Benn + Penna remodel a multigenerational family holiday home overlooking Observation Point in Sydney’s Palm Beach through an elevated timber canopy and a series of tailored ocean outlooks.
Benn + Penna have completely redesigned a post-war era cabin, perched on a sloping site with framed views of the Pittwater Basin and Barrenjoey Headland, that had been in the family for generations. Letting the family feel immersed within the natural surroundings, the home is an ode to the landscape beneath the ridgeline of a rock shelf. Through a deliberately modest approach, Benn + Penna have retained fragments of the original cabin and combined these elements with contemporary, curvaceous forms to create a relaxed Pittwater Bay holiday home.
Benn + Penna director Andrew Benn says it was vital the requirements for a comfortable holiday experience didn’t conflict with the natural beauty of the site. “In this sense, the design contributes greatly to our understanding of how a relatively simple design can sit within the local environment; drawing from, but not dominating it,” Andrew says.
Recessed into the hillside, the home presents as a sculpture; it’s gentle curves visible from the shore. Inside, a similar interplay of light, contrast and curves follow, where each space seamlessly unfolds onto the next.
Linear cladding and stack stone distinguish the different parts of the home. The kitchen, dining and living are situated between the canopy and the platform and the bedrooms on the top storey. The existing stone terrace has been retained, extending around the length of the home granting direct water views from the central living area.
“This space can be entirely open or closed to the landscape allowing climatic and programmatic versatility as required,” Andrew says. Two voids complete with skylights diffuse light through the home.
The gabled-roof top storey is painted a pastel blue inside and out; a subtle nod to both the colour of the original cabin and the shimmering water below. Timber flooring and crisp white linen imbue a sense of warmth and coastal familiarity, while the bathroom brings a playful, modernist sensibility through multi-coloured square tiles and a basin with exposed plumbing.
“As the magical Australian coastline becomes increasingly developed this house can act as a blueprint of appropriate design,” Andrew affirms. It’s in this way Palm Beach Blue redefines the traditional Australian beach home through Benn + Penna’s considerate and connected design approach.
The master bedroom features pastel blue walls – a subtle nod to both the colour of the original cabin and the shimmering water below – and the No 18 Chair by Thonet.
The bathroom evokes a modernist sensibility through multi-coloured square tiles and a basin with exposed plumbing.
The existing stone terrace has been retained, extending around the length of the home granting direct water views from the central living area.
