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Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Elandra Beach Houses / By Tony Owen Partners

Bundeena, NSW, Australia
Tony Owen Partners
Post By:Kitticoon Poopong
Photo © Courtesy of Brett Boardman
The project is a collection of 15 stylish beach houses set in a pristine bushland setting. The site itself is just back from the beach and has stunning views of Port Hacking and Hastings Beach. What is unique about this development is that each house has been designed as if it were a stand-alone luxury designer home.

Photo © Courtesy of Brett Boardman
Photo © Courtesy of Brett Boardman
The Site:
The site itself was originally obtained by the Methodist Church in 1953 and has been used as a campsite by the Uniting Church. Bundeena is a unique coastal town surrounded by national park. It maintains a remote ‘holiday feel’ despite being on Sydney’s doorstep. Locals are keen to maintain the laid-back character and scale of the area. The original proposal by others for 42 on the site was contentious, and locals voiced their disapproval.
Photo © Courtesy of Brett Boardman
Photo © Courtesy of Brett Boardman
Design Concept:
Stage 1 consists of a type called the ‘cross-over house’. In this house, the top floor, which contains the living areas, is oriented east/west to maximises exposure to the northern sun and the lower level bedrooms run north/south directed toward the beach views. This design allows for a large north facing deck area in front of the living room which sits above the bedrooms. Thus simple sustainable principles result in a very dramatic form.
Photo © Courtesy of Brett Boardman
The upper level is conceived as a timber box for the landscape and the lower level is a white contemporary portal form. Because the houses are on steeply sloping blocks, steel framed structure was used to touch the ground lightly and minimise impact. The forms cantilever dramatically over the landscape and over each other creating a strongly sculptural composition. As a result, the living rooms float over the bush and even the swimming pools are cantilevered. The houses are accessed via raised timber walkways which meander down from the garages above. The budget was $750,000.
Photo © Courtesy of Brett Boardman
Photo © Courtesy of Brett Boardman
Environmental Design:
The houses have been oriented to maximize passive solar design and at the same time this creates the best orientation for the use of living spaces and orientation of outdoor space. Large tanks are provided and the houses designed to maximise the collection of water. All the plumbing relies on recycled water.
Photo © Courtesy of Brett Boardman
Photo © Courtesy of Brett Boardman
Variations on a theme:
Subsequent stages of the development have different designs, but are variations on the same theme. Each stage also consists of a timber box and a portal element. However, because each site respond to a different orientation to the sun and the views, each type has a different combination of these elements, resulting in a completely different design that is a ‘riff’ on the same theme.
Photo © Courtesy of Brett Boardman
Landscape:
Because the site has a strong bushland character, the landscape is integral to the design. The design retained a substantial number of on site native trees. The existing flora consists mainly of Banksia and Melaleuca trees and much care has been taken to study and codify the native trees. The landscape approach has been to reinforce this bushland feel.
Description from the Architects:
Sub-division plan--drawing © Courtesy of Tony Owen Partners
ground floor plan--drawing © Courtesy of Tony Owen Partners
first floor plan--drawing © Courtesy of Tony Owen Partners
roof plan--drawing © Courtesy of Tony Owen Partners
elevations--drawing © Courtesy of Tony Owen Partners
section--drawing © Courtesy of Tony Owen Partners
Project Data
Project name: Elandra Beach Houses
Location: Bundeena, NSW, Australia
Program: Beach houses
Site Area: 5000m2 
Built-up Area: 150 m2 per house
Completion: 2010
Cost: $750,000 per house

The people
Architect: Tony Owen Partners
Location: Bundeena, NSW, Australia
Principal Designer: Tony Owen
Design Team: Joseph Fok, Sumir DiwanRottensteiner, Nana Schilling
Project architect: Joesph Fok, Mansia Lam
Developer: Globe Projects
Landscape consultant: Context
Structural consultant: Vander Meer Bonser
Hydraulic consultant: Vander Meer Bonser
Builder: SX Projects 
Photographs: © Brett Boardman


Note>>Location in this map, It could indicate city/country but not exact address.

About
Tony Owen Partners
Tony Owen NDM is a firm of architects taking a new approach to the issues of visualising the built environment. This approach recognises that we are increasingly dealing with a new and unprecedented set of realities and responding to a new set of imperatives. These impertives include increasing population and densities, limited resources and space, changing climate and the new realities of the global information and financial network. At the same time, technology is delivering new digital tools and capabilities which are impacting the means which architecture is realised. This includes new software, new thinking about network strategies and new means of fabrication. This is resulting in new approaches to design to deal with these issues. The result is an architecture which is ‘future focused' in thinking, open and responsive in approach, and experimental in nature. This is an architecture which is supple and responsive, reactive to changing variables and assited by new technology.
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