Heron House
Located by the Mornington Peninsula’s Mt Martha Beach, Heron House by Wolveridge Architects pays homage to its location while substantially integrating sustainability principles into its design.
The home is not the only one in the area by Wolveridge Architects, and the designers have consequently become well-versed in the timber-clad and robust local architectural style. Heron House is a continuation of this, with materials which draw on the neighbourhood’s aesthetics to form an individual contemporary form which sits calmly within its locale.
‘The house is composed of robust cream masonry offsetting lightweight weatherboard cladding - a material palette we feel reflects the predominant traditional Mt Martha beach house vernacular but also one that fulfils key passive design functions,’ says lead architect Qutaibah Al-Atafi.
Austral Masonry’s GB Masonry in Porcelain was specified for both its robust nature, aesthetic and tonal quality and thermal properties. Internally it is paired with darker brown brickwork and a high thermal mass insulated concrete floor, materials which act together to store the day’s solar warmth and release it during the cooler evenings.
Complementing the brickwork and black weatherboarding are cool-toned contemporary features that link different sections of the home, including black and white speckled terrazzo in the bathroom and kitchen, and timber panels in the bathroom echoing the weatherboard exterior and alluding to the beachside location.
The floor plan is designed around a private central garden, allowing light into the home. “The lighter tone concrete block bounces around daylight within the house and in essence drove how we approached the interior material selections,” says Qutaibah.
The masonry forms part of a host of passive design strategies which elevate the home “beyond business-as-usual ecological initiatives,” according to Qutaibah.
Each aspect of the home is designed with both function and aesthetic in mind. Externally, permeable paving and pebble infill act to improve the site’s stormwater runoff quality and reduce pollutants entering the waterways. This permeability was an eco strategy proposed to the architects’ developer client at the concept design phase “as a way of improving the quality of stormwater run-off from the site, often referred to as 'Water Sensitive Urban Design’".
“We also wanted to avoid large expanses of concrete paving which in many ways can appear unsightly. Let's face it, driveways are functional and necessary, yet not the most beautiful things to look at,” says Qutaibah.
The permeable driveway makes up part of landscape architect Bethany Williamson’s “informal yet refined garden design”, which sees varying forms of thriving greenery permeate the edges of the property.
Nearby to the driveway, the external masonry welcomes visitors to the home with an angular feature wall which contrasts zig zag patterns, flat faces and voids.
Heron House by Wolveridge Architects is a considered home that is aware of both its ecological impact and its natural and suburban surroundings.
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