Palm Beach Tree House overhauls a cottage in Sydney’s Northern Beaches into a treetop retreat

The Northern Beaches – the home of Palm Beach Tree House – is a strip of land just north of the City of Sydney, fronting the South Pacific. With steep sandstone slopes running down to sandy beaches, the districts that make up the Northern Beaches are a popular place to live in seaside suburbia, fringed by old-growth forests.

Explore the verdant Palm Beach Tree House

Palm Beach is set at the northern point of the area, a narrow promontory with lanes that wind up and down the hillside, with villas of varying sizes set back behind thick vegetation. This project by local architect Richard Cole Architecture is a radical transformation of an existing cottage into a family holiday home. Severely damaged by storms, the original building was substantially upgraded, whilst preserving the impressive site and increasing the connection between inside and out.

The architects retained the existing plan but extended the floor area out towards the east, oversailing a new canopy roof across the new structure. This had the benefit of opening up the living spaces towards the Pacific and also giving a deeper connection to the old growth forest on the surrounding hills to the north and west.

‘The starting point was the existing cottage, which had a sandstone base and masonry walls, but which was very internal and dark,’ says Cole. ‘It had cramped living areas and did not take advantage of the beautiful bushland site. The renovation opened the building to the light and the views.’ A substantial deck reaches out into the trees, with the narrow vertical wooden slats standing in contrast to the twisting tree trunks.

The architects had a straightforward brief. ‘The house was a place for the family to come together, so it had to have generous, open communal spaces, flexible accommodation for many and be simple to clean and maintain,’ says Cole. ‘The new house also had to be accessible, so that both elderly grandparents and small children could use all the spaces, despite the steeply sloping site.’ Even though the original sandstone base was retained, the house feels much larger thanks to new openings to decks and terraces.

‘The essence of the house is simplicity,’ Coles emphasises. ‘Beach holidays are uncomplicated and largely lived outdoors when possible, so the house facilitates this with modest spaces and facilities. A compact plan allows the family to spend time together rather than cleaning.’ The layout exploits some of the compromises inherent in holiday accommodation, with bedrooms that open directly off the main communal living areas. ‘It's something which would not generally be acceptable in a permanent home, but which brings a sense of everyone bunking down together when on holiday,’ the architect says.

Timber floors and cabinetry are set against simple white walls and large expanses of frameless glass, both for the windows and the folding doors onto the various outdoor spaces. A high ceiling in the main living space emphasises the house’s elevated position, with tree trunks and leafy canopies visible through low and high-level windows.

Richard Cole set up his Avalon Beach studio in 1998, after working for a number of Australian practices, including Hassell Architects and Peter Stutchbury. ‘The architect’s role is to enable an optimal resolution of the client’s needs within their parameters,’ the studio states. ‘Our aim is to bring to this process an excellence and rigour in design, documentation and construction.’

RichardColeArchitecture.com.au