When a young family returning to Australia from a bustling Asian city decided they wanted to be closer to the ocean, they called on Luigi Rosselli Architects and Alwill Interiors to create a home that reflected their new environment on the cliffs of Bronte.
It was established that Pacific View Point needed to be a calm, family-friendly sanctuary that embraced the surrounding Pacific Ocean.
Luigi Rosselli Architects were tasked with transforming the compact site into a home that is instantly welcoming, capturing and maximising views. Working within the boundaries of the site and the surrounding sandstone cliffs, architect Luigi Rosselli responded with geometric angles that provide every level of the ship-like house with an outdoor area, complete with glass screens; ensuring an organic flow to outdoor living. “We always think that a building should belong to the natural environment that it comes from,” Luigi Rosselli says.
In the main living room, the modernist sculpture by Morgan Shimmeld is offset by soft textures— a Robyn Cosgrove silk and wool rug, a Moroso Gentry sofa and Molinari Rondo chair in tobacco leather. The dining room features the Kai #42 Chair for Kai Kristiansen and the Branching Bubble Light designed by Lindsey Adelman.
Over the home’s four storeys, clean lines are softened by organic curves and reoccurring treated oak finishes. Designer Romaine Alwill employed soft textures, modernist sculptures and a mix of Scandinavian furniture, providing a contrast to the sea-blue views, white walls and glass stairwell. The colour palette is in keeping with this, with aqua through to midnight blue colours mixed with sand and tobacco tones. “It feels natural and easy, not contrived or forced and this is really reflective of the clients too,” Romaine says.
The top floor makes the most of the shimmering vista framed with a curved, wrapped window, Balinese-inspired timber lattice shutters and soft-hued linen curtains. Although the home’s style is minimal, artworks such as the angular Morgan Shimmeld sculpture, Triplex Honey Bronze from Otomys Contemporary gallery which sits at the crux of the view on the top level, give a modern interpretation on a coastal feel.
The kitchen features the Grazia&Co Iva Stools.
“We always think that a building should belong to the natural environment that it comes from.”
– Luigi Rosselli
An organic flow from internal to external spaces is ensured by thin, aluminium sliding glass windows. The back terrace is completed with timber decking, Teka dining table with a ceramic glazed top and Harp dining chairs looking out to the pool carved into the rock.
In the entrance, the glass staircase is enhanced by the warming sand and blue tones of the Ben Sheers abstract painting from Otomys Contemporary gallery, the circular Bottle Table from Specified Store, and the treated oak timber balustrade that continues throughout the home.
The impressive glass staircase made from Obeco Glass Blocks, inspired by Maison de Verre in Paris, draws light throughout the house and gives the impression of an underwater scene, seamlessly transcending both the front and back terraces. The home’s rear garden opens to a pool set into the cliff, with its glass wall revealing a gaping blueness.
Both architect and designer continually considered the sleek, minimal aesthetics of the surrounding ocean and sandstone cliffs, working harmoniously together in a ‘dovetail’ of joinery and finishes. The result is an oceanside home that provides a retreat from the world, allowing the family to build a nurturing, warm environment to raise their children.
This piece originally appeared in est magazine issue 36.
In the guest bedroom, rammed earth wall, oak joinery and flooring are complemented with a mix of textures from Romaine: a midnight blue rug from Armadillo and Co, the Swoon Lounge Petit Chair from Great Dane Furniture, and raw linen bedding from Bedouin Societe.
The colour palette plays to the natural environment, with aqua through to midnight blue colours mixed with sand and tobacco tones.
The ocean-facing bathroom features a freestanding bath and Brodware tapware.
The Slit Table for HAY.
