Shell art got a shellacking. Now it makes an architectural comeback in this beach house design
Shell art and cement panels aren’t usually considered prime materials for great architecture, but a tongue-in-cheek beach house design makes effective use of both.
Shells, often considered kitsch (think crusty mirrors and their frames), were a big decorator trend in the 1980s. Now they’re back, albeit in a more sophisticated manner, in a beach house designed by Multiplicity.
“There is a certain element of tongue-in-cheek. But we were also responding to our client’s brief and her collection of shell art,” says interior designer Sioux Clark, who worked closely with her life and business partner, architect Tim O’Sullivan.
For the owner, Gaby (who requested her surname not be used), the new beach house at Aireys Inlet was her second project with Multiplicity. The first was her home in Prahran.
At the beach, her shell collection was used to create unique architectural features. What started out as a “floating” mirrored cabinet in the ensuite of the main bedroom is elevated into a sublime art form. Arranged with shells (collected by Gaby over years) and framed by mirrors, there’s a surrealistic quality to Multiplicity’s design.
“We’ve become good friends over the years,” says Gaby about Clark and O’Sullivan. She only started thinking about owning a beach house after the years spent in Victoria’s lockdown.
All three – Gaby, Clark and O’Sullivan – including their dogs, spent time travelling around Victoria until they settled on this “patch”, located above the township’s rugged cliff face. Although Gaby didn’t have an exact vision of what the new house would look like, she and Multiplicity saw the value in the many simple 1950s and ’60s shacks dotted around the coastline.
“There were the functional requirements for a generous living area and two bedrooms. But I was also after something that was low maintenance and quite robust for the dogs,” says Gaby, whose dogs, Lucy and Maggie, are best mates with Clark and O’Sullivan’s dog, Chippie.
The Aireys Inlet house is located on a fairly exposed corner site, with the bordering coastal shrub creating a “veil” on one side of the property. Constructed in compressed cement panels combined with a pearlescent-coloured translucent fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP), the 200-square-metre home has become a drawcard for locals.
Framed by a native garden designed by Mel Ogden, the house follows the three-metre fall across the site. “We didn’t want to sacrifice any of the neighbour’s views [over Bass Strait],” says O’Sullivan, who repositioned the roof terrace to ensure a neighbour’s aspect wasn’t diminished.
While the roof terrace, with its backlit FRP, functions as a seat, the same material operates as screening – strategically placed to articulate views, diffuse the northern light, or give privacy.
From the street, this house seems relatively simple and uncomplicated. However, there’s a lot more to discover. The main entrance, for example, features a ramp which can be used like a chaise lounge to take in the sunshine. The ramp leads to a “verandah” framed by an operable mesh screen to keep out flies. The vestibule, enclosed by large sliding doors and windows, can be completely opened up to the elements.
The built-in banquette seating, upholstered in 1970s floral carpet, can form part of the verandah, as can the adjacent living area, also featuring ’70s shag on some of the walls. If it isn’t shag, it’s Woodwool, akin to Stramit, which was a popular material used from the 1950s to the ’70s.
“We used carpet on some of the walls in Gaby’s Prahran house, and while it wasn’t intentional here, we were offered carpet from a friend who was renovating his place,” says Clark.
Other materials, such as the faux limestone floors which in reality are made of cork, also came into the mix, together with beige bricks for some of the walls and even for the island bench in the kitchen.
“These bricks evoke the ’70s house next door but they fit into the spirit of the design,” says O’Sullivan, who could also see the way these materials work with Gaby’s extensive shell art collection.
“It’s about context,” says Gaby, pointing out the reddish dirt paths that surround the house as much as the rugged cliff face, a stone’s throw away. For those wanting a different perspective of the location, there’s a periscope-style skylight wedged into one of the walls that offers views of the sky and the nearby ocean.
While Multiplicity is known for its adventurous and often playful designs, it took the right client, someone keen to create a home rather than simply respond to trends, to make this place so unique.
“It also captures the way I live as much as responding to this place,” adds Gaby.
