Vista Black Rubber Beach House

Project Info

This project shows how careful choice of low cost materials plus innovative use of new products can create domestic architecture of real quality on a very small budget.

‘A fantastic advertisement for plywood: the rigour and simplicity of using this one material is exceptional,’ the judges enthuse.

The original building, much changed since it was built as a fisherman’s hut in the 1930s, was stripped to its Virtually no timber frame, restructured and extended to the south and east. Charlier Construction clad the building inside and out in spruce plywood Wisa- Spruce grade 3/3 outside and grade 2/3 on the interior.

This provides all the internal finishes, including walls, floors, ceilings, doors and joinery and is well executed by good carpenters’. It is economic, durable and gives a feeling of light and warmth. Wisa- Spruce was chosen because it comes from environmentally managed forests in Finland.

External walls and the roof are overclad in black rubber, a modern interpretation of the layers of felt and tar on local buildings.