Effortless Light – Camp Cove House by Tobias Partners
Camp Cove House is a refreshing modern structure, imbued with vibrant pops of colour and contemporary flair. With windows by Vitrocsa, Tobias Partners opens up the home to natural light, effortlessly linking the interior with the external environment.
Settled within the former fishing village of Watsons Bay, the original brick structure of Camp Cove House was dark and enclosed. Designed by Tobias Partners Principal Architect and owner Nick Tobias, a light-filled and thoughtfully configured structure was proposed in its place, with considered use of glazing opportunities to allow a stronger connection to the outdoors.
With windows by Vitrocsa, Tobias Partners opens up the home to natural light, effortlessly linking the interior with the external environment.
With three entryways, the spatial layout of Camp Cove is distinct and efficient. “The brief that I had for myself was very much just to create a beautiful home for my two sons and [me],” explains Nick. The kitchen-living-dining area sits to the right of the entryway, the lounge to the left, while the bedrooms and bathrooms occupy the second floor, and the lower level remains dedicated to utility.
The most vital feature of the home is the renewed connection to natural light through extensive use of glass. Glazing by Vitrocsa transform the space; floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors in the living room present as subtle and inconspicuous, visually giving way to the view. Whilst the glass allows light to flood the interior, the flush details at the junctions of the glazing system and architecture create a sense of continuity between the different thresholds of the home.
“I wanted a house that had good energy,” Nick says. “It’s a bit of a boy’s club. We’ve each got a great bedroom, we’ve each got our own dedicated bathroom, we’ve got an epic movie room and, although the house is not huge and the floor plan is quite compact, it works really, really hard for its size. It’s very efficient and retains a sense of intimacy.”
Situated between the harbour and the ocean, Camp Cove House is instinctively crafted to embrace its context. By taking an intuitive approach to the architecture and interior design, Tobias Partners is able to create a light-filled home that feels effortlessly liveable.
