Holman House, Dover Heights

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Holman House
General information
Address20 Hunter Street
Town or city Dover Heights, New South Wales
CountryAustralia
Coordinates 33°52′11″S151°17′01″E / 33.869723°S 151.283495°E / -33.869723; 151.283495 Coordinates: 33°52′11″S151°17′01″E / 33.869723°S 151.283495°E / -33.869723; 151.283495
Design and construction
Architecture firmDurbach Block Jaggers

Holman House, in Dover Heights, New South Wales, Australia was completed in 2004 [1] to a design by architectural firm Durbach Block Jaggers. The firm is located in Potts Point, Sydney, Australia, and is a small architectural practice who specialise in residential and public space designs. The house was the winner of the Wilkinson Award in 2005. [2]

Dover Heights, New South Wales Suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Dover Heights is a coastal, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Dover Heights is 9 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Waverley Council. Its postcode is 2030.

New South Wales State of Australia

New South Wales is a state on the east coast of Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south, and South Australia to the west. Its coast borders the Coral and Tasman Seas to the east. The Australian Capital Territory is an enclave within the state. New South Wales' state capital is Sydney, which is also Australia's most populous city. In March 2019, the population of New South Wales was over 8 million, making it Australia's most populous state. Just under two-thirds of the state's population, 5.1 million, live in the Greater Sydney area. Inhabitants of New South Wales are referred to as New South Welshmen.

Sydney City in New South Wales, Australia

Sydney is the state capital of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Port Jackson and extends about 70 km (43.5 mi) on its periphery towards the Blue Mountains to the west, Hawkesbury to the north, the Royal National Park to the south and Macarthur to the south-west. Sydney is made up of 658 suburbs, 40 local government areas and 15 contiguous regions. Residents of the city are known as "Sydneysiders". As of June 2017, Sydney's estimated metropolitan population was 5,230,330 and is home to approximately 65% of the state's population.

Contents

Site

Dover Heights, one of Sydney’s most affluent suburbs, [3] is mainly residential. One side of the street is an ordinary walk but on the east side these regular houses become extraordinary due to their panoramic views over the Pacific Ocean.

Holman House is sited on the edge of a 70-metre-high (230 ft) cliff on the edge of Dover Heights, providing a view across the ocean. The house cantilevers 6 m from this edge and at its furthest corner one is over the sea.

Durbach explains: “We thought we will probably never have a site like this again. It was an opportunity to do something significant”. [4]

Concept

Durbach and Block liked the idea of being able to look up and down the coast from many vantage points in the house, but to get to that point, designing the house became an adventure that completely took over their lives “but in a good way”. [4]

Tension within the design process arose when it took almost six months before they established a form for the house. Eventually, Durbach stumbled across Pablo Picasso's 'The Bather’ (1928), which became an inspiration for his design. The shapes of the kitchen and living room, which are cantilevered over the sea by four angled stilts, are derived this from the figure in this painting. [5] [6]

Architectural spaces

The mastery of space is seen in Holman House when spending time within the 325-square-metre (3,500 sq ft) house. The extensive views of the sky and sea can be experienced. The view could get monotonous so the spaces are divided so that each view became individual from its vantage point. “You don’t have to see the view at every moment”, explains Block, which in turn, from a spatial perspective, gives a cinematic way of seeing the view. [4]

The kitchen is low and intimate and reveals itself slowly into the living area. There is no hallway because the horizon connects all the spaces and once in the living-dining room a massive curved masonry wall is bisected horizontally by a band of glass that frames the sea and cuts off most of the sky. [4] Mirrors are placed at the corners to dissolve the edges as well as reflect unexpected expressions of the gardens and pool as one moves around. The more private spaces are revealed through a connecting secret passage which eventuates into the room with a striking blue backdrop.

Structure and materiality

The main overhang is supported by four steel inclined pillars which support the top floor. The ground floor is constructed with natural stone walls which becomes an extension of the cliff itself. These walls also in turn support the structure of reinforced concrete from the upper deck.

The house appears monolithic as its white form sits upon the jagged coastline. The interior and exterior act as one single form; looking out of the house you are surrounded by a smooth white texture complemented by a sea of blue, looking onto the house from the exterior you are surrounded by a sea of blue complemented by a smooth white textured form. [7]

Internally, walls lead to floor-to-ceiling windows with views of the sea.

Block says, “When the house is too smooth and perfect, it looks banal” and further refers to the term Wabi-sabi. [4] The brick rendering in the living space for example contrasts with the smooth plastered wall opposite.

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References

  1. ↑ Paula Bray (15 June 2009). "Holman House".
  2. ↑ Durbach Block Jaggers
  3. ↑ "Waverley LGA". Inner Sydney Regional Council for Social Development. Archived from the original on 20 March 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Woodard, Amanda (16 June 2005). "On the cliffs of Dover". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  5. ↑ "Seaside Masterpiece: House Holman". RUHM Destination Marketing. 13 November 2014. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  6. ↑ "Holman House by Durbach Block Jaggers". Dezeen. 25 July 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  7. ↑ Hernandez, Ricardo (22 November 2010). "House Holman by Durbach Block Architects // An Extension to the Sea" . Retrieved 18 November 2013.
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