Project: McDonald Residence
Architects: Jayson Pate Design
Location: Kingscliff, Australia
Area: 6,630 sf
Photographs by: Andy Macpherson
McDonald Residence by Jayson Pate Design
The McDonald residence is a luxurious contemporary home located in the Australian town of Kingscliff in New South Wales. It was designed by Jayson Pate Design and it is split up in two volumes, delivering a total of 6,630 square feet of living spaces. The upper volume is structured mainly out of concrete but it looks as if it floats above the glazed volume that is just below it. The lower part of the house extends outwards to a luxurious patio with a swimming pool.
Inspired by MK27’s ‘Ipes House’, the design of the Macdonald House aims to adopt modern brutalist properties in a functional and simplistic manner. The design of the Macdonald House evolved in response to creating an open, light filled family home, while maintaining privacy on the exposed, corner site.
The aim was to generate an organic and striking figure that utilizes materials in their essence without manipulation. The character of the residence is generated by the inclusion of an off-form concrete body that dramatically cantilevers over the underlying living spaces.
Concrete is utilized throughout the upper volume, creating the illusion of floating atop the delicate glass form below. Fixed timber-look aluminum batten screens create privacy and shield the four upper level bedrooms from the northern sunlight that fills the living spaces below.
The thin battens simultaneously serve to soften the robust concrete texture and generate neat lines to extenuate the height of the structure. Feature stone blade walls enhance the privacy of the internal living space that seamlessly connect to the external alfresco. The light-filled living areas are accompanied by a linear pool that elongates the landscape. The landscaping was kept to an understated palette with small ground coverings, to then exaggerated by a mature dragon tree at the corner of the site.
