An architect’s own seaside dream home, Ocean House embodies the desire to both reconnect to and shelter from nature. Crafted by Rob Mills Architecture & Interiors on behalf of its client and director, Rob Mills, the house provides experiences that are outside the scope of a city. Located in Lorne, a seaside village on the west coast of Victoria, Ocean House rises from a steep slope overlooking the Great Ocean Road. “I searched for a special block of land to build our home on for quite a few years,” says Mills. “It was essential that we captured the view of the water, the ocean crashing on the rocks and the beach below us. That meant we had to raise the living room level to about 14 metres above natural ground level, which is an extraordinary height in Victoria.” The result is an architect’s own seaside dream home, both settled among the treetops and embedded in the ground, offering a multifaceted experience of place. “There are subterranean rooms in Ocean House that are cave-like, and there are bedrooms with quite small windows compared with the pavilion style of the living rooms,” says Mills. The unique treatment of the bedrooms emerges from a clear conception of how such spaces should be experienced: “You’re cocooned, you’re protected,” explains Mills, “you’re in your own space, and the world’s very much a distance away from you.” The rest of Ocean House prioritises views, indicating the personal nature of an architect’s own seaside dream home. “Whenever I build for myself, my objective is to look out into the world and see nature. I want to be immersed in the wilderness. This land borders the National Park, so the view, extraordinarily of the forest, to me is just as exciting and important as the view of the ocean beyond.” At the heart of an architect’s own seaside dream home is the living-kitchen-dining area. In Ocean House, the zones are united by the same featured materials: concrete, timber and glass. “We tend to choose materials and fabrics, paint colours and timber colours that are as close to the natural state of the material as possible,” says Mills. “The timber, which we put a whitewash into, reflects the trunks of the trees and the forest behind. The glass – which in summer when the sun’s shining, reflects the blue of the ocean, and when it’s a cloudy day, turns grey – again, it reflects the environment as it is in that moment.” The materials establish a soothing interior in which an occupant’s gaze can effortlessly move from one element to another. “The overriding aim, I think, is to create something that’s truly casual to live in, that lacks any pretension,” says Mills, “so when you lay about and recover from your busy life in the city, the environment you’re sitting in is also casual.” Ocean House is essentially restorative; an architect’s own seaside dream home fostering a complete sense of wellbeing. 00:00 – Introduction to the Architect’s Own Seaside Dream Home
01:01 – A Special Location
02:07 – The Wilderness Focused Objective
02:35 – Creating Different Experiences Through Layout
03:27 – A Calm and Soothing Material Palette
04:32 – Designing For Casual For more from The Local Project:
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Architecture, interior design, styling and landscape design by Rob Mills Architecture & Interiors.
Filmed and edited by Dan Preston.
Production by The Local Production. Location: Lorne, Victoria, Australia The Local Project acknowledges the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Owners of the land in Australia. We recognise the importance of Indigenous peoples in the identity of our country and continuing connections to Country and community. We pay our respect to Elders, past and present and extend that respect to all Indigenous people of these lands.
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