Inspired by Palm Beach Modernism – Cylinders House by Aspect Architecture

Taking cues from 1960s Palm Beach modernism, Cylinders House brings a simplicity and robustness to its residential context. Aspect Architecture has purposefully drawn the built form back from the site’s edge to increase the engagement of the home with the streetscape.

Deliberate in its street presence, Cylinders House sees the simplicity and robustness of Palm Beach modernism brought to the residential context of Salt, in northern New South Wales. The home has deliberately not been built to each site border, much unlike its neighbours, to provide a sense of relief that creates its own urban context within the site itself. Aspect Architecture has utilised a series of principles of the era to create a distance from the street edge, encourage natural light internally and allow for cross-ventilation across the site. The interventions to the traditional contemporary residential response are discreet yet carry significant weight in their execution and appropriateness to the context.

Rather than dominate the site with built form, Aspect Architecture, together with Benchmark Building Projects and Dragon Trees Australia, wanted to create a considered landscape that bordered the transition between public and private. The building footprint takes on a ‘u’ shape formation, allowing for a sense of protection and privacy, and creating a more intimate internal moment on site. The use of courtyards and connection to the landscape is emphasised to further enhance privacy and increase natural cooling and solar gains. At the core of this withdrawal from the extents of the site is a desire to create a sense of openness, not just internally, but in all instances on the surrounding site.

Physical and visual connection are imperative and evident throughout. The sense of movement and flow created through the internal planning of zones and their connection to circulation around the home, allow for many varied opportunities to engage with the site and landscape. The form itself is comprised of a series of simple boxes, both solid and perforated, each connected and with glazing as the main conduit between. The concrete roof then performs in its primal duties and caps off each of these small boxes with one cohesive element. The use of metal screens and natural timber bring a sense of filtered light and warmth respectively and the lime-based render used both internally and externally expresses the form.

Cylinders House sees the simplicity and robustness of Palm Beach modernism brought to the residential context of Salt.

Intended as a place of connection, both to the site and the streetscape, Cylinders House also connects its residents through a series of mechanisms. Echoing the simplicity of the 1960s modernist style, Aspect Architecture has stripped back the residential model to its core and re-assembled its parts to create a connected, private, breathing home.

Physical and visual connection are imperative and evident throughout.