The house sits just below the crest of a windswept hillside above the bay, a single-storey plan of two intersecting blocks that make an X, so that each arm shelters an outdoor pocket from the prevailing wind while the main pavilion keeps an uninterrupted view of the water. Four zones are organised across the arms of the plan, the entertaining spaces separating the guest bedrooms from the main suite. Over all of it floats a solid concrete roof — two overlapping planes with a tapered bullnose edge, cantilevering two and a half metres along the perimeter and three and a half at the corners — resolved with the structural engineer through full-scale prototypes. Blocks of pale, sandy brick anchor the building beneath the roof, with glazing between them and a dark band that stretches the house horizontally. The interiors were designed with the architecture: a timber-lined ceiling, warm plaster walls, a polished floor and low dark joinery that leaves the view to itself. The garden by Nathan Burkett Landscape Architecture weaves pocket gardens, native grasses and an olive into the plan. Built by Mazzei and photographed by Timothy Kaye, Pippins was recognised at the 2024 Good Design Awards and the NY Architectural Design Awards, and shortlisted for the Houses Awards and the Australian Interior Design Awards.
