Bare-foot beach house – Stradbroke Island

The brief from clients required a discrete island antidote to their family’s busy lives. A unique place to retreat to and relax on idyllic (Minjerribah) North Stradbroke Island QLD. Paul Butterworth Architect delivered “Corymbia”, a relaxed, robust bare-foot beach house with spacious light-filled living spaces, comfortable reading nooks, cosy plywood-lined bedrooms and unique indoor/outdoor bathing spaces. It’s a physical and ideological retreat, an intergenerational home for gathering family and friends, celebrating cooking, bathing and creating lasting memories.
The home features a series of large hardwood doors that slide and stack behind an external wall, to reveal a generous double-height central living deck which Paul describes as “The lungs of the house”. Traditionally mundane domestic rituals [showering, shaving, etc.] were heightened and uniquely treated to Straddie’s natural beauty via mirrored reflections and large skylights.
Materials, colours & textures reference the bush setting and the fibrous cement cladding of vernacular shacks in an abstracted but familiar composition. Aged tapware, subtle lighting and hardwood plywood cabinetry add a refined richness enhancing domestic rituals like cooking, bathing and washing. Corymbia was delivered under budget and was well-made by local hands to be durable and loved for generations. Local skilled labour and positive open communication between clients, architect and builder were essential to a collectively enjoyable procurement experience and the successful completion of the project.