Barwon Heads House Embodies Restrained Balance

As a uniquely personalised expression of its owners, Barwon Heads House — designed by Adam Kane Architects — is a heightened and modern interpretation of the typical Australian coastal home

Extending backward behind its original timber weatherboard cottage, a lofted extension opens up and connects through gestures of compression and release, while also acting as a refined contemporary offering, despite its distance from a familiar urban context. Using a binding palette of monochromatic tones, Melbourne-based Adam Kane Architects has carefully curated Barwon Heads House as a series of spaces that are further softened through a series of natural and textural surfaces and fine details, bound together with a shared sense of restraint.

Named after its location in coastal Barwon Heads, the home captures the site’s past through the restoration and expression of original crafted features, brought together with a modern and deliberate calm. The original cottage remains the face of the home and is transformed from its tired and neglected previous iteration through a refreshing update and the cloaking of black paint. The new volume then emerges to the rear, sitting subtly behind the original and referencing the roofline and silhouette while maintaining its own sense of self. Similar to a barn formation, the extension fosters a sense of openness, and now housing the shared living, kitchen and dining area, becomes a welcoming and obvious place to gather within the home.

Taking cues from the original cottage, the new form connects through shared materiality and detailed handmade insertions. As a feature, timber runs through the old and the new as a warming base that other elements are layered into, adding further depth. In the monumental kitchen and dining area, a bold and clear vision underpins the sculptural island, counter and table unit. As a subtle shift in zone, a small flooring change delineates function, while still maintaining the rhythm and sedate nature of the space.

Embracing the site, large openings connect the interior with the surrounds, allowing a natural flow between the two. As a play on contrasts, elements are emphasised through their differences, carefully considered. The bold and rigid inserted form, for example, is balanced by the natural and organic landscape setting that surrounds the home, while the formality and linear nature of the joinery offers a counter to the oversized and cloudlike sofa and rug. Throughout, elements are considered holistically and through a refined lens.

Barwon Heads House balances the existing narrative on site through a measured and balanced series of insertions that brings a welcomed relevance, seeing Adam Kane Architects realise a highly refined, modern take on what the coastal residential landscape could look like. 

Text / Bronwyn Marshall
Images / Timothy Kaye