2017 National Architecture Awards: Robin Boyd Award for Residential Architecture – Houses (New)

Tamarama House by Durbach Block Jaggers Architects Residential Architecture – Houses (New): Robin Boyd Award Australian Institute of Architects

Jury citation

This remarkable house, tucked into the lower side of an ugly suburban street – with its double garages, concrete mansions set back and triple-fronters – presents in contrast as a modest white Aegean cube with no double garage, but rather a garden engaging with the street. When viewed from the adjacent coastal walk – sublime as it comes, with time-weathered sandstone shelving out over azure waves and surf – the house is playful and intriguing. Entry is via an inviting recess in the facade at street level, through which the spatial order of two major floors, connected by a sculptural spiral staircase with two mezzanines, is progressively revealed. The pellucid water is seen from many vantage points.

Bedrooms are located on the upper (entry) level, the only routine move of the parti. The double-height living room is a piano nobile in the fullest sense, with a luscious north-facing sunken garden at one end and at the other the ever-changing sea. Kitchen and dining spaces are tucked under the mezzanine. Below the piano nobile is the double-height cabana, with bed and study on the mezzanine and a lounge and den on the lowest floor.

Spaces are beautifully sculpted and detailing is sublime. The thin handrails and elegant frames in deep reveals show the massiveness of the walls. The spiral staircase slips into its own cylindrical space. Rooms become cavernous spaces with curved corners and poché walls. Thickness is revealed with turreted windows, reminding us that the house is dug into the hill. The architecture is masterly, demonstrating, as Louis Kahn reminded us, that “architecture begins with the room.”

Credits

Project
Tamarama House
Architect
Durbach Block Jaggers Architects
Sydney, NSW, Australia
Project Team
Neil Durbach, Camilla Block, David Jaggers (design directors), Stefan Heim (practice director), Mitchell Thompson, Erin Field, Deborah Hodge, Xiaoxiao Cai, Alex Holman
Consultants
Builder Bellevarde
Certifier Stephen Pinn
Electrical consultant AVD Australia
Geotechnical and environmental consultant Jeffery and Katauskas
Hydraulic consultant Whipps Wood Consulting
Interior design Madeleine Blanchfield Architects
Joinery Square Peg Woodworks
Landscape consultant Myles Baldwin Design
Lighting consultant Erco
Planner Mersonn Pty Ltd
Quantity surveyor Heymann-Cohen
Services consultant Windtech, DemCox Steel, Wöhr
Structural engineer SDA Structures
Site Details
Project Details
Status Built
Category Residential
Type New houses

Source

Award

Published online: 2 Nov 2017
Words: 2017 National Architecture Awards Jury
Images: John Gollings

Issue

Architecture Australia, November 2017

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