Architecture
Perched above Avoca Beach with panoramic views of the Pacific, Rockpool House is far more than a striking concrete form - it’s a house shaped by its environment, crafted for connection, and designed to make time slow down. Created in collaboration with Architecture Saville Isaacs, the residence reflects a deep respect for its coastal setting and a considered approach to how people gather, rest, and live.
From the outset, the architect envisioned a place that could comfortably welcome multigenerational families and groups. Spread across five levels, the design embraces a variety of spaces that support both togetherness and privacy. The main entertaining floor is open-plan and expansive, encouraging shared moments around meals, conversation, and the ever-present ocean view. Beyond this level, the house becomes more nuanced - private sun lounges, quiet bedrooms, and secluded outdoor terraces allow guests to retreat and move through the home in their own rhythm.
One of the things that excited the architect most was the site’s unusually wide frontage which presented a rare opportunity to craft panoramic, almost cinematic sightlines. From the entertaining floor, the outlook unfurls across waves, headlands, and migrating whales - an ever-changing film of coastal life. As the architect describes it, the space was designed to make you slow down and watch the “movie” of the beach. Every opening is intentional, choreographing what you see and how you feel when you see it.
At the heart of these sightlines is the inspiration behind the name: Avoca rockpool. Subtle but constant, it appears in glimpses across all five levels, even from the spa. Its presence anchors the architecture, creating a quiet thread of continuity throughout the experience of the house.
The master suite crowns the top floor, wrapped in glass to fully immerse guests in the coastal outlook. External screens filter the morning light and protect the space from the sun’s intensity, balancing beauty with practicality in an environment shaped by salt, wind, and weather.
Wind and light inform the home’s rhythm, and the architecture responds with terraces designed for different moments of the day. When a breeze sweeps across the ocean-facing terrace, guests can move to the smaller, sheltered pool terrace on the opposite side of the house. At the centre of the main terrace sits ‘The Oculus’, a circular opening carved into the concrete, framing the sky and capturing the shifting sun. It is both sculptural and poetic—a quiet reminder of time passing overhead.
Despite being a substantial concrete structure, Rockpool House feels unexpectedly warm and tactile. This was intentional. Board-formed concrete introduces subtle texture; ground-back floors reveal white pebbles underfoot, a gentle nod to the beach. The materials are robust and low-maintenance—perfectly suited to coastal living—yet they invite touch and lend softness to the home’s minimalist aesthetic. This palette becomes a calm backdrop for the owners’ contemporary art collection, allowing colour and texture to appear in curated, deliberate ways.
Throughout the interior, artistry is woven into functional details. The kitchen island, crafted from a single half-slab of Euromarble, resembles an aerial image of the rockpool itself, echoing the home’s identity. Bathroom tiles by Patricia Urquiola bring further tactility and refined patterning. Even the elevator becomes a design moment—finished in powder blue, each wall a slightly different shade, subtly referencing the shifting tones of the ocean.
This architectural philosophy extends beyond the building. Landscaping, led by Hugh at Spirit Level, will soften the edges of the home and integrate it with the surrounding bushland, ensuring architecture and landscape feel inseparable.
The architect, who has designed several homes in Avoca, speaks of the town’s unique village character - where the beach flows directly into the town centre, and the picture theatre, cafés, and restaurants sit just steps from the water. Rockpool House reflects this spirit not through nostalgia, but through a modern expression of Australian coastal architecture: honest, unpretentious, and deeply connected to its surroundings.
In the end, the architecture of Rockpool House is not about spectacle. It is about creating a place that elevates the quiet, elemental moments of coastal life: the shifting light, the movement of whales across the horizon, the breeze changing direction. Through thoughtful sightlines, enduring materials, and a deep respect for Avoca’s landscape, the home becomes more than a place to stay - it becomes a way of slowing down, reconnecting, and living in tune with the coastline.