WARRIEWOOD HOUSE II

Small but efficient, Warriewood House II on the New South Wales Northern Beaches pursues a creative approach to the vacation house, proposing small-footprint simplicity as the antidote to busy city life.

The house, designed by Studio DAO Architects, is situated on Carigal Land in upper North Shore of New South Wales, which aims to add a sensitive layer to a rich culture and land. Warriewood house was designed around a simple idea: to connect the house to the front garden by merging the garden level and creating a solid platform to meet it. The base of the house is constructed principally from bricks which ties back to traditional local building materials, but the design challenges one’s expectations of this material throughout the project. The single face brick skin wraps the curved walls on the ground floor giving a solid and organic form. The upper level is a white volume that floats above the solid base, creating a subtle contrast in materiality.

The public face to the street conforms to site boundary and height setbacks, but is sculptural and expressive at various points to mediate connection and privacy. The front garden and street façade have a narrow, tonal palette. Grey bricks, white paint and eucalypt-toned plants soften the home’s ornateness and calms its street presence.

Through occupation, the house animates the main street, a semi enclosed private garden/courtyard lies between living and dining spaces and the boundary wall. The front patio is covered by a lightweight roof structure, its organic sculptural form providing a sheltered outdoor space. It becomes a lush sanctuary for the family and a rich play setting for the kids.

Warriewood House II is a dynamic and intriguing new house where a series of lively shifts occur: public to private, natural to built, inside to outside, light to dark.