Located on a steep hill in a quiet pocket of the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia, Martha is four-bedrooms beach-side family retreat. Designed by Ola Studio, the residence withstands the challenges that exist in coastal environments. However, the house evokes a sense of lightness and warmth.
Providing protection from the extreme weather conditions of its seaside location, windows are concealed behind operable timber shutters and screens to ensure the spaces are usable year-round. When open, the shutters may also be manipulated to create framed views, intimate outlooks, and playful splays of internal sunlight.
The single storey dwelling extends south west towards the bay to take advantage of expansive unobstructed views across the Peninsula. In appropriating the sloped site, the building emerges from the landscape to give the appearance it is effortlessly floating above the ground, allowing the house to engage with the site in both form and materiality. The application of natural Australian timber hardwoods for the external cladding reference the colours of the surrounding landscape and help the building to immerse itself as an integral extension of the site.
The planning arrangement of the house is divided into three primary zones consisting of the parent’s retreat, the kid’s/guest area, and a primary open plan living space and kitchen area which are all directed toward the coast line. This promotes a variety of open and intimate spaces that maximise solar access and the excellent views to the south.
— Ola Studio
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Photographs by Manos Mavridis
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