Fortress House

This coastal house was designed as a literal interpretation of the client’s initial brief. They requested a very private retreat, anti-social, even unfriendly to the street, as a counterpoint to their sociable city lives.

The only 2 windows to the street frontage are deep set and high, allowing no interior views, and the main 1st floor entry is reached via a 6 metre bridge. It is only once beyond this uninviting threshold, that the house gradually begins to open up to the surrounding ti tree covered dunes, with carefully selected views. This comes to a dramatic conclusion with the 6.5 metre tall window at the far end of the central spine of the house — via ArchDaily