Pacific View Point House by Luigi Rosselli Architects & Alwill Interiors

This home at Bronte Beach in Sydney’s eastern seaboard is designed to soak up as much of the far-reaching Pacific Ocean views on offer, while creating a “place for peace” for its occupants.

Designed by Luigi Rosselli Architects and Alwill Interiors, the home replaces a 1970s brick house that did not fully encompass the benefits of its beautiful location. Using a base of rammed earth and a dynamic form that moves with the shape of the rock face it inhabits, the new house has a sense of warmth, which is balanced against the cool tones of the ever-present ocean.

Spread over four levels, the stairwell became an important feature and one which the architects wanted to highlight. The stairwell and elevator are clad in glass blocks, which causes this central structure to become a lightwell, inviting use. With black grout between the bricks, it calls about lattice windows seen in New York lofts and Parisian apartments. This architectural motif is then echoed by gridded screens on the exterior of the building.

The architectural design of the house is honest to its site, with natural materials and reminders of the coastal cliffs it inhabits seen throughout the home. In the wine cellar, a window displays the rocky cliff face behind the building. Colours and textures respond to the changing shades of the ocean, making this architectural home a place to contemplate the ever-changing nature of the sea and the blue horizon beyond.