ARCHITECTURE AND BUILDING BY HUMPHREY HOMES
Block size: 760 sqm
Duration of Building Contract: 18 months
Actual Build Time: 18 months
Ross Avenue Residence makes the most of its beachside location, delivering an exceptional family home split over 3 levels. The 700m2 home is highly personalised to suit the lifestyles of the residents, incorporating a motorcycle garage, library, workshop and art studio, while ensuring ample space for daily life and entertaining.
The house is cleverly engineered to suit its 760m2 sloping block. In a bid to maximise the energy rating, the house is appropriately orientated to increase the effect of northern light in cooler months, while double glazing and photovoltaic cells assist in the passive solar performance of the home.
From the streetscape the house has a striking presence. The dark skillion roof adds a bold, graphic quality, while the use of glass, travertine, stainless steel and recycled timber crafts a contemporary yet enduring aesthetic that sits in harmony with its coastal context. All materials were selected with consideration to the harsh coastal conditions, ensuring longevity and resilience against salt, wind and sun exposure. Rustic jarrah posts reclaimed from a Manjimup saw mill form a dramatic feature which sets the tone for the interior scheme to follow.
The planning of the house provides 2 sizeable balconies to the North, inviting the family to delight in the coastal landscape and entertain friends and family. An elevator from the basement garage ensures easy access to the main living/dining space, located on the upper floor to capitalise on the ocean views. A sense of spaciousness is achieved via 4m high raked ceilings with operable highlight windows, allowing natural light and breezes to enter the home. The upper floor balcony, featuring a Tepanyaki barbecue/bar area, can be completely enclosed via bifold windows for weather protection.
A sense of continuity is maintained in the interior, combining a number of materials and textures to complement the design and balance practicality with a high-end aesthetic. 8 species of timber are featured throughout the home, including recycled jarrah door jambs, Marri flooring, Blackbutt ceilings and a slatted oak bulkhead, which sit harmoniously against white laminate, travertine and concrete finishes. Custom-made glass privacy screens deliver uninterrupted ocean views from most liveable rooms of the house, offering particularly spectacular views from the kitchen, living and master bedroom.
The undercroft includes a large music room with a large, double-glazed bay window. Opposite, a polished concrete floor accommodates the owner's collection of beautifully restored motorcycles. With a focus on the honesty of how the clients see their lives growing and evolving in the house, the design is at once practical, liveable and elegant - a family home, with a difference.
