AO30 / KENNETT RIVER HOUSE

YEAR: 2017-2021
LOCATION: KENNETT RIVER, VIC
TRADITIONAL OWNERS: GULIDJAN AND GADUBANUD

PROGRAM: PRIVATE HOUSE
SIZE: 145m2
STATUS: BUILT

BUILDER: GREAT OCEAN ROAD CONSTRUCTIONS
ENGINEER: SIMON ANDERSON CONSULTANTS

This project is located in Kennett River, a small coastal town situated along the Great Ocean Road in Victoria.
The site itself is a thin plot of land, located high up on the hillside ridge.

The unique site provides three key views, the first being a view down hill back toward the Kennett River township, the second viewed over the neighbouring dwelling toward ocean views of Bass Straight, and the third a distance view of the Great Ocean Road, heading toward Wye River. These three views provided the basis for the design.

The project brief was for a small holiday house, one far removed from any notion of domesticity. The proposed three storey design provides a series of stacked rooms, each with a key function eg. bathing, sleeping, eating, living. Each of these rooms specifically frames one of the key views mentioned above, allowing each function to be characterised by a particular aspect. This approach was proposed as a way of ensuring that the internal experience of the house would be as ever changing as the natural landscape that surrounds it.