Macmasters Beach House

On the New South Wales Central Coast, buck&simple reimagined a familiar typology, the Australian beach house, for a property that three families have co-owned and shared for more than fifty years. The ageing cottage that stood here was removed entirely so the home could begin again on a site of real character, set against Cockrone Lagoon to the north and buffered by a narrow reserve of mature native trees, with the surf at Macmasters Beach breaking barely 200 metres away.

The brief was deliberately simple: replace the cottage, keep the same use and the same users, and do justice to the setting. The practice's response was to lift every habitable room to the upper floor. Raising the living spaces captures the north-easterly summer breezes typical of the eastern coastline, opens up the outlook, and lifts the home clear of the rawness of beach, lake and vegetation while strengthening, rather than losing, its connection to the outdoors.

Passive principles shape the section as much as the plan. Ceilings follow the roofline and rise to operable glazing, so warm air escapes through louvres and awnings while cooler air is drawn in beneath it. Oversized eaves shade the north, east and west, and the skillion roof drops low to the west to temper the harsh afternoon summer sun. The plan itself stays reassuringly direct: one room deep, with a naturally ventilated hallway running the length of the western wall. Two courtyards divide the rectilinear form into three zones, the social living area, the adults' bedrooms and the children's bedrooms, each given outlook and privacy, with dual-aspect rooms and operable glazing allowing cross ventilation throughout.

A natural material palette ties it together. Blackbutt timber appears throughout as structure, engineered boards and solid joinery, chosen for its sustainability: locally grown, fast growing, naturally termite resistant and not prone to lyctus borer. Elevated, passively planned and built largely from local timber, the house settles quietly into its coastal setting.

The project covers 140 m2 on a 702 m2 site, was completed in 2018 across two levels, with a construction budget of around USD 850,000.

Architecture by buck&simple (Peter Ahern and Kurt Crisp). Structural engineering by SDA Structures. Built by Earth Dwellings. Photography by Simon Whitbread.