Located just footsteps from the beach and overlooking the bay, this coastal family home is nothing short of breathtaking. Stunning views, unique design features, plenty of space and room to grow — this home has it all and so much more.
Once the family of four had demolished the dilapidated house that formerly occupied the lot, they engaged Rachcoff Vella Architecture to turn their dream of an unabashed family abode capable of handling the trials and tribulations of modern family life into their reality. “The brief was very particular and one that required extreme discipline and restraint, a restricted material palette, to be limited in complexity but defiant in individual character and charm,” notes Tony Vella, director at Rachcoff Vella Architecture. “Having the privilege of designing furniture, joinery and selecting all the interior objects, including art curation, meant that the inhabitants had extreme levels of customisation.”
The five-bedroom home’s floor plan was dreamed up with consideration to the family’s day-to-day life, now and into the future. Some spaces, such as the basement home theatre and the first floor’s open-plan kitchen, dining and living area, facilitate collective family time.
A dining table extends out from the kitchen’s island benchtop to enable meals and long conversations together, and the family have the option of gathering at the darker basement level or the brighter and airier living spaces above for quality family time whenever they please.
The home’s more disconnected individual zones, such as the master suite, private adult study, the kids’ bedrooms and lounge, promote privacy and provide a place in which each family member can retreat and relax. “Minimalist architecture and interiors naturally provide a consistent and calm backdrop to allow a family to either explode onto or become one with,” notes Tony.
Interestingly, the clients chose a very minimal material palette with just five key materials for the home; the simplicity and sense of cohesion exuded by the recycled silver timber, off-form concrete, brass, white oak joinery and a selection of bespoke, handmade fittings and fixtures is simply priceless. However, this isn’t to say the minimalist palette didn’t instigate challenges. “The palette and complex construction methodologies had to be well coordinated, documented and communicated in what became an extended build period,” says Tony.
The architect, builder, client and craftsman worked closely together to create a home that celebrates a high level of customisation and experimentation. They collaborated to design, construct and source the dwelling’s bespoke fixtures and fittings, and even the most complex of joins and connections were approached as a labour of love to ensure they appear seamless to the naked eye. Nothing was left to chance; everything was planned meticulously and executed flawlessly.
Sustainability takes centre stage in this charming family abode. “Silver Linings has been designed utilising a combination of fundamental passive design principles combined with technology to promote automation of services,” Tony shares. Sustainable inclusions include operable windows to maximise cross-ventilation, heavily insulated walls, floors and ceilings to improve energy performance, high-performance thermally broken double-glazed windows, and a 44,000-litre storage tank connected to a high-performance filter system that services the entire house and swimming pool. The central courtyard was designed to face the north to facilitate plentiful natural light seeping into the home, and the cleverly planned roof garden features a soil mass that provides the roof with further insulation.
“A project like this is only successful with a committed team of consultants, builders, trades and, of course, a client,” notes Tony. “The bar set high by the client became the team’s manifesto, a design regime if you like that drove the project from start to finish, only being fully comprehended when the final nail, screw, wipe down was complete. The successful delivery of this project was made real by the many talented and sharp minds and hands involved.” As far as we’re concerned, the project team raised the bar for sustainable coastal living and then some.
