The house, located in Dover Heights, Sydney, has astonishing outlooks thanks to its unusual geometries and 70 meter overhang over the ocean…
Sited on the edge of a 70-metre high cliff, Holman House refers to Picasso’s 1908 painting The Bathers, which inspired the designer team. It contains a complex series of fluid living spaces set within a meandering perimeter that arcs, folds and stretches in response to sun, landscape and views… Although the owners have lived in it for years, Jennifer Holman says she is still thrilled to get up in the morning and make coffee while watching the ocean swelling below her feet.
It is not just how the Holman House captures and frames the Pacific and the coast that makes this building so interesting, it is the mastery of space. There is a great interplay of surfaces, combining fineness and roughness, creating subtle contrasts. An understated, low-profile street presence intentionally contrasts the dramatic, cinematic revealing of the vast ocean presence over which House Holman presides. The overall result of this highly accomplished project is a loose but very comfortable fit with the landscape, and a commanding treatment of the Pacific Ocean which leave the senses mesmerized.
Living and dining areas cantilever out over the ocean, allowing dramatic views up and down the coast. The lower floor forms a base that is built from rough stone walls like an extension of the cliff below. These walls continue along the cliff edge to form a series of eccentric terraced gardens and a vase-shaped rock pool. Clear geometric forms, the use of black metal supports in conjunction with the natural terrain of rock and masonry, create an interesting contrast and turn this house in unique house. White facades and interior walls, and the large glazed surfaces, make the space open and bright. The floors are made of polished parquet floor that reflects light and contours of the minimalist decorated interior. Pieces of furniture in bright colours, of modern design, are arranged around the space so that it does not burden, but make it vigorous.
The entire interior is bright and airy, simply furnished, which makes this home a real paradise to enjoy the fresh sea air and fantastic views, which was an essential part of this architectural jewel, which hovers above the Pacific. You can imagine that it was difficult to create house in this site, but the result is really incredible...
Location: Sydney; Project team: Durbach Block Architects; Photographers: Brett Boardman, Anthony Browell, Chris Cole
Written by: Mina SREĆO
