Hunkered into the landscape – Sunshine Beach

Located overlooking the pristine beaches of Sunshine Beach, Queensland, Australia, the house’s sculptural forms and the burrowed nature of its siting was a response to the site’s challenges and the client brief. Concrete arches as a structural form, minimised the need for internal columns and maximised the open spans for windows. They also produced complex shapes, high ceilings, the opportunity to create interestingly shaped organic internal bedroom and living spaces and permitted the landscape to wrap from the ground plane up and over the roof surfaces.
Designed by Noel Robinson Architects, Domic House the continuation of the landscape up and over the house, the use of lightweight timber ‘eyelids’ to the concrete arches and the burrowing of the house into the ground all serve to re-green the hillside and break down the building’s bulk.
When viewed from the beachside, the National Park, and from neighbouring houses further up the hill the residence is largely camouflaged into the landscape, with this perception set to increase over time as the planting continues to mature.
In this sense the residence contributes positively to the visual amenity of the coastal landscape. The client had a clear sustainability aspiration, which included the desire for on-site power generation, an aversion to the use of air conditioning and the desire to incorporate sustainable and renewable building products. The house has an expansive rooftop solar array supported by a battery storage system.
The client’s willingness to take up a creative response to the site’s opportunities which has permitted the creation of an organically imaginative building which delivers on the client’s brief and vision, promotes sustainability, and which integrates closely with the local landscape, site and place.