Context and history

 

Airlie Beach is the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands and is the major tourist departure point for the Great Barrier Reef.

 

A cruel irony is that the town’s own beach is not swimmable from October to May because it’s full of marine stingers, jellyfish and sharks.

 

Because of that Airlie Beach has built a giant man made community pool along the foreshore, just behind the Main Street shops. Most local people don’t use it as they have a pool in their house.

 

Geologically the waterways that are present today have only been around for about 10,000 years since the end of the last ice age.

 

The Ngaro Aboriginal people, the original custodians of the Whitsundays who are one of the earliest recorded indigenous groups in Australia, occupied the area for around 9000 years leaving behind rock art in caves in particular Nara Inlet, a Hammerhead Shark breeding ground.

 

The site is elevated with commanding views of the Coral Sea and the sky, which mix together to create an expansiveness of space and a merging of two shades of blue.

 

 

 

Place making and Design

 

The heat is dominating in this area and is often unbearable. The humidity goes beyond what you may think you can take.

However, those who live there do not use air-conditioning as much as you may think. The contrast between the cool and dry air of the air con with the heat and humidity of outside creates an imbalance for those who must work outside as the owners do.

 

As a result the main living and bedroom spaces of the house are up as high as possible to catch sea breezes. The spaces are edged with timber screened verandahs that are sometimes only 600mm wide but are there to provide shade and maximise air movement.  Nearly all internal spaces open onto these verandahs with big operable siding doors to allow even the smallest breezes to enter the home. The verandas together with big roof overhangs blur the edges of internal and external spaces creating an open relaxed atmosphere.

Placing the pool up high on this level creates a real connection to the Coral Sea beyond and to the main living spaces.

The timber screens together with the solid metre high concrete upturn wall of the verandah not only provide shade but also screen the neighbours helping to crystallise a private engagement of the house with the view of the sky and sea beyond.

 

The ground level of the house is characterised by a shaded undercroft space that provides cooler air to enter the building but also allows views from the street through the house to sea beyond. The wonky, angled columns supporting the concrete floor above, are a subtle reference to the She Oak trees that are often found on the foreshores of this area. The staggered oversize steps in the undercroft allow people to sit outside ensconced in the greenery; to read, or to have a beer and talk to local residents as they walk by.

 

The owners were keen on a solid home, one that performs well in cyclone areas and one which over time will patina and become embedded in the landscape. The choice of concrete and core filled blockwork was decided upon immediately with blockwork in particular, commonly used in the area and therefore fairly inexpensive, but it can be an unforgiving material for non architects and to soften its brutal tendencies landscape, texture and colour was introduced.

 

We were constantly discussing the idea of a ruin in a jungle. Ferns, palms, grasses and trees occupy the roof, undercroft spaces and walls and ground.

 

A triangular motif was developed based on the shape of mangrove tree root which forms a buttress under the water line to provide stability in high winds. The motif was abstracted and painted onto surfaces found in the kitchen, the outside walls of the pool , entry breezeway and even the garage door.

Solid chalky mint green colour added into the concrete mix of the main stairs paired with brass handrails is unexpected and playful but at the same time enduring and solid.

Real timber lining boards used to form the concrete ceiling creates a silvery and continually changing texture from reflected light and shadows. You don’t get that from fake timber form liners, it is subtle.. something you grow to appreciate over time.

 

The house has an open and relaxed atmosphere which could be the character used to describe the houses owners, Jonno, Lisa and their two children. They were however rigorous in their approach to the design process, open to new ideas, technically minded in construction and appreciative of crafted spaces. They are keen to discuss the house with their neighbours, locals or anyone who is interested. They care about architecture and love how it creates a dialogue with their local community.

 

On the surface level the house is solid, enduring and playful but on a deeper level it has a powerful sense of place and connection to space.