2022 Gallery
Winner: New House over 200 square metres
Kennedy Nolan for Always
'Always’ the name of this house at Flinders, is a weekender and a summer house which will become a more permanent residence in time. The brief required an unmediated experience of the spectacular coastal landscape, but also a calm and peace-filled refuge.
Jury Citation
Spurning the idea that a coastal home should frame a single view, this house celebrates its dramatic coastal setting while also offering a beautifully warm and calming refuge. Recessive in the landscape, it “remembers” the form of the old house that once occupied the site while equipping it for long-term inhabitation and enjoyment.
Integration with landscape is not only considered, but a key driver for the design. The building will disappear over time, at ease in its coastal setting, engulfed by a garden that will spill over and thread around its roof and courtyards. This home invites appreciation of both the surrounding environment and seasonal change.
Materials and detailing dematerialize the form. Weathering timber, Coldstream stone walls and recessed timber-framed glazing slip into the shadows. Moments of compression and release are built into the interiors, with curved walls that draw you in and expansive windows that open up, along with timeless and long-lasting materials and finishes that feel simultaneously familiar and unexpected.
This exceptional house elevates the homeowners’ experience of an already spectacular site, crafting spaces of surprise, warmth, drama and delight. The resolution of the architectural response, combined with fine interior detailing and careful integration with the landscape, set this home apart as a worthy winner.
