Creating a private retreat
A tricky site called for an imaginative solution, with a house that turns in on itself to create quiet beauty and room to breathe
When you think of Byron Bay, it’s all about sun, sand and sea, and houses built using lots of glass to capitalise on the views.
This is not that kind of house.
Positioned on a sloping site in a suburban street just out of town in Byron Bay on the far north coast, the site offered no view.
There were also neighbours on both sides.
Architect Aaron Peters from Brisbane-based firm Vokes & Peters says this was the second time the owners had engaged their services and they were at a very different point in their lives.
“They were heading into their retirement years and their daughter had left home,” Aaron says. “So there was an eye on making a comfortable house, and one they could grow old in. Part of the original brief was keeping the house all on one level.
“The way the house sits so low, and with the passing traffic, there is a lot of overlooking so it was also about creating privacy.”
Because the site was quite deep, project architect Stuart Vokes was aware that drawing natural light into the house would be a challenge. Taking concerns about privacy and light into consideration, Stuart designed a house that turns in on itself.
“It’s effectively an introverted house,” says Aaron.
In this design, internal and external areas intertwine. The kitchen is positioned in the middle of the floorplan, overlooking a courtyard and another outdoor room to the right. Three bedrooms, including one for their daughter to stay when she visits, are at the front of the house while living spaces unfold at the rear.
Although the house largely turns its back on the street, every room has access to natural light, via windows or a courtyard.
Materials, including bricks used in pathways and radiata pine used in the joinery, assert a quiet connection to nature.
The owners are also heavily involved in the local writers’ community so a house that invites contemplation suits them perfectly.
“There is a point in people’s lives where they reach a sense of awareness — they know who they are and how they want to live,” says Aaron.
“They are not aspiring to a certain kind of building so this was never meant to be a trophy house.
“It was about creating a house that fitted them like a glove.”
THE SOURCE
Architect Stuart Vokes and Aaron Peters, Vokes and Peters, vokesandpeters.com.au
Builder Todd Knaus Constructions, toddknaus.com.au
Lighting designer Gray Light graylight.com.au
Face brickwork PGH Modern Living in Smoke, pghbricks.com.au
Pendant light George Nelson
Tapware Icon Astra Walker, astrawalker.com.au
Bathroom washbasins Duravit bathroom washbasins, Just Bathroomware, justbathroomware.com.au