This Manly masterpiece merges smart home technology with modern coastal design to create a new benchmark for beach house luxury.
Perched on the headland above Shelly Beach, N&H House enjoys sweeping ocean views from Manly to the Central Coast.
It’s a stunning location and the owners were eager to make the most of it. Archisoul was engaged with a clear brief to design a sustainable, “smart” home of exceptional build quality, providing a healthy, comfortable living environment with abundant natural light.
The existing damp-ridden, 1980s-vintage house fell well short of this ideal. It had been extensively altered over the years and suffered from significant structural issues. After careful consideration of renovation options, a new build was pursued to ensure long-term performance and a stronger connection to the site, especially the under-utilised back garden.
This was no easy task though. Sloping sites present one of the greatest design challenges for architects – not only structurally but also in terms of functionality. Very often hillside locations comprise a lot of land but yield little usable space. Building on an incline requires thoughtful design and creative solutions to maximise living space, indoors and out.
N&H House is a case in point. Rising steeply from the street front to the rear of the home, much of the area behind the house was difficult to access and essentially wasted. Archisoul’s design reunifies the site with a graceful curved bridge over the pool terrace. Extending from the balcony, it facilitates direct access from the kitchen/ living area to the pool and back garden, seamlessly integrating house and landscape into a cohesive, family-friendly haven.
Spatial flow and functionality inform every aspect of N&H House. Each level engages with outdoor space through deep off-form concrete cantilevers, balconies and operable roofs. Inside, the entry level features a state-of-the-art wine cellar and, for the teenage children, a spacious rumpus room and kitchenette. Both are connected to an expansive terrace, facilitating fluid indoor-outdoor entertaining for the whole family. Upstairs, the bedroom floor provides direct access to the pool while the parents’ retreat includes a study and private balcony with sea views. The upper level centres on an expansive kitchen, dining and living area, articulated by bar and breakfast nooks and generous balconies front and back.
A sandstone-clad internal lift future-proofs the home, providing convenience now while also ensuring accessibility in the long term.
Sustainability is embedded in the design through the use of a heat-recovery ventilation and externally insulated reverse-veneer AFS concrete walls, leveraging thermal mass to improve comfort and energy efficiency. A smart home system enables the owners to actively monitor and optimise the home’s performance through integrated applications. Lighting, heating, cooling, and other automated features are controlled via a command centre, providing single-point management of the home’s internal environment.
Project Team
Director – Jo Gillies
Project Lead – Russell Rice
Interior Design – Cote Interiors
Builder – Lawson & Lovell
Photography – Nat Spada Photography
Video – The May Studio
Styling – Fiona Gould