Among The Scent Of Eucalyptus

When talk turns to sustainability in residential construction, certain aspects spring to mind. Solar panels tend to feature heavily, as do rainwater tanks and heat pumps. In fact it’s often the things that are added onto a project that tend to garner the most attention.

But there’s another way of viewing sustainable design and construction which has more in common with the ‘touch the earth lightly’ approach to architecture than some might think.

As both an architect and builder, Clinton Cole understands how to find that sweet spot between elegant, functional residential design and efficient, waste-less building practices.

By the time he was invited to design this property at Palm Beach, he had already worked with the owners to design and build their family home on Sydney’s lower north shore. Nicknamed Iron Maiden, that house is defined by an open air corridor running through its heart, turning the house on a corner site back in on itself and keeping the inhabitants consistently connected to changing weather conditions while creating a variety of common living spaces and private sleeping quarters.

So when they had the opportunity to design and build a holiday home on this idyllic coastal site on the fringe of Sydney’s Northern Beaches, it was no surprise that connection to the natural world would be at its heart. Having trusted him to build their permanent family residence, the owners asked Cole to help them select the right block from a choice of three possible options.

“Someone had bought the land 20 or 30 years ago as a superannuation plan and divided the site into three parts and my clients bought the middle one, so it’s a greenfield site,” he says.

“This was the one with the most natural beauty.”

With five mature trees and a large sandstone boulder on site, it was never in doubt that this project would work with the landscape rather than attempting to bend it to the designer’s will.

Instead of excavating, Cole designed a single level house on stilts that would connect with the tree canopy as much as possible.

“Carving the house into the hill wasn’t an option – why excavate the very landscape we’re celebrating? So we decided to plant it in the ground on bored concrete piers,” he says.

“The idea was to have the house feel like a cubby house. With five trees on the site we had to get (the house) to a certain level to get to the canopy. Then we 3D scaled each tree and each leaf so we could carefully place the building and every tree would be safe.”

The digitised version of the trees, including a Port Jackson fig that was subject to a conservation order, formed part of the approval process with council and meant that when the house was complete, the residents could immediately enjoy the benefits of living in close proximity to mature trees.

The house itself is a simple design — “it took 10 minutes to design” says Cole — which is in keeping with the lifestyle the owners were hoping to capture. There’s not even space wasted on an internal corridor, so that a trip to the bathroom requires guests to momentarily step onto the deck before going back indoors. A spiral staircase is the only sculptural element to compete with the natural beauty of the site.

“It wasn’t about making a statement,” he says. “You don’t see it from the street so that was a low priority. It was designed so that you could walk around barefoot or have a shower at the back of the stairs after walking back from the beach.”

Materials are simple but have nonetheless been chosen with care. The framework consists of kiln dried Australian blackbutt and steel flitch beams with spotted gum lining the internal walls. The ceiling and roof are made up of lightweight galvanised iron sheeting while the outdoor flooring is fibre reinforced plastic (FRP). Cole says all materials, including the FRP, have been chosen for longevity.

“FRP is used on oil rigs and marine environments because it’s bulletproof,” he says. “That’s one of the higher embodied energy materials we used here but compared with timber decking, this comes out way ahead. It lasts about four times as long as timber.”

Heavy netting has also been used as an unconventional flooring/ seating option as well as ‘screening’ to add to the sense of living amongst the trees.

“The netting kept the terrace area really light,” says Cole. “I got the idea when I was at indoor cricket sitting behind the net. After a couple of minutes the netting disappears visually.”

In keeping with its summertime vibes, the outdoor areas are almost the same size as the indoor spaces, with large, timber framed sliding doors retracting to maximise the living area. Meant for hosting visiting family, the house has a holiday feel with built-in double bunk beds in the secondary bedroom ideal for sleepovers.

Keeping in mind the amount of waste typically generated on building sites, Cole designed the house ‘like a Meccano set’.

“Because of the distance in terms of travel time from the (inner city) office and I am usually on site once or twice a week, I designed it to be built without supervision, like a Meccano set, shaping bits
of timber, cutting to length and drilling the holes and putting bits into holes,” he says.

It was just as well, given the lockdown periods Sydney — and the Northern Beaches — went through when the house was being built. As a result, he only visited the site twice in the six months it took to build.

“Normally you wouldn’t be able to build a basement in that time if you were dealing with excavation,”

Cole says. “It was appropriate for the site, as well as the budget.”

Relying on passive design principles such as cross ventilation and the thermal chimney effect where rising hot air is released from the house via strategically placed louvred vents, the only obvious concessions to conventional cooling methods are ceiling fans in the living room and bedrooms.

Because the trees have been retained, solar panels were not considered suitable for this house — ‘it’s too overshadowed’ — so its sustainable credentials are not obvious.

“It’s not the most prevalent sustainability project,” says Cole. “There are no solar panels or heat pumps, it has none of those things.

