City Beach Residence I

Thinking outside the box

This family residence occupies an elevated corner block overlooking The Boulevard in City Beach. The site enjoys spectacular ocean views across coastal bushland to Rottnest Island and beyond.

This part of City Beach is characterised by varied housing types with many new developments replacing the traditional 1950s dwellings. This meant we had no obvious architectural cues from the immediate surroundings; and we welcomed this!

The site’s prominent location deserved a dynamic and sculptural building, so we created a striking design which combined rectilinear lines and sensuous, organic forms.

This theme was further developed with the extrusion of the interior form to create unusually-shaped, dramatically-sculptured windows. Internally, a muted material palette was chosen to reflect the colours and textures found in the nearby coastal scrub.

An ornamental courtyard leads to a warm, timber front door. Stairs from the entry void take you to the main living areas on the first floor and up again to the crow’s nest study which has 360 degree views. Many of the living areas and an extensively-glazed sun room open to the south-west with magnificent views of the Indian Ocean. The lower floor has been designed to maximise private garden space with generous entertaining areas wrapped around the pool.