Burrill Lake House is a modern beach hut located in Lake Burrill, a small coastal town south of Ulladulla, on the south coast of New South Wales. This was a renovation project by Jost Architects for a client and longtime friend who had visited for years on his annual surf and fishing trips there. The site is beautiful in an Australian beach bush setting with Eucalypts growing right by the lake just down the road. This location is also not far from Dolphin Point and the stretch of the Tasman sea.
Initially, this beach shack was purchased by his father in 2007. The client immediately renovated it and then spent 18 months sleeping in a tent in his garage for a bit longer than usual. After several years of being in a family and adding two sons, the need for space was inevitable to enlarge the minimal space that exists on the basic fibro. Ultimately the client decided to utilize the area to the north of the existing home to save money and time, instead of building it above ground.
The architects wanted to embody the classic fibro beach hut feel commonly found in the area, simple yet slightly abstract using familiar materials. The building is allowed to blend in with the lush natural vegetation on the walkways to the front of the property. Existing bedrooms were removed, while bathroom and kitchen locations were retained but rearranged. There are three new bedrooms, study and bathroom located in the new wing bolted to the north side of the existing building with new openings to the area.
In addition, the old house was covered with a roof and the extended end walls at each end were allowed to overlap the old building. Clad in corrugated sheet metal, the vertical painted planks and new wooden battens that were attached to the roof were retained to link the two shapes. The interior finishes were chosen with great care for the beach location and worked with not only the external finishes but also their furniture, artwork and lifestyle.
There is a warehouse at the back which is still maintained. Unlike the rest of the house, this area has been kept as a tribute to the old huts on the South Beach which are stocked with fishing and surfing equipment, wetsuits, bicycles, and also a ping pong table which is still used every weekend. The only thing packed into this house is the tent. This project turned out to be a simple solution that yielded very positive results!
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