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Pippins by Webster Architecture & Interiors
Perched on a breezy slope, Pippins stands as a beautiful blend of urban and coastal design, embodying the essence of the landscape while boasting striking architectural features.
On a windswept hillside of Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, a long, low building hugs the land, finding identity between a city home and a coastal retreat. Crafted by Webster Architecture & Interiors, Pippins is a house defined by a cluster of elegant forms resting in the undulating topography. Here, the home prioritises the rich context and beauty of the Australian landscape without compromising powerful geometry.
“The design of this project was guided by two core principles: a thoughtful response to the environment and a pursuit of elegant simplicity,” explains Dan Webster, director of the eponymous design practice. Webster describes a client brief underpinned by the desire to intimately integrate architecture with the landscape, weaving gardenscapes and courtyards into the fabric of the building. “Simultaneously, we aimed to maximise transparency to capture the panoramic views,” he says. Placed at a natural crest of the hill, Pippins claims a vantage point that affords unobstructed views to the ocean beyond. The challenge of the design strategy, however, was to maximise the expansive views but to also protect the house from the powerful prevailing winds that roar up the hillside.
The subsequent design response manifests as two long intersecting blocks, between which are several pockets of space that host courtyards sheltered from the unforgiving winds. The decision to occupy the site with this plan was informed, in part, by the client’s desire to have a single-storey home. Pippins is divided into four distinct zones distributed across the arms of an X-shaped floor plan and assigned with clear occupation and flexible function. Various spaces for entertaining are utilised at key moments to separate guest bedrooms from the generous main suite. From the main pavilion, uninterrupted views foster a sense of unbroken connection to the outside environment. At the fulcrum of Pippins’ intersecting spaces, a generous entry hall presents a curated view to the landscape beyond as a breathtaking moment of arrival into the home.
The X-shaped plan, located in a prominent part of the site, exposes the architecture to all aspects. “Every side of the home is viewable, is part of the facade,” says Webster. On approach, the full scale of the building is not immediately clear – the sculpted contours of the land leave only the pure lines of the roof form in view. “We didn’t want the whole house to be seen. We just wanted to see part of the roof of one of the pavilions showing itself above the shoulder of a man-made crest.” At the end of a meandering driveway, the house reveals its full scale and asserts its presence in the landscape as a collection of extruded volumes arranged beneath a floating roof plane.
The home’s roofs appear to defy gravity, a concept developed to express simplicity and minimalism as the foremost aesthetic aspiration. Their edges cut an impossibly fine line in the sky before gently tapering back to the building enclosure. The subtlety of the bullnose edge is complemented by the incredible cantilever of the eaves – in some areas hanging three-and-a-half metres into space – a coordination challenge that Webster identifies as the most challenging and yet arguably “the most striking aspect of this project, excluding the view”. Working closely with the structural engineer, full-scale prototypes of varying options were produced and tested to understand which would deliver the best design outcome for structural requirements, drainage compliance and aesthetic success.
Below the roof plane, expansive glazing is broken up by large blocks clad with a light neutral brick, which anchors Pippins to its site. Together, the concrete roof and sandy brickwork define the tones of the building, separated only by a dark band that serves to reinforce the horizontal length of the home.
The design narrative, as Webster describes, was to craft something beautiful, refined and striking, integrated with the beauty of the natural context. Coexistence with the landscape was essential, and curated gardenscapes radiate out from the building to blend into the established surroundings of the Mornington Peninsula.
Upon reflection, Webster considers the interdisciplinary collaboration as a critical process – one which extended to the client – to achieve Pippins.
Working in close collaboration with the landscape architect, pocket gardens are transitioned seamlessly to the untouched environment beyond the boundaries of the project. “Positioning the house slightly lower than the site’s crest was a strategic choice,” says Webster. “This placement allowed integration with the landscape and meant the home didn’t sit proud on the natural topography.” Surrounding vineyards also provided inspiration for grapevines, planted to enhance Pippins’ sense of place and establishment.
Upon reflection, Webster considers the interdisciplinary collaboration as a critical process – one which extended to the client – to achieve Pippins. A robust vision, translated to a thorough client brief, determined the function of the house and all its spaces from the outset, mitigating the risk of complex redesigns. “They challenged us and our process,” says Webster of the clients’ involvement. “They wanted to be involved in buying into the design and understanding each decision.” The outcome was a model of trust between client and architect, underpinned by clarity of design decision-making and an intent that was maintained from start to finish. “It was very much a design-led process. The result is a home that the clients absolutely love living in and feel enhances their quality of life. We are incredibly proud of this project as a practice.”
Architecture and interior design by Webster Architecture & Interiors. Build by Mazzei. Landscape design by Nathan Burkett Landscape Architecture. Landscape installation by Fields.
