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Between its slightly retro pool and the clipped lawn, this modern house fi ts perfectly into the charming suburbia on Australia’s Gold Coast. Homeowner Lauren Davidson calls the poolside living area “a beautiful glass box”. -
Visitors arrive via an open courtyard to get a first-hand look at the patterned bricks that surround the home. Tufts of moss peek through the river stones, which the owners’ kids, Rosie and Will, like to play with and draw on. -
Lauren and Rose follow a path of split limestone pavers across a sea of polished river stones to the front door. “The design and look of our house is so simple, yet it’s so well thought out. There’s absolutely no wasted space,” Lauren says. -
Lauren and Rose follow a path of split limestone pavers across a sea of polished river stones to the front door. “The design and look of our house is so simple, yet it’s so well thought out. There’s absolutely no wasted space,” Lauren says. -
Floor-to-ceiling windows blur the lines between indoors and out. The owners’ Jasper modular sofa is from King Living; they’ve had the glass-topped dining table and vintage chairs for years. -
Open to the sky, the courtyard can be screened off by sliding glass doors that protect the kitchen, which features subway tiles, timber joinery and Carrara marble countertops. Melamine ceiling panels help reflect natural light, while timber-and-white furniture stands out against polished concrete floors. -
Open to the sky, the courtyard can be screened off by sliding glass doors that protect the kitchen, which features subway tiles, timber joinery and Carrara marble countertops. Melamine ceiling panels help reflect natural light, while timber-and-white furniture stands out against polished concrete floors. -
Rose runs along the high-shine hallway of polished spotted gum timber. -
A ceiling fan from Beacon Lighting makes the most of the air that flows through the breeze blocks when the bedroom’s sliding glass doors are open. The bedside sconce is from Anaesthetic.
Inviting comparisons to Mid-century design, this home on Australia’s Gold Coast is a contemporary dwelling that avoids nostalgia in its offering of unexpected spaces, clever ventilation and naturals light behind an extruded brick veneer.
WORDS Alicia Pyke & Steve Smith PHOTOS Toby Scott / Are Media / Magazinefeatures.co.za
Lauren Davidson knew she’d found the architect to design her Gold Coast home when James Russell boldly climbed up onto the roof of the existing dilapidated house to get a better feel for the spot. “Our goal was to knock it down and build a home that suited our family and our relaxed lifestyle,” Lauren says. “James is so creative; we knew that working together was a no-brainer.” Having shown James the many pictures of breeze-block houses that she’d saved on Pinterest, Lauren was hoping the patterned concrete blocks would be used in some capacity – but she’d never contemplated using them en masse as a semi-transparent screen around the entire house. “It took some time to get my head around the concept, but it wasn’t difficult to soon say, ‘That’s fantastic’,” she says.
They’re not actual concrete breeze blocks, though – at least not in the traditional sense. While the screen very intentionally resembles the airy bricks, two factors made using them prohibitive. One was the cost – as the material du jour, they’re no longer cheap. Secondly, the coastal climate’s salty air breezing through those blocks would make the concrete deteriorate unless specifically treated.
Cleverly, James therefore re-created the look and functionality of breeze blocks with a screen made of extruded bricks, aluminium brackets and timber that offered security, privacy and climate control. James and his team achieved this by gluing each extruded brick on edge to aluminium angles fixed to the timber studs. Essentially a set of transparent skins wrapping a series of patio-like spaces, his design references the Mid-century Modernism of its Florida Gardens setting, where this type of brickwork was often a feature. Constructed in the 1950s, Florida Gardens is one of the Gold Coast’s earliest canal estate developments.
The main entry point to the house is a front gate to the courtyard, which opens onto a patio that connects the kitchen to the living and dining areas. The ground floor is a mix of open patios that ensure constant cross-ventilation through the living spaces. On the other side of the patio, the kitchen, laundry and bathrooms all cluster around the stairs that lead to the second level of the home. Private areas, including four bedrooms, are located upstairs; on this upper storey, the rooms use James’s extruded brick screen as a layer of privacy that also allows for floor-to-ceiling openings without the need for balustrades. There are more Gold Coast Mid-century nods at the back of the house, where the pool is surrounded by the same white brick – although here it’s a solid surface, creating what James refers to as a “robe, cigar and Bellini” type of space.
Playing host to two young children, the house fulfils its brief as a liveable family home with a functional layout that allows Lauren to pursue her love of baking and patisserie while the little ones play. “I can be in the kitchen supervising while the kids explore the space. They like to ride bikes around the courtyard, or gather the river stones and draw faces on them.” A couple of years on, Lauren says living within the breeze-block screen is pure bliss – especially when the afternoon sea breeze blows in.
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