14
Vision Magazine
Yet it’s not really a radical re-working of form.
We wanted to alter the experience of approach and
occupancy. More importantly, once across the bridge
and threshold through the front door, the visitor is
really detached from the land and floating as it were.
Those two key walls facing the ocean are now fully
glazed. We wanted to enhance the architectural
experience rather than overhaul its essential design.
Substance rather than style was really the aim.
Were you tempted to stray from the original to make
your own mark?
We were conscious of the elements that made this
house so expressive and singular. It’s a politically
incorrect house and yet it is an act of great bravado.
It’s probably three times the height limit of what
would be permitted today. We made the choice to
maintain the profile but re-work that original gesture
with new materials. A whole forest of these structures
along the coast may not be great, but the fact is
someone did this and it’s worth celebrating.
Were you daunted by the prospect of re-working
such an iconic structure?
It’s so well known and there’s an expectation that
comes with working on iconic buildings. In the end
you have to knuckle down and bring design rigour.
That was ultimately the best way to maintain design
integrity.
It has always been a very polarizing statement
from the outset, attracting and repelling in equal
measure.
We saw it as a very iconic part of popular culture.
It’s a brilliant act of bravado. Looking at it closely
there wasn’t quite the quality you would see with
one of the great architectural masters, but we were
deferential to the original idea. We were also adding
a new house to the site as a background house and
not competing with the visual impact of the original.
Prima Donna