Esplanade Residence Altona

The transformation of 267 Esplanade, Altona residence is a study in the power of adaptive reuse. While the prevailing trend favours demolition, we recognised the inherent value and structural integrity of the home’s existing "bones." By retaining the primary shell, we preserved the site’s embodied energy and diverted significant waste from landfill, proving that high-end residential design can be realised through a philosophy of architectural preservation.

​The primary architectural intervention was a recalibration of the building’s verticality. Through a Mediterranean-inspired horizontal composition and a refined, tonal material palette, we visually extended the facade, granting an expansive presence to a narrow coastal footprint. The arched, battened screen functions as a sculptural veil, a tectonic element that mediates privacy and filters the coastal sun, creating an ever-shifting internal atmosphere of light and shadow.

​Internally, the design explores the "threshold" between the domestic sanctuary and the bay’s horizon. Rhythmic, curvilinear forms, evocative of the foreshore’s ebb and flow, seamlessly navigate the occupant through the volume. Light is treated as a primary material; circular skylights puncture the ceiling to illuminate a sculptural spiral staircase, while strategic apertures frame the landscaped gardens to the rear, grounding the home’s coastal elegance in a sense of place and permanence.