Bay House

The house is 2-storey and flat-roofed (concealing an array of photo-voltaic panels that will generate electricity to drive a heat pump to push towards zero carbon). It is essentially a ‘wooden box’ perched upon a grey-brown brick base.

Although flood risk allows for habitable rooms at ground floor, we place the main living spaces (living-dining-kitchen & master bedroom) at first floor to maximise the views –  although subdivided, we see this as a single space unified by balconies all set beneath an oversailing roof for shade (and avoiding glare when seen from afar). The main frontage is largely glazed, with sliding timber finned screens to provide solar shading to control light emission in this sensitive location.

The ground floor plan creates a walled enclosure at ground floor forming an inward-looking, sheltered space to the rear of the house – a tranquil courtyard that will enjoy afternoon and early evening sun, out of the insistent winds in this location. An integral garage sits to one side of a generous entrance hallway – a study and guest bedroom sits to the other side. Two further bedrooms occupy a single-storey wing to the north side of the rear courtyard and terminate in an outdoor al-fresco dining court.

A staircase rises up the rear wall to enter into the upper floor where an open living space commands the view – a small utility and study rooms sits to one side, while the master bedroom suite sits to the other behind a central brick fireplace.  A balcony sits either side of the large bay beneath the oversailing roof.

Externally, the house is clad in a grey-brown, earthy brick and ‘Sioox’ preservative stained timber that whitens as it weathers.

The landscape by Nick Dexter will significantly enhance the existing garden and surrounding landscape using native salt-resistant planting.