The curse of the modern open-plan home is the noise. Let's call it the dinner party dilemma for want of a better expression. It unfolds like this: You've got your besties over for dinner. They've brought along their kids to play with your kids. It should be a happy occasion, but instead it devolves into a shouting match as you and your friends become more 'jovial' and the kids become more boisterous - the two parties growing louder and louder to be heard over the other until Dad yells, 'turn the bloody TV down kids, I can't hear a bloody thing over here' (his hearing isn't as good as it used to be). Or at least that's what happened at my house - practically every Saturday night - when I was growing up.
Aireys Inlet Light House is for a family of five in Aireys Inlet. Designed and built by ARKit, the home has social spaces that can expand or contract depending on the family's needs and where the parents can entertain separately from the kids - a solution to the dinner party dilemma at last.
A linear kitchen allows for the inclusion of a large size dining table to accommodate an extended group of family and friends. Decks to the north and south provide for covered indoor/ outdoor connections and effectively double the living area of the house.
Whilst maintaining a high level of transparency within and through the architecture, the other design principles of strong environmental design and construction, outdoor living and an abundance of natural light the result is a building that sits lightly on the ground.
An outdoor shower and secondary entrance provide an opportunity to wash off from the beach before heading inside. A bunk room complete with custom designed trundle beds creates accommodation for six and the adjacent spill out space gives kids a room of their own to camp, play and explore.
Crafted from a suite of robust, environmentally friendly materials, the house is externally clad in western red cedar with blackbutt decks and pergola. Internally, there's a plywood kitchen, timber flooring, low/no VOC finishes. Siting considerations included minimising impacts to the existing vegetation and maximising privacy. ARKit’s scope included revegetation of the site with indigenous plant species.
The project was built offsite in ARKit’s workshop, and allowed for frequent visits by the owners prior to transportation to site.
This beautiful prefab project occupies a minimal footprint, but still offers maximum flexibility for a young family. If we lived in this house growing up, perhaps Dad wouldn't need his blood-pressure medication...