design
mag |
67
Just over 40 kilometres north of the Sydney CBD,
Palm Beach is much favoured weekend playground
for the city’s rich and famous who generally favour
building on sites over looking its broad beaches.
However the owners of this holiday house wanted a
bushland setting.Their sloping site is on a ridge in a
Flame Zone overlooking a spotted gum forest so the
use of a non-combustible walling material was a given
as part of a bushfire resistant design.“The owner also
wanted a white house but he didn’t want it to be
painted render,” explains architect Tony Chenchow.“It’s
a lot of maintenance in terms of upkeep and having
to paint the house every five or six years.”
The solution was an off-white brick, Bowral Bricks
Charolais Cream laid in a flush-finished mortar made
with white cement.The resultant walling has a
lightly-textured, monochromatic finish.
Chenchow Little, a partnership between husband and
wife Tony Chenchow and Stephanie Little, has won
numerous awards and accolades since they came
together in 1994. Surprisingly this is their first brick
design.“Brick was an ideal solution, especially in terms
of aesthetics,” says Chenchow.“It’s a lovely material
because of the fact that it is modular.”
An award-winning holiday home
emerges from a bushland setting
HIGHLY COMMENDED
Residential Category
