Acclaimed architect Peter Stutchbury has designed a home for the generations on Sydney’s northern beaches.
When Maria and Don Williams began searching for an architect to create a new home on their narrow block on Sydney’s northern beaches, they were craving permanence – or some semblance of it. The American couple had hopscotched between 12 apartments in their first decade of marriage, and as their love of the city took root, they became long-term residents, then Australian citizens and finally, with the birth of their daughter, Macy, a family. Through all this, their nesting instinct only deepened.
While the couple were across the basics of architecture and design – they’d met in an architecture class in a Californian community college – they knew little about Australia’s architectural traditions or its most prominent architects. Don, who is in tech sales, and Maria, a stay-at-home mum who recently trained as a support carer, checked out Stutchbury’s website and were intrigued.
Looking at Don and Maria’s narrow Curl Curl block, Stutchbury’s instincts told him that the existing home would have to go. “The most economical option was to knock it down – the whole floor had rotted out – and replace it,” he says. “I could see we’d need to find ways of managing the light and privacy. The block is close to the ocean but it’s very urban, very dense, with large, two-storey neighbours about 1.8 metres either side.
“I decided I wanted to create a building that would still be standing if a tsunami ripped through Curl Curl,” recalls Stutchbury. “I’m a great supporter of reducing our carbon footprint but also of reducing maintenance and waste, and if someone pays for a work of architecture, I don’t think it should disappear in 40 or 50 years’ time.”
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