Olive Tree House | Bastian Architecture

Olive Tree House is a new urban infill project, it has been designed to challenge the Australian norm of housing, it is half the size of an average Australian home, sits on a site half the size of an average site and provides flexible rather than large spaces.

Situated within sight of Stockton beach and the Hunter River the house responds to the coastal location. Planned for the inevitable summer afternoons at the beach and winter afternoons on the deck the house is flexible and allows for parts of the house to be left open to catch the coastal breeze or connect to the winter sun. The mature Olive tree is retained to provide shade and habitat for the site.

It is a small house in which every metre works hard to provide quality living spaces.

Olive Tree House | Bastian Architecture

Olive Tree House has an internal material palette which shies away from the trend of all white interiors and take cues from the exterior; warm plywood linings counter cool concrete floors and offset colourful joinery and doors. The house feels like a home to live in, it has been designed for scuff marks and weathering, it is not precious. Every corner has been taken advantage of; built-in furniture allow for smaller rooms and more storage, a hallway to the guest toilet has a second function of doubling the size of the laundry.

Wet areas are warm and textured to create sense of intimacy and a separate experience to the rest of the house. While the house is compact it makes every square meter work hard .

Olive Tree House | Bastian Architecture

Olive Tree House is a new urban infill project, it has been designed to challenge the Australian norm of housing, it is half the size of an average Australian home, sits on a site half the size of an average site and provides flexible – rather than large spaces.

Situated within sight of Stockton beach and the Hunter river the house responds to the coastal location. Planned for the inevitable summer afternoons at the beach and winter afternoons on the deck the house is flexible and allows for parts of the house to be left open to catch the coastal breeze or connect to the winter sun. The mature Olive tree is retained to provide shade and habitat for the site.

It is a small house in which every metre works hard to provide quality living spaces.