CASE STUDY
ISLAND HOUSE: A RETREAT BETWEEN LAND AND WATER
Designed by award-winning AR Design Studio, this highly sustainable four bedroom retreat is conceived as a sanctuary for family and friends, a place where architecture, landscape and water come together to create a slower, more connected way of living.
There is something instinctively calming about a house that makes you want to walk through it and keep going, beyond its walls, beyond the garden, towards the landscape beyond. A simple architectural gesture creates precisely that sense of connection.
A linear path runs from the driveway, through the front door and directly through the heart of the house before continuing towards the rear garden and down to a private fishing deck on the water ' s edge. It is more than a circulation route, it becomes the organising principle of the house, drawing the landscape into the centre of everyday life and making the journey from arrival to water an integral part of the experience.
The setting is extraordinary. The house sits alongside expansive water, with carefully framed views extending across the surrounding landscape. Rather than treating these views as a backdrop, the architecture is designed around them. Generous areas of glazing open the principal living spaces towards the water, while terraces and external spaces provide opportunities to move effortlessly between inside and out. The result is a house that feels less like an object placed within the landscape and more like a carefully calibrated threshold between land and water.
GROUNDED, THEN FLOATING
The architecture is deliberately restrained. A pale brickwork base anchors the house to the ground, giving the lower storey a sense of weight and permanence. Above it, the material palette shifts dramatically. The first floor is wrapped in dark timber, creating a strong horizontal volume that appears to hover above the lighter masonry below.
This contrast is central to the character of the house. The light brick ties the building visually to its landscape, while the dark timber upper floor becomes the dominant architectural element, almost appearing to float above the ground floor.
The composition is particularly effective when viewed from across the water. The projecting upper volume creates a strong silhouette while its deep overhangs and extensive glazing introduce depth
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