Built for a family of six as a weekend escape from the metropolitan hustle and bustle, MCK Architecture & Interiors has created House Acute, located on the New South Wales central coast.
Made of off-form concrete, the home cops the brunt of the elements, with its coastal setting bringing overexposure to salt, sand and breeze and a bushfire-prone coastal bluff located adjacent to the site. The dwelling’s materiality has been curated to tackle these conditions head on, with the site’s unique envelope inspiring much of the design. The practice envisioned a wedge-shaped home, consisting of two long concrete pavilions lapping over each other on the acute corner.
The acute forms created by the design create playful geometric forms, with the concrete walls creating a blank canvas for shadows to dance upon. The off form concrete skins of the home leave a trace of how they were constructed, not unlike a raw story board.
Despite the home being entirely concrete, the ground and first floor pavilions are easily differentiated by shadow lines and textural characteristics. The ground floor was formed with a smooth off form finish contrasting from the more textured first floor structure formed using horizontal rough sawn boards.
The ground floor operates as the main entry to the home, and comprises the bedrooms and subsequent wet areas, with a secondary living space created at the acute junction. The first floor contains the main living area, with a large covered terrace on the roof of the massing to the south below, and a cantilevered balcony on the northern side which engages with the street. The master bedroom is located behind the kitchen, allowing the parents the ability to only use the level when they stay minus the children. A rooftop terrace sits above the first floor, which connects to the house via a set of stairs.
The two overlapping pavilions sit comfortably with the fall in the land such that 4 distinctly different and separate storeys have been created. There is still space to find solitude if and when required. The tallest point of the house itself is located on the lowest part of the site, the southern boundary. The corner sits at a gentle bend in the road, operating as a gateway of sorts to the street itself.
A number of angophora plantations were retained along the western boundary in order to maintain privacy. William Dangar, the landscape architect, has fused both new and old landscapes and that the site’s natural surroundings are visually borrowed to extend the site parameters. A private courtyard sits in between the two concrete pavilions, aiding the influx of natural light and ventilation to the children’s bedroom wing and the remainder of the ground floor.
Robust and compact, MCK has formed a home out of concrete that sits with conviction and is innovative in design. A home ideal for getting away from the 9-5, House Acute is a home willing to deal with various adversities brought on by weather conditions in order to allow its occupants to unwind.
