Interior Design + Documenation Collaboration: Dood Studio, Melbourne

Contractors: Jason Mann, Iconic Homes

Located within a relaxed coastal community along Victoria’s Great Ocean Road, this house sits on a 993 square metre site in an exposed and extraordinary natural setting. The project replaces a deteriorating 115 square metre dwelling with a new 320 square metre home designed to retain the informal spirit of the original bach-style retreat, while creating a more generous and enduring place for long stays with family and friends.

The design is conceived as a singular, robust form that has been chamfered and carved to create a range of sheltered interior and exterior spaces. Rather than reading as a collection of parts, the building presents as one protective volume shaped by light, outlook and climate. Its low, elongated profile allows it to sit quietly against the hillside when viewed from the beach and road, ensuring the architecture remains respectful and unobtrusive within the landscape.

Planning separates owners and guests across levels, with the owners’ suite positioned upstairs and friends and family accommodated below. Living spaces flow directly onto decks that are treated as true extensions of the house. A protected outdoor room to the rear provides shelter in most weather conditions, while the seaward deck is oriented toward views, sun and open-air living. The master suite occupies a front-row coastal position, offering a strong sense of immersion in the expansive landscape.

Materially, the house balances durability with warmth. A hard outer shell of corten pre-painted steel responds to the harsh coastal environment, its tone echoing the oxidised mineral seams found along the shoreline. Local stone, spotted gum timber and sandstone-toned concrete ground the building in place, while interior finishes introduce a softer, warmer counterpoint without compromising resilience. The palette is restrained, robust and refined, allowing the architecture to age gracefully in its environment.

The result is a home that strikes a careful balance between simplicity and sophistication, durability and elegance. It provides the owners with a place uniquely attuned to both the landscape and their stage of life, supporting a relaxed, nature-connected way of living centred on time with family and friends.