THE COVE HOUSE
A robust yet elegant new residence in a waterside suburb south of Brisbane.
LOCATION
Yugambeh Country
STATUS
Completed 2018
PROJECT TEAM
Justin Humphrey
PHOTOGRAPHY
Andy Macpherson Studio
VIDEO
Ravens At Odds
The Cove House is a rich and tactile exploration into thresholds and edges. Thresholds between public and private within the house and also the edges between the house and its external context.
An off-form curved concrete wall invites you in past a delicate timber-batten screen and through a series of landscaped courtyards through to the water beyond.
The courtyards exist at the threshold between public and private space within the house and allow dappled natural light to flood deep within the interior living spaces. The ground plane of the house is articulated and meanders up and down at times encouraging engagement or reflection.
These areas flow together beneath a single floating roofline that helps organise the concrete and timber form of the house below. Indoor and outdoor spaces are given the same priority within a house that connects its inhabitants strongly at all times to both water and garden.
As Featured
Cove House sees an exploration of thresholds and the transitionary experience, expressed through materiality. Justin Humphrey Architects has created a home rich in tactile elements that embraces passive design principles.
Cove House takes cues from its clients’ love of the subtropical and applies a number of clever passive and integrated heating, cooling and energy generating systems to propose a more thought-provoking proposal for residential living. Justin Humphrey Architects has knowingly curated a home that speaks to its location and context and aims to rethink a tried and tested architectural model, through exploring moments and bringing together the living landscape elements with a purposely robust built form.
The Local Project — Words by Bronwyn Marshall
As Featured
A thoughtful response to its unique setting and climate in the Gold Coast’s Sanctuary Cove, this house embodies principles of subtropical modern architecture to create a textured home for living and entertaining.
Individual spaces are sculpted using height and volume changes, the arrangement of garden courtyards, and changes in ceiling finishes
The capacity to entertain a small crowd was stipulated in the brief and, undoubtedly, Cove House will delight many party guests now and into the future.
Cove House has the potential to play an influential role in defining a unique visual identity for its community, as well as leading the way toward climate- and context-responsive housing in an area of rapid urban growth. This is an important role to be played by architects and one for which Justin Humphrey Architect, and Cove House, can be commended.
Houses Magazine — Australian Residential Architecture and Design (March 2019)
AWARDS
2020 Housing Industry Association Awards
The Cove House (Winner) — Australian House of the Year
2019 Australian Institute of Architects Awards - Gold Coast and Northern Rivers Region - Regional Project of the Year
The Cove House (Winner)
2019 Australian Institute of Architects Awards - Gold Coast and Northern Rivers Region - Regional Commendation
The Cove House (Winner)
2019 Houses Awards - New House over 200m2
The Cove House (Shortlisted)