Project Name: Pretty Beach House
Architecture: Lahznimmo Architects
Builder: BlairBuild
Location: Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
Completed: 2020
Photo Credits: Brett Boardman
On a challenging bush block on the edge of Bouddi National Park at Pretty Beach, the house took seven years to design and build for the owners/architects. A steep site; bush fire prone; within an Endangered Ecological Community; and home of the vulnerable Red Crowned Toadlet – the site had been dismissed as unbuildable by many.
The brief was simple – a low-maintenance house framed around looking out to the beautiful forest and fern filled gully; with a feeling of being elevated within the trees.
A narrow linear footprint runs along the contours to minimize cut and fill, the house is anchored by two large exposed sandstone outcrops either side of the entry landing that frame vertical circulation and a large central breezeway on the second level.
Built entirely of non-combustible materials, the concrete and brick house demonstrates an approach to building within ecologically sensitive sites prone to bush fires.
