This is a coastal home for a waterman, a swimmer, a rock climber. A home to fulfill the longing for nature and adventure. A bouldering wall covers the Southern facade. The ground floor is surrounded by walls of glass, allowing natural light to fill every living moment.
Sleeping quarters at first floor are suspended in an open cradle of wood for warmth and seclusion. Outside stepping stone monoliths cascade down to a small beach. Each monolith has a function, sometimes a plunge pool, sometimes a barbecue, other times just a plinth with an open fire. Plinth house invites you to take part in a new kind of spatial luxury to enjoy the rarest of commodities - time and silence.
Brief
Plinth house emerges from a sloped landscape facing the Irish Sea. The site holds within it a natural and powerful architectural promenade.
A meandering approach down a small wooded track reveals the ocean framed by the new home and the adjacent boat shed. The overall plan of the home is linear, reflecting the width of the site.
The approach Southern elevation presents a playful black rubber bouldering facade adorned with a starfield of brightly coloured hand and footholds, revealing the vitality of our client's interests.
To the north, a series of stepping stone monoliths meander up from a small cove complete with various integrated functions, a plunge pool, a barbecue, a place to relax with ocean views.
The final plinth is the plateau of the house itself. With open plan dining, kitchen and central sunken living space for unnumbered views among walls of glass, making a house of light.
At first floor the master bedroom suspends itself above the spaces below, allowing double-height sequences and glimpses, with an exposed timber structure adding order, warmth and cohesion.
The home looks out to nature - vailed under a suspended filigree timber screen at first floor that over time will weather sliver, bedding itself into the surrounding tree canopies.
All rooms were required to have sea views. To achieve this, First-floor guest bedrooms cantilever out of the side elevations to steal a slice of the view, secretly suspended between the external wall and the outer suspended timber screen. This helps retain an uncompromising linear form that speaks of its attention and homage to the sea.
