Home among the Trees

Bilgola, Sydney
Belgoula
Ongoing

Bilgola House sits above the Pacific, nestled among the native bush on a site both extraordinary and uncompromising. Environmentally sensitive, fire-prone and complex in its approvals process; the design responds with discipline to the site demands. Clad in local sandstone, the house steps down the headland and settles into the landscape.

Bilgola House unfolds as a sequence of curated moments. Views of the ocean are selectively framed and reorient to the bush, the sky and the water at each turn. To begin the journey through the house, a suspended entry bridge carries visitors above the canopy to a roof garden that opens toward the ocean before a central stair, lit naturally with a skylight, navigates down into the heart of the home.

The living level is fully glazed, immersing daily life in the bush rather than placing it adjacent to it with dappled light, the hum of cicadas and a eucalypt breeze characterising life on the headland.

The lower floors are more intimate and sheltered, framing glimpses rather than panoramas, creating spaces of focus and rest. Bedrooms and bathrooms are cut into the rock making them grounded, private and solid spaces.

Collaborators

Imagery: Cappture

Home for the Sun

Home for Light

Home for Art

Home for Repose

Home in a Home

Home for Longer

Home for Atelier M

Home Among the Trees