Designed by Eliza Blair Architecture, with Studio MKN, Barwon Dunes House is a two-storey coastal house where blackbutt, rammed earth and stone have been chosen to weather the salt air and wind.
Building on the Victorian coast means designing for two things: openness to the light and water, and resistance to the salt and wind that come with them. Barwon Heads sits at the mouth of the Barwon River on the Bellarine Peninsula, an exposed stretch of coast south-west of Melbourne. Barwon Dunes House occupies a 722-square-metre block among the dunes, built for a family settling in for the long term.
Eliza Blair, of Eliza Blair Architecture, describes the coastal setting as the starting point for the material palette. “Exposure to salt air, strong winds and shifting light informed the material selection, with robust, low-maintenance finishes chosen to weather gracefully over time,” she says. On the upper levels, timber screening filters the sun and sea breeze, while holding back the harsher conditions and shading the glass behind it.
The palette incorporates blackbutt cladding and screening, rammed earth walls, limestone paving, travertine, natural timber linings and metal finishes. The selection of materials for this coastal home was all about choosing finishes that would age well over time, particularly in the rugged conditions.
Inside, a double-height space at the centre pulls sun deep into the plan. “Indoor and outdoor spaces are conceived as a series of connected rooms,” Blair explains, “enabling daily life to move easily between inside and out while remaining protected from coastal conditions.” The living areas open to a sheltered terrace with an outdoor fireplace, and courtyards bring light in from multiple sides – which means the rooms shift throughout the day.
The plan is built to be lived in differently over time – open, connected spaces that can be closed off when the household to be, and rooms set up for different future scenarios, adapting as the family’s needs change.
Barwon Dunes House is intended to weather into the dune landscape over the long life it’s built for.
CREDITS
Architecture and design: Eliza Blair Architecture
Interiors: Studio MKN
Builder: Larkin & Drought Homes
Interior decoration: Lou Prentice Interiors
Photography: Dave Kulesza
