Marcoola Renovation

Designed as a relaxed Sunshine Coast beach house, this new home transforms a modest existing three-bedroom dwelling into a flexible and light-filled family retreat. The original house was carefully extended and reshaped to accommodate a growing family of three children, two adults and a dog — along with an ever-expanding collection of vintage surfboards and nautical antiques that reflect the owners’ coastal lifestyle.

The lower level underwent a substantial renovation, creating a generous new kitchen and living space that forms the social heart of the home. Upstairs is conceived as a private adult sanctuary, entirely dedicated to the parents and designed more like a boutique hotel suite than a traditional bedroom. A large open-plan sleeping area is paired with a hotel-style ensuite, offering a calm retreat from the energy of family life below.

Natural light and cross-ventilation are central to the house design, allowing cooling sea breezes to flow through the home. As a result, mechanical air-conditioning is rarely required — an important consideration for comfortable, climate-responsive living on the Sunshine Coast.

The brief was simple but deliberate:
“A hotel room within a house — a place for the adults to escape.”

As building designers, we aim to create homes that offer moments of quiet and refuge within everyday life. In every project, we try to include at least one intimate space — a reading nook, snuggery, bay window, courtyard or conversation pit — places that invite pause and reflection. These spaces are rarely requested explicitly during the briefing process, yet time and again, clients tell us after moving in that these small, seemingly secondary spaces become the most cherished parts of their home.