On the land of the Ballia, Gurang, Gooreng and Taribelang Bunda people, located deep in the bushland of Agnes Water, Queensland, a charred black timber home steps down a steep site, capturing expansive coastal views. Designed by Maytree Studios, Merinda Sounds Beach House is a holiday home that brings extended family together in a robust, deeply connected-to-nature setting.
At its core, the design wraps around an established Bloodwood tree, minimising ground disturbance, cut and fill and tree clearing. Verandas envelop the interiors, providing an immediacy to the protected tree canopy and a rugged, natural experience. “Although the home is by all accounts luxurious, its external verandah acts as the corridors, offering a very different living experience to most homes,” says Maytree Studios architect Rebecca Caldwell.
This blend of high-end interiors and camping-like exterior creates the perfect holiday home for the couple and their three tweenagers, alongside the brothers, sisters and grandparents. “[They needed a] holiday home that was robust, suited to its environment – something that felt very different to their existing home on the Sunshine Coast,” adds Caldwell.
Guests can retreat to their own corners of the site: the barbecue and spa area, an outdoor bath, or bedroom balconies that double as whale-watching lookouts. The architecture blurs boundaries between indoors and out, with external hallways and open verandas enhancing the sense of immersion in nature.
A remote project like the Merinda Sounds Beach House necessitated an involved, local builder – with the architects visiting the site every six weeks or so. “Using their knowledge of the local environment to assist in selecting materials that would withstand the harsh conditions was crucial in ensuring the project’s environmental performance,” says Caldwell.
The site’s constraints came together to create a peaceful retreat, with a focus on materiality to minimise environmental impacts and sensitive, low lighting in response to turtle migration. Additionally, constructed after the 2019 bushfires, the charred black timber adds to the maintenance-free, bushfire-resistant material qualities, placed upon posts on a 1200mm grid to avoid the need for steel beams.
Related: A sanctuary beneath the surface
A dark monolith structure is gently perched on the site, surrounded by the protected existing tree canopy, evoking the resilience of the bush. Internally, the architects turned to a lighter material palette. Blonde oak floors, ceilings and off-white walls speak to the nearby sand and the light kitchen is warm, welcoming and earthy. Meanwhile, in the main ensuite, Maytree Studio opted for a deliberately dark material palette. “Unlike the other bathrooms, it reads as a negative bite out of the dark form of the house – sliding doors allowing the user to shower and bath while enjoying a private view of the landscape directly outside,” says Caldwell.
Related: Singular in its place
A resilient retreat for generations to enjoy, Merinda Sounds Beach House by Maytree Studios takes time to pause in the landscape. It is a display of engaged architecture, where family life is celebrated alongside a future that protects and serves the environment. A natural setting to be loved for a long time: by the turtles, the birds in the canopy and the people who find refuge among them.
