Experimenting with Terracotta

Every single terracotta brick used to build John and Susan Wardle’s beach house in Anglesea, on Australia’s southern coast, is unique: on extrusion, each brick was individually finished by hand. The house then built with these bricks is a warm mix of dark reds and browns, the same colors as the surrounding landscape – a wild, rocky coastline pounded by the ocean waves. Once occupied by a dilapidated beach shack, the plot is located on the slopes bordering the scenic Great Ocean Road. An hour-and-a-half’s drive from Melbourne, where the Wardles live and John has his design studio, the property has been owned by the family for some 20 years and is particularly dear to the architect, who grew up in the vicinity. It was during the pandemic, when life slowed down, that Wardle had an opportunity to devote himself to designing a comfortable, efficient second home for himself and his multigenerational family.

With a surface area of 340 sq. m, Burnt Earth Beach House is on two levels. On the ground floor, the entrance hall, kitchen, dining room and living room flow seamlessly one into the other; there are also two bedrooms and laundry room on this level. The upper floor is occupied by two more bedrooms, a study and second living area, these two latter environments overlooking the lower level, some parts of which have double-height ceilings. The irregularly shaped floor plan and different-height environments create dynamic, airy spaces where large windows provide a series of sightlines on to the outside. In fact, natural daylighting and views on to the exterior are key features of the overall design. Shielded by appropriate shading systems, each opening was placed as a function of the building’s solar exposure over the course of the day and the seasons. Some windows look out on to an established Eucalyptus tree on the north side of the house, some to views of the coast, while others frame sky and ocean.

Both inside and out,...

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