Shelly Beach, Project

New house, completed 2010.

The site is located, on the eastern edge of the Manly Peninsular. It faces north out over Shelly Beach Park with filtered views beyond to the ocean and headland of Queenscliff and Freshwater beaches. The Tasman Sea is to the east and the site is bounded to the south by the Sydney Harbour National Park.

The steep sloping site contained a series of five separate rock shelves, each spanning the width of the block, with limited flat areas of lawn and mature trees.

The brief was to provide a house for a family of four children and occasional visiting relatives, with a double garage, workshop and storage, study, separate living areas, guest bed and a rumpus room.

The design was conceived as a series of single storey pavilions located along the edges of the site, preserving the middle, for a private courtyard garden with a deck, pond and plunge pool under the largest overhanging rock. The only two storey element contains the vertical circulation, linking all the pavilions together on both levels. To the rear of the site the cantilevered upper pavilions are accessed via a bridge element minimising their footprint and echoing the sites natural forms.

Shelly Beach images by Brett Boardman