Block your neighbour’s view? Not this cliff-top beach house in Bronte

A brick house perched above Bronte Beach looks like it’s slowly being eroded. Some walls are angular; others are chiselled almost as if by the ocean beyond.

Architects Tribe Studio were given a clear design brief: focus on wellbeing and the beach – either swimming or running along the water’s edge.

The lines between indoors and out are fairly blurred, with either balconies or large picture windows, at least with the north-south orientation.Credit:

But it wasn’t just a case of building solely to scoop up the views.

Importantly, they wanted to be neighbourly, to make sure next door’s sight lines of the ocean and Bronte Gully, the bordering park, weren’t blocked by this new three-level home.

Positioned on a fairly modest 500-square-metre site with an 18-metre fall to its street frontage – the area was once a quarry – the Bronte house is both an architectural and an engineering feat.

It was designed for a couple with two adult children and one still at school. Given the two older siblings still live at home, Hannah Tribe, principal of the practice, was conscious of creating a place for independent living – with two entrances, one being for all, the other for the older children who can come and go as they please.

“Our clients were looking for a downsizers’ house, something that would respond to their needs, not only now, but in 20 years’ time,” Tribe says.

Given the owners’ strong love of the outdoors, the lines between indoors and out are fairly blurred, with either balconies or large picture windows, at least with the north-south orientation.

However, for the immediate neighbours to the east and west, Tribe Studio was mindful of creating a more “cliff-like” edge to minimise overlooking backyards. “It’s a dense part of Sydney and there’s the inevitability of some overlooking, but with the appropriate angles, these can be minimised,” says Tribe.

The Bronte house is spread over three levels, with the first accessed via a sandstone wall above the street that leads to concrete bleacher steps to the front door. Below this level are the two bedrooms for the older children, with bathrooms and a separate study. They also have their own entrance.

The first floor is given over to the main living areas, including the living, dining and kitchen areas on the same gradient as the irregular-shaped swimming pool and garden, designed by landscape architect Dangar Barin Smith.

Given the brief to create an indoor/outdoor feel, the materials used on the exterior partially flow through to the interior – exposed sand-coloured brick walls, concrete ceilings and a polished concrete floor, together with spotted gum timber for the battened walls/screen, kitchen joinery and the scalloped seats that appear to be “carved” into the solid brick walls.

The garage – also used as a gymnasium – is at the crest of the site and accessed by a secondary road.Credit:

On the top level is the main bedroom suite, including an ensuite and walk-in dressing area at one end, and the younger child’s bedroom, separated by a bridge, at the other. There’s also a meditation room on this level.

Although the Bronte house appears to be “carved” in stone or, more correctly, brick, it’s surprisingly light from within.Credit:

The top two levels are connected to a leaf-shaped column that suspends the “floating” timber stairs. Chamfered edges could be likened to a “billowing sail” but are also pragmatic, as well as poetic, directing sight lines and reducing the impact of a neighbouring home. “In this area, it’s ‘jowl-by-jowl’,” says Tribe.

One of the most challenging aspects of this project, apart from the need for privacy, was locating the garage – also used as a gymnasium – at the crest of the site and accessed by a secondary road. An engineering feat in its own right, this multi-level structure, with its own hit-and-miss brick skin, also benefits from an impressive view – one of Sydney’s finest.

Although the Bronte house appears to be “carved” in stone or, more correctly, brick, it’s surprisingly light from within – bringing in views and light where appropriate and creating subtle screens where required most, such as in a study that allows for a visual connection to the living areas below. “The house has a slight monastic feel, but it’s really designed for a family who want a more casual approach to living – allowing for sand to be brought into the house as much as opening up the home to enjoy the afternoon breeze,” Tribe says.

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