Rookery House

New home design — Penguin, Tasmania

Some briefs arrive once in a career. This client came to us with a site on the ocean side of Penguin, Tasmania — three private beaches, a Mutton Bird rookery, and one of the most extraordinary coastal outlooks we've encountered. The challenge was to honour it.

Designing for Tasmania's specific conditions

Tasmania's coastal climate is distinct from the Surf Coast. The northern light is rarer and more precious; the cold south-westerly winds are persistent and severe; and the connection to the ocean — while spectacular — needed to be captured without the house being dominated by the exposure.

The design maximises ocean views from the living areas while simultaneously capturing Tasmanian northern light and shielding the interior from the cold prevailing winds. Every room is oriented in response to these competing demands.

The grand gesture

The defining element of this house is a sweeping arced internal wall of charcoal rough-cut masonry — its form and texture directly referencing the basal rocky shores of the site below. This wall bifurcates the house into two wings: a bedroom wing to one side, a living wing to the other. It is simultaneously structural, spatial, and deeply contextual — a piece of the landscape brought inside.

The outcome

A home that is completely specific to its remarkable site — responding to its views, its climate, and its landscape in a way that no imported design could achieve.

Type: New home Location: Penguin, Tasmania Services: Full architectural design, documentation, contract administration

Have an extraordinary site that deserves extraordinary design? Call Jeremy on 0402 952 810.