Kewarra Beach Renovation

5 bed, 3 bath, $700+, Kewarra Beach (2003)

A major transformation of an eighties ‘Pizza Hut’ house into a modern luxury beachfront house

Brief & Context

This eighties beachside house, on a very valuable site, desperately needed a renovation. It was cramped, dark and daggy. The clients wanted to open up the spaces, open to the outdoors with new outdoor living areas, provide new kitchens, and bathrooms, and give it a fresh new look.

Design Approach

The house had a fundamentally solid masonry and slab construction. Many of the existing walls had to be removed to achieve the required openness. New steel beams were hidden in coffered ceilings to achieve this.

The stair was in the middle of the living areas so the early decision was made to remove this and build a new enclosed stair on the front of the building. This provided a new entry space and liberated floor area for the open plan living the clients had envisaged.

As the house had flat roofs and horizontal lines, a style developed that emphasised this horizontality and new roofs were kept low pitch. Internally, light coloured tiles and off white walls and ceilings increased the light and feeling of space with touches of colour and texture in kitchens, doors and timber.

Sustainability

Opportunities were taken during the renovation to greatly increase cross ventilation through removal of walls, and additional windows and doors. The existing house had a concrete slab roof and insulating this made a big difference to heat load in the upper floor.

Design Team & Builder

Mango team: James Maude, Glenn Howe
Structural Engineer: CMG
Builder: Len Riley