Trinity Beach Renovation

4 bed, 2 bath, mid $300's, Trinity Beach (2009)

A fading 1970’s home transformed into a tropical home resort.

Brief & Context

The clients for this project decided that they were going to move from Tasmania to Trinity Beach so that they could enjoy the tropical climate and be closer to family. They bought a house which possessed a style that looked like it was from a 1970’s movie set. It was a mismatch of styles and experimentation. Our brief was to update the building within a limited budget and provide a tropical family home.

Design Approach

We decided that we had to unify the contrasting styles, to simplify the building and to make it more functional. The existing building, for example, looked tropical, but had no real cross ventilation. We removed the rear courtyard wall and placed a new pool at the centre of the building. To re-enclose the space we built a new pavilion which provided a fresh kitchen and living area. The existing house was repainted, given new doors and the bathrooms refurbished. The end result was a renovated building that felt new and transformed a previously daggy house into a home resort.

Sustainability & Materials

The materials used flowed from the existing building. We maintained the use of block for walls and provided large overhangs to prevent the masonry from being overly exposed to the sun. We also eliminated a series of unwanted materials from the multiple styles originally used. Simple white paint covered the sins of the past and unified the building.

This building incorporated one of the simplest forms of sustainability: we renovated the existing building rather than demolishing and starting afresh. Not that glamorous in the world of green, but arguably very important. We also greatly increased the natural ventilation of the building, making the house breathe and generally not need or want air-conditioning.

Design Team & Builder

Mango team: Nic Granleese, Melanie Jackson
Structural Engineer: Kel Bruce