“But half the carbon in a building is not in the life cycle of the building, it’s in the resources that go into building it. We worked on the embodied energy being as low as possible. It’s something we’re doing more and more.”

cplusc.com.au

One of Burleigh Heads’ most architecturally significant penthouses has hit the market for the first time since its completion five years ago.

The listing provides the first real look inside the two-level penthouse crowning Norfolk, Forme’s award-winning Goodwin Terrace development which was completed in 2021.

The penthouse sold off the plan for $5.35 million around 18 months before construction was completed and has remained tightly held ever since, meaning its resale offers the first insight inside one of Burleigh’s most architecturally impressive apartment buildings.

The four-bedroom residence spans approximately 461 sqm, comprising 276 sqm of internal living and a further 185 sqm of outdoor space across its two levels.

Its position on Goodwin Terrace gives the penthouse one of the Gold Coast’s comparatively rare true north-to-water aspects, with views stretching from Burleigh Headland along the coastline towards the towers of Surfers Paradise. Floor-to-ceiling glazing has been used extensively throughout the residence, framing the ocean outlook from almost every principal living space.

Forme, led by Managing Director David Calvisi, acquired the prime 1,012 sqm site, formerly home to The Fish House restaurant, before developing Norfolk as the first new multi-residential project delivered on Goodwin Terrace in around three decades.

The strength of the location was clear. The more unusual proposition was the building itself.

Forme appointed Koichi Takada Architects to design the 10-level development, marking the practice’s first Gold Coast building. Rather than treating Norfolk’s beachfront setting as a backdrop, Takada used the Norfolk Island pines along the foreshore as the basis for the architecture.

Curved balcony slabs and horizontal battens create the building’s distinctive layered exterior. Sliding timber screens can be repositioned for privacy, shade and protection from the coastal conditions, continuously changing the appearance of the façade.

Takada has compared the concept to the structure of a pinecone, whose overlapping layers open and close according to environmental conditions. In an earlier account of the project, the architect said the objective was to celebrate the site and create a stronger connection between the residences and the elements outside.

The response helped turn Norfolk into an architectural marker for Burleigh’s transformation.

Norfolk comprises 12 half-floor apartments, two dual-level penthouses and one two-level beach house. MIM Design created the interiors, Hutchinson Builders undertook construction and Plus Architecture supplied documentation services for the builder.

Inside Residence 901, MIM Design’s restrained palette brings together timber, natural stone and tailored joinery without competing with the outlook. Travertine surfaces have subsequently received paint-protection film, while the home is being offered with a custom furniture package.

A private lift opens directly into the main living level. Living, dining and media spaces are arranged along the view, accompanied by a concealed bar and a broad north-eastern terrace.

The kitchen has an oversized stone island, European appliances and bespoke cabinetry, supported by a butler’s pantry and separate scullery. An integrated RTI system controls lighting, climate, fans, security, entertainment and audio using in-home touchscreens or a smartphone application.

The principal suite occupies a private wing with ocean views, a dressing room and ensuite. Two additional bedrooms have their own ensuites, while a fourth bedroom can operate as an executive study. A concealed Murphy bed allows that room to accommodate guests when required.

The rooftop is what moves the residence beyond even a generously proportioned beachfront apartment.

Reserved exclusively for the penthouse, it contains a heated lap pool, landscaped gardens, several entertaining areas and an alfresco kitchen with a built-in barbecue. An integrated outdoor cinema allows the rooftop to function as an open-air screening room above the Pacific.

Four side-by-side secure car spaces, dedicated electric-vehicle charging and private storage address practical constraints often encountered by prestige-apartment buyers. The parking allocation is particularly relevant for owners moving from a large house or maintaining a car collection.

Norfolk’s wider amenities include a beach-club-style residents’ area, swimming pool, gymnasium and sauna. Burleigh Beach is directly opposite, while James Street, Burleigh Head National Park and restaurants including Rick Shores and The Tropic are within walking distance.

The building’s reputation has also moved well beyond its beachfront address. Norfolk received both jury and popular-choice honours in the mid-rise multi-unit housing category at the 2022 Architizer A+Awards. It won a Queensland Australian Institute of Architects award for multiple housing and was named the 2022 Medium-Density Residential Development of the Year by The Urban Developer. Further recognition came from the Master Builders awards and Architecture MasterPrize.

Calvisi later said the aim with Norfolk was to produce something the Gold Coast had not previously seen.

The penthouse is being marketed through expressions of interest by Dean Pegoraro of Whitefox Gold Coast.

Among The Scent Of Eucalyptus

It’s what hasn’t changed on this site that makes this residence so exceptional

A two-level penthouse atop Burleigh Heads’ award-winning Norfolk development has hit the market for the first time, offering sweeping ocean views and a private rooftop pool.