Atmospheric Heights – Cliff House by Finnis

Anchored in place amid the ever-changing coastal landscape, Cliff House sits steadfast and weighted, redefining the traditional beach house through a more robust and contemporary lens. Finnis adopts an elevated design, celebrating the rugged clifftop locale and integrating natural stone to balance the softer coastal flora offerings.

Slowly revealed upon approach, the home combines moments of openness with privacy and retreat. The concealed nature of the residence from the outset creates a sense of anticipation and discovery. Merging the atmospheric tones of Port Phillip Bay with a lightness more familiar with a coastal milieu, Cliff House integrates Andorra limestone as a key material throughout. The materiality communicates resilience and luxury that will stand the test of time. Softening the building’s edges, the immediate landscape blends with the native living elements already in place, and Finnis works with Lisa Ellis Gardens to create rooftop gardens that act as extensions of both the home and landscape.

The concealed nature of the residence from the outset creates a sense of anticipation and discovery.

Upon entry, the generous timber front door opens to offer a glimpse of the expansive views awaiting in the distance. This initial interaction with the building is memorable through the use of custom elements to engage with touch. From the entry and across the various levels, a sense of refinement and warmth sets the home apart from a more typical offering of its kind. Instead of being purely open and awash with white, the dwelling could fit the language of any inner urban setting through its textured and layered approach. The subtleties with which junctions and materials meet become an extension of the core philosophies and enduring nature of the residence.

Muted yet warm, and with key openings framing views of the surrounding aspect, the majority of the home feels unexpectedly atmospheric, sculpting a unique connection to the coast. With deliberately limited sunlight brought into most of the interiors, the controlled introduction of artificial light creates an ambient setting – one that feels decisively disconnected from the area yet deeply embedded within it. Extending to the cliff edge, the open plan home is a rich and elevated structure that encourages uninterrupted movement internally and out to the surrounds.

Muted yet warm, and with key openings framing views of the surrounding aspect, the majority of the home feels unexpectedly atmospheric, sculpting a unique connection to the coast.

As an atypical beach house, Cliff House draws influence from its comprising materials and surrounds. Through a balanced and contrasted approach, Finnis merges the familiar and the unexpected with heightened texture and vigour.