the house. The project team referenced the colours of the sea, sky and scrubland for the exterior paint to blend the house into its natural surroundings.

Words by Vanessa McCulloch | Photography by Warren Heath 

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