'Blink and you’ll miss it': The holiday home that blends into the landscape

Just outside the seaside village of Lorne, a reimagined holiday house sits immersed in its landscape, with rainforests on one side and the ocean on the other.

“Blink and you’ll miss it,” says Whiting Architects’ director Steven Whiting of the contemporary home that boasts 180-degree views across the Great Ocean Road.

“Between May and September it’s not uncommon to stand in the living room and watch southern right whales make their way along the coast,” he says.

While the site is magnificent, the original house was “unredeemable”, Whiting says. “It was a fibro shack unchanged for decades.”

The new home is inspired by its location; a design lexicon informed by its expansive views.

“Our key drivers were light and how it is broken, as well as how to maintain the views while offering privacy,” Whiting says. “Process dictated the build, and architecture deferred to interiors as the design grew from the inside out.”

The four-bedroom home features two levels that can be locked off from each other when privacy is required.

The home’s functional aesthetic is rooted in its environment, including the extensive use of timber throughout that reflects its heavily wooded surrounds.

Inside and out, a neutral palette allows the views to dominate while shards of natural light are scattered through laser-cut screens inspired by the artist Emily Kame Kngwarreye.

“The north side of the home is clad with the screens to help break sun penetration, retain privacy and limit heat gain,” Whiting says. “The light created … changes through the day and with the seasons.”

Given the home’s corrosive marine environment, Whiting married his modern design with resilient natural materials like stone, timber, steel, and concrete.

External elements like sun direction, prevailing winds and specific site conditions were assessed.

“North-facing glass partially screened by the panels offers passive winter solar heating, and the entire wall of glazing opens up in summer, allowing for the building to cool down quickly [and] encouraging cross ventilation,” he says.

“All of the windows are double-glazed, so in winter the low sun brings warmth in, and in summer the deeper window box frame protects the window.”

Whiting describes working on the project as “gratifying”.

Style notes

Chair

The Moller Chair from Great Dane is based on strong Scandinavian principles of style. The seat is crafted from cord, with a natural texture.

Dining table

The sculptural base of the La Rotonda Table by Mario Bellini for Cassina (from Space Furniture) is a classic shape used across architecture and building.

Fireplace

This suspended fireplace – the Gryofocus by Oblica – was launched in the 1960s. Its design has been honoured at New York’s famous Guggenheim.