Dune House a Dream

Building a house on a loose sand dune in a community management scheme can present some challenges, but when the client is your own parents – there’s certainly another layer of complexity.

For Brisbane-head quartered development and construction group Mosaic Property, company Founder Brook Monahan, it was a labour of love and passion for his team, despite the lengthy laundry list of challenges to overcome.

Together with the ever-growing Mosaic team and in close partnership with Sunshine Coast based Foundation Homes owned by Edward Murphy, and Coolum based Aboda architects, they were able to not only pull off the vision but produce a home that looks like it’s directly out of the pages of a magazine.

“The client brief – from my parents – was for a sophisticated open-plan living, integrating kitchen, dining, outdoor and pool on one main level,” Monahan said.

“They really wanted to have the pool at the back of the property, directly off the living area and deck. Their vision was to encourage togetherness without obstructing views.

“To achieve this, the project team cleverly connected indoor and outdoor areas via large architectural windows and doors that open to allow in the fresh ocean breezes, light and the spectacular vistas. Or, as is the case with an oceanfront home, to completely close to ‘bunker down’ in rougher weather conditions.”

Perched on the dunes of the secluded Castaways Beach on the Sunshine Coast, the relaxed family beach house is an intergenerational home designed to accommodate and entertain extended family and friends. Brook, his wife Kathryn and their four children completed their own substantial renovation on their own beachfront property in Peregian Beach just minutes away, only three years ago.

While it’s all fun and games with family at the home now, Monahan said there was no denying it was an exciting project. Whilst the multi-award winning Mosaic Property Group is better known for its many high-end luxury apartment projects across SEQ, this is certainly not the first time Brook and his team have been heavily involved in delivering an individual high-end home.

Firstly, there was the ecological challenge of building on a sand dune.

“The sand was predominantly loose, meaning excavation for footings and retaining walls required substantial shoring as with any beachfront property,” Monahan said.

“The excavation also had to be conducted cautiously, so as not to disrupt the foundation of the close neighbouring properties.”

Then, there was the community management scheme in which the land was set.

“It was an absolute necessity that construction complied with body corporate rules and did not disturb neighbouring properties,” he said.

“The position of the site, at a sharp fork in the road and on a main roundabout created a very challenging environment for building machinery to access, deliver and unload material with limited disturbance.

“The placement of the driveway and garage presented a further test, particularly due to the difficult street access and client brief for main living areas to be centralised on one level.”

Adding to the complexity was the site’s steep diagonal fall from the north-west front corner back to the south-east, and a strict height restriction of eight metres under the Noosa Shire Plan.

“This meant that raising the back corner of the property to achieve the desired one-level living/dining/kitchen zone had to be carefully weighed to balance the high ceilings across the sharply falling portion of the site, while still complying with the height limitations,” he said.

“The fall to the back also meant that the pool had to be built up out of the ground by a full half level, ensuring perfect alignment with the main living level.”

Construction began from the back of the site and the workers built their way forward.

“The tight access became more of an issue to overcome, as the construction progressed, the site reduced in size, removing any spare room for delivery of materials and turning of vehicles,” he said.

Source: Master Builders Queensland – Tuesday 18/02/2020