A 1970’s “beach” house designed and constructed by a local builder with a design sensibility but a lack of true craft is the setting for this gut renovation. Just minutes from one of Australia’s greatest surf beaches, the house presents both new interior and exterior opportunities.

Sited within a steep topography and located below grade, the house currently lacks a clear facade. Instead, its appearance at street level is defined by its large corrugated roof complete with all of the houses services (a tv antenna, exhaust fans, skylights). A proposed wrapper, a new skin for the house, provides a new facade obstructing the roof and its services, creating privacy while also serving as a filter to the blaring ocean sun. An applied moiré pattern creates further interference, blurring the boundary between the street and the house.

Inside, in addition to new finishes and other major upgrades, the house is rearranged to better exploit the potential of its layout, creating a clearer flow of spaces, movement and light.