Shoreham Beach Shack

by Sally Draper Architects

Shoreham Beach Shack is the reinvention of an original 1950s Australian fibro home.

This classic 1950s fibro beach shack has been sensitively reclaimed as a modern weekender in Shoreham on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.

The beach shack exemplifies a neglected chapter in Australia’s architectural history and provides a valuable model for many future projects.

Built as a single-room fishing hut, Sally Draper Architects were briefed to design and restore the 1950s shack to a simple and informal beach house, which could accommodate groups of friends and family.

With specifications in the brief that the property still retain respect to its heritage, the underlying values of the era, and original construction principles. Including a hands-on approach to client-labour and recycled materials.

Sally Draper Architects were also mindful of the prominent location, to where the beach shack sits. Overlooking a grassy common in the town centre, the newly renovated shack sits humbly within the native landscape, without visually disturbing the original streetscape.

Construction methods and detailing of the project reflects that of an original process of mid-century shack making, being simply the latest of a series of evolutionary stages of the house, as it evolved over time.

Photography by James Geer.

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