Hexagonal scene stealer at Forresters Beach

Home Style & HOLIDAY LIVING

HEXAGONAL SCENE-STEALER at Forresters Beach

WORDS CATHARINE RETTER PHOTOS OLIVER GASPAR, WESEEKTRAVEL

This architecturally striking house is visually arresting, both inside and out. The angular roof lines and hexagonal interiors with floor-to-ceiling ocean-facing windows make the most of a spectacular view just a few metres through bushland from Forresters Beach.

‘There are three iconic surf breaks immediately in front of the house, so it’s a popular spot for board riders,’ the homeowners tell COAST magazine. ‘But for us, the attraction is the great snorkelling in the rockpools. There’s always something different to see.’

The beachfront sand dunes have been the subject of much bush regeneration and this natural look is carried right up to the rear of the house where a retaining wall is laid in Percon quartz tiles set in an interesting French pattern with 200mm, 300mm and 400mm tiles.

The exterior of the house is clad in a metallic finish with 3 metre x 1.2 metre Laminam porcelain ‘Oxide’ tiles in earthy, red-brown tones. The tall, metallic-look Axolotl front door is a welcoming entryway, almost a functional sculpture, with porcelain panelling and a large solid brass handle. A cantilevered steel awning adds to the impressive entry. »

Stone Arc

The home of beautiful tiles & stone.

Stone Arc offers a unique collaboration of tiles, stone and homewares

Husband and wife team Tony and Maree work with local designers, builders and home owners to create beautiful spaces to live in.

With more than 40 years experience in the stone and tile industry, Stone Arc has finally arrived on the Central Coast.

Stone Arc are also your local distributors for the ABI Interiors tapware and bathware range.

Unit 4, 11-13 Cochrone Street, Kincumber Monday - Friday 9-4pm. Saturday 9-2pm Email: info@stonearc.com.au Instagram: stone.arc.home

1300 887 633 stonearc.com.au

HOME + COFFEE BAR

Our beautiful home shop has moved to Long Jetty and includes a coffee bar

WHOLEFOOD CAFE

Open 7 days 7am - 2pm 6 Ghersi Ave Wamberal 2260 02 4339 8052 HOME + COFFEE BAR

Open 7 Days from 9.30am 350 The Entrance Rd Long Jetty 2261 02 4309 5440

www.threedonkeys.com.au

FAR LEFT The tall, metallic-look Axolotl front door is a welcoming entryway with a cantilevered steel awning adding to the impressive entry.

LEFT Above the main balcony, the extended 6-metre roofline ends in a point, like a ship’s bow, passively protecting the house from summer heat.

MIDDLE The 3D-mapped blackbutt stairway, where the adjacent walls and steel-plate bannister continue the house’s theme of hexagonal shapes.

BOTTOM Large windows and glass doors provide an uninterrupted view from the main living areas as well as from the large deck.

On entering the house, your eye is led up the blackbutt stairway where the white-painted steel-plate bannister and adjacent walls make an irregular hexagonal shape. The 12mmthick steel-plate was 3D-mapped to cut it to its exacting shape, then welded together and painted on site.

The hexagonal wall structure is repeated in each of the main rooms so there are no square corners and the timber framing was initially cut with tools, then hand-planed into 30-degree and 60-degree angles instead of the more traditional 90-degree corners. The joinery and plastering is demonstrably the work of skilled craftspeople, with knife-edge finishes to a number of very fine angles.

Upstairs, the floor-to-ceiling windows viewed from the lounge, dining and kitchen areas take in the spectacular scenery. Here, the roof space is framed as an upside-down truss above the stairwell and living areas, where the morning light frolics across the various angles.

The long drop-lights in the stairwell were made in Spain and unexpectedly took two years to arrive when Covid closed down international shipping.

‘The only downside of the location is that the windows receive all the salt spray from the ocean,’ says builder, Jake Nicoll. ‘But there is an automated, copper-piping irrigation system along the tops of the windows that cleans the glass twice a week ... problem solved!’

Vitrocsa doors slide open to the main cantilevered balcony that is supported from below by two large struts reminiscent of ship’s rigging. Above the balcony, the extended 6-metre roofline ends in a point, like a ship’s bow, passively protecting the house from summer heat. Alucobond, a fire-retardant aluminium cladding was chosen for the underside of the awning for its ability to fold around corners rather than having to be cut at the edges.

Everywhere you look in this home, technology has been beautifully applied. »

The master bedroom on this floor also has picture-windows onto the seascape (ideal for whale-watching from a cosy bed.)

‘The house is solar-powered and, with the breezeways, we have no need for air-conditioning,’ says the homeowner. ‘But we do have hydronic under-floor heating that subtly makes for very comfortable living in the colder months.’

In the lounge, a striking painting of a reclining woman on a dark grey background was found by the owners on a visit to Shanghai. The couch below it, in a remarkably similar grey, was purchased to complement the painting.

There are three more bedrooms on the floor below, each with an ensuite. Here, and in the TV room, all windows are double-

ABOVE The modern kitchen opens into the dining and lounge areas where the ocean is always the scene-stealer.

LEFT Blackbutt stairs and stairrail lead down to the lower level and rear garden.

RIGHT The main cantilevered balcony is supported from below by two large struts reminiscent of ship’s rigging. glazed with electronically controlled blinds positioned between the glass.

A small balcony runs along the northern side of the house and cleverly houses the barbecue. It is in an alcove concealed behind a black shutter that rolls up or down at the flick of a switch to protect the stainless-steel equipment from the salt air. An adjacent servery window provides easy access to the kitchen.

The hidden secret to the house, which Jake claims is its most important feature, is a void – the width of a narrow walkway – between the house’s outer wall and the interior perimeter walls.

‘The house is built into sand dunes,’ Jake explains. ‘So the terrain had to be well stabilised with thick concrete pylons that make up the outer wall and were sunk 40 metres into the sandy soil to prevent the house from ever slipping.

‘Although the house is far enough from the ocean, the beach was eroded during a major storm,’ says the homeowner. ‘Fortunately, it recovered naturally and a month later the sand was back, probably wider than before. Nonetheless, when it came to landscaping, we had to crane an excavator over the house to build the rear garden’s retaining walls to avoid any risk of the landscape sliding away.’

It’s easy to be seduced by the beauty and technology of this house, but as the owners say, ‘The most important thing about it, is that the house is peaceful and welcoming, and we love every day here.’

TRADE SUPPLIERS

Architect John McKinney

Builder, project manager Jake Nicoll, JNDC Pty Ltd

Internal tiler Allure Tiling

External tiler (French pattern) MPK

External tiler (Laminam) City Tiling

Electrician Thomas Electrical Services

Plumber

Painter Totally Drained Plumbers

Sneddon Bros

Joiner

Front door

Windows Seaside Joinery

Axolotl

Vitrocsa

Windows with blinds Enviro windows

Internal and external electric blinds Concept Shade

Hydronic floor heating Progressive Energy

Solar SEA

Concrete

Hardware

Internal cladding Finnigans Concrete Constructions Mitre 10

James Hardie