mumirimina people of the paredarerme / oyster bay nation
Tasmania
Sandford celebrates a century-long intergenerational connection between one family and one place, shaping a design approach grounded in family lore, site understanding and memory. The property lies on the traditional lands of the mumirimina people, whose long-standing custodianship of this coastal landscape is acknowledged.
The site has evolved through a collection of family-built shacks, beginning in 1928 and largely constructed from reclaimed materials.
The new house reflects this tradition, and is arranged as a series of simple, modestly scaled pavilions that encircle a protected central verandah requiring movement outside between rooms. This fragmented plan enhances privacy, carefully reveals views, and deepens engagement with the site’s elemental qualities.
A reclaimed brick plinth anchors lighter timber and metal-clad forms, while a purposefully restrained exterior enables investment in crafted interiors that prioritise comfort and daily experience. Sustainability is embedded through passive design, recycled materials and high environmental performance.
The Esmond Dorney Award for Residential Architecture – Houses (New)
Sandford carries a century of family memory. Generations have built and rebuilt shacks on this site, each iteration shaped through material reclamation. The new house does not subjugate itself to the informality of the Tasmanian shack. Instead, the architect develops a clear architectural idea, organising the home as a series of smaller built forms that respond to the unique brief of clients who bring their lived experience to the table.Â
Rather than a single dwelling beneath one roof, the house is arranged around a sheltered north-facing verandah. Moving between rooms requires stepping outside. You feel the weather, hear the sea, and glimpse the headland. The house invites engagement with these elements, while also providing refuge. Unlike the leaky shacks of the past, it offers shelter and comfort, carefully framing aspect and outlook.Â
A plinth of bricks gathered across decades grounds lighter forms in timber and Zincalume, drawing on a vernacular tradition rather than mimicking its luxury. The jury was delighted by the many small surprises throughout, including a sliding window behind the kitchen that opens onto a semi-commercial servery. Even on the coldest days, the house feels warm and full of light.Â
What the architects have achieved is understated and remarkable. They have assembled the values, materials, and rhythms of the older shacks into a house that belongs to its own time, acknowledging nostalgia while resolving a clear and coherent architectural expression.Â
Sandford is a thoughtful continuation of a family connection to this place, and a deserving recipient of the Esmond Dorney Award.Â
The Esmond Dorney Award for Residential Architecture – Houses (New)
Sandford carries a century of family memory. Generations have built and rebuilt shacks on this site, each iteration shaped through material reclamation. The new house does not subjugate itself to the informality of the Tasmanian shack. Instead, the architect develops a clear architectural idea, organising the home as a series of smaller built forms that respond to the unique brief of clients who bring their lived experience to the table.Â
Rather than a single dwelling beneath one roof, the house is arranged around a sheltered north-facing verandah. Moving between rooms requires stepping outside. You feel the weather, hear the sea, and glimpse the headland. The house invites engagement with these elements, while also providing refuge. Unlike the leaky shacks of the past, it offers shelter and comfort, carefully framing aspect and outlook.Â
A plinth of bricks gathered across decades grounds lighter forms in timber and Zincalume, drawing on a vernacular tradition rather than mimicking its luxury. The jury was delighted by the many small surprises throughout, including a sliding window behind the kitchen that opens onto a semi-commercial servery. Even on the coldest days, the house feels warm and full of light.Â
What the architects have achieved is understated and remarkable. They have assembled the values, materials, and rhythms of the older shacks into a house that belongs to its own time, acknowledging nostalgia while resolving a clear and coherent architectural expression.Â
Sandford is a thoughtful continuation of a family connection to this place, and a deserving recipient of the Esmond Dorney Award.Â
The design of our house means we are constantly interacting with nature, which is exactly what we were hoping for. We step outside of our beautiful living room to go to bed at night, and we hear the sea, feel the weather and look at the stars.
Views, from kunanyi, to the bay and foreshore, are available from every space, and are constantly changing with the weather maximising everything there is to love about the way the house is positioned. The way the light falls in the spaces at the beginning and end of the day is a delight.
Cath Hall, Project Architect
Michael Carlotto, Graduate of Masters of Architecture
Verto, Structural Engineer
Andrew Sutherland Consulting Engineers, Services Consultant
Lee Tyers Building Surveyors, Building Surveyor
RED Sustainability Consultants, ESD Consultant
Verto, Hydraulic Consultant