Restrained and Imbedded – Bay House by Studio Prineas

Sitting in contrast to its surrounds, Bay House lies stout and weighted as a counter to the natural and rugged elements of its context. In collaboration with Brickworks Building Products, Studio Prineas uses a curated restraint to carefully proportion the family home, as considered insertions and gestures firmly anchor the house for many years to come.

In creating an enduring home, Bay House brings elements of functionality and comfort to the fore, embedding them as key driving principles throughout the structure. Overlooking the nearby Georges River, openings in the bold and minimal form allow visual connections beyond the carefully curated interior and out over the surrounding mature treetops and vegetation beyond. Spread over multiple levels, the home navigates its steeply sloping site and is conceived as a place for multigenerational living, divided but also connected through a flexibility of zoning. Studio Prineas combines principles of contrast and balance to embrace the natural elements of the site, while proposing a calm and restorative home in the process.

Inspired by and anchored to its place, the home combines references to the rugged and natural elements; a breezeblock wall by Brickworks adds visual dynamism to the façade whilst allowing natural light to reach the internal spaces.

Built by AVAD Construction Group with blockwork by Brickworks, Bay House is founded on poised proportions. Addressing the street with modesty, the layered home cascades behind its front facing façade, as it follows the terrain underfoot and optimises views throughout the home. Inspired by and anchored to its place, the home combines references to the rugged and natural elements; a breezeblock wall by Brickworks adds visual dynamism to the façade whilst allowing natural light to reach the internal spaces. Leveraging off a connecting circulation spine, the plan radiates from the centre and is inspired by wellness, together with the experience of looking out and within. The consideration of the human scale and a focus on tactility drives the resulting zoning and volumes, with emphasised attention to detailing and texture.

The home shares the same honesty of expression between the exterior and interior design language, seeing exposed blockwork brought inside and the floor surface extended seamlessly beyond the building’s edge. A crispness defines openings and passageways, whilst simultaneously embedding a sense of rhythm to the façade, emphasised through the depth of the building skin. Honed concrete floors interpret the vertical plans on the horizontal, also adding depth. Light enters the home through controlled openings and minimal framework to not compete with the view beyond. Throughout, a monochromatic palette sets a calming tone, allowing the views and the natural surrounds to be the focus.

The home shares the same honesty of expression between the exterior and interior design language, seeing exposed blockwork brought inside and the floor surface extended seamlessly beyond the building’s edge.

Bay House optimises its location through the insertion of a controlled series of volumes that work sympathetically with the landscape. Through a play on intimacy and seclusion, Studio Prineas proposes a home of lasting reverence, emotive and aptly grounded to its location.