Robust & Protective Architecture - Northumberland Street by Mark Shapiro Architects
Conceived as a robust and solid shelter from its coastal location, Northumberland Street is a residential retreat. Mark Shapiro Architects has conjured a sense of composed calm through a classic contemporary approach.
Located within walking distance to Clovelly Beach in New South Wales, Northumberland Street is deliberately balanced between being both approachable and luxurious. Under a unique caveat, the proposal was approved through a fast-tracked ‘complying development’ application, allowing a bypass of council approval and for greater time control and projected planning (with a separate development application needed only for the pool and garage elements). The approach from the outset was clear – to create a robust series of volumes that act as a counterpoint to the neighbouring coastline, with clean lines and references to luxurious inner-city abodes.
Constructed by George Walker and Son, the build took approximately eighteen months, finishing late in 2018. Envisioned as a home for its growing young family, it houses four bedrooms, a guest area, cinema room and with an open-plan living space as a conduit for connection. Centred on a grouping of services in the middle of the volumes, this timber-clad pod houses core amenity, allowing for light-filled and outward-connecting other rooms to radiate from here. The inclusion of the stairwell and skylight above provide a vertical connection between these volumes.
Mark Shapiro Architects approached the materiality and transition between interior and exterior with a focus on solidity and form. The concept and driving principles behind the landscape follow as an extension of the architecture. Not only do folding glazed openings invite the landscape inside, but also the resulting geometries form the foundation for a series of platforms, one of which houses the pool, while others facilitate an array of softening native low-maintenance, resilient plantings.
Comprised predominantly from off-form concrete, other pockets of polished concrete and timber form the basis of the core materiality. The utilisation of timber throughout in both flooring, cladding, planning and in joinery all add an element of warmth and encourages engagement, which is then contrasted with natural stone for tactility. The use of both exposed structural concrete and natural materials shows honesty, and is an expression of the robustness intended for this home.
By generously allowing for the opening of the façade elements and the total engulfing of the interior by the expansive ocean views beyond, Mark Shapiro Architects has maximised experience of the site’s location. However, manual and electronic operable external elements allow for control of both the views and thermal tempering of spaces by the inhabitants. Through a combination of robust materiality, openable façade elements, and an integrated approach to the site and landscape design, Northumberland Street brings a classic contemporary luxury to its enviable coastal address.
