Portsea House

Year
2005

State
Victoria

City
Portsea

Photographer
Derek Swalwell

The Portsea house is a private dwelling located at the peak of a heavily treed rise in Portsea, setback a hundred meters or so from the Portsea front beach. The design of the house is totally influenced by a combination of what the architects found on the site at the commencement of the design and the Client’s wishes to capture the views that could be obtained from the house site, both north and south.

The result is a light structure clad in materials akin to a beach box, but coloured in empathy with a surround of moonah copse. The building meanders in and around existing trees, makes a note of trying to capture a glimpse of them through carefully located windows and openings. These glimpses attempt to provide an alternative to the larger, picture type panoramic views of water for example that we aim to further increase the connection between dwelling and the land it sits on. They also serve to remind us of the intimate scale with which the design is contemplated and hopefully carried through.