The Phillip Island House, designed by Barrie Marshall, 1983-1990. Photo © Michael Wee
- Interview
The Phillip Island House
This house was built between 1983 and 1990 on a remote headland of Phillip Island, Victoria, and was designed to connect with the surrounding landscape by hugging the shoreline and cleverly disappearing into a sand dune.
Barrie Marshall is one of the founding partners of the multi-award winning international architecture practice Denton Corker Marshall, established in 1972. Marshall designed the experimental Phillip Island House as his family holiday house and took eight years to complete its construction.
This house is entirely personal... it is a combination of medieval walled world and spare modernist edifice linked to nature and embracing the visual spectacle of its surrounds. From the ocean it registers as an abstracted black line, from the land it disappears into the the scrubby landscape, and from the sky...it is hard to spot. In knowing what he didn't want, Marshall created something, in his own words, 'quiet and elemental with no architectural form on the outside.'Karen McCartney, 70/80/90 Iconic Australian Houses: Three Decades of Domestic Architecture
Scroll through a selection of photographs below to see details from the house designed by Barrie Marshall. Photographs by Michael Wee for the publication 70/80/90 Iconic Australian Houses by Karen McCartney.
Penguin windows and corridor of the Phillip Island House
'Called "penguin " windows by his business partner John Denton because of their stubby, low profile (300 mm-wide slots set at ground level), these windows create sharp slashes of light along the entire length of the corridor leading to the bedrooms and bathrooms. They allow visual contact with the courtyard while discouraging long views into it. This controlled use of lighting is evident throughout the house. Every room is allowed to be dark and subdued at times, but pierced by dramatic shafts of light at others according to their distinct morning or afternoon characters.'
Karen McCartney, 70/80/90 Iconic Australian Houses.
Entrance to the Phillip Island House
'The entrance to the house is made from galvanised steel with a giant three-metre-high sliver of a wall leading to a galvanised portico and door. The house is narrow (5.4 m) and so the view of the ocean is clear from the entrance. The blade wall masks a washing line, which is fixed to the side facing into the courtyard.'
Karen McCartney, 70/80/90 Iconic Australian Houses.
Sunroom, the Phillip Island House
'The only room to disrupt the strict linear plan of the house is a glass box devised as a sun trap. In stark contrast to the otherwise formidable concrete wall, this glass box is lightweight with galvanised steel posts supporting the roof. A link between openness and enclosure, the sunroom allows plenty of northern light to filter into other parts of the house: the late afternoon sun penetrates through to the far side of the kitchen, also filling the adjoining dining room with soft reflected light. The nest of table is one of Marshall's designs, in metal, with each one fitting exactly into the next like an armadillo's shell.'
Karen McCartney, 70/80/90 Iconic Australian Houses.
Master bedroom, the Phillip Island House
'The sill height in the bedroom is calibrated to match the eye line when sitting up in bed so that the view can be enjoyed. The bed with its dramatic steel bedhead was designed by Marshall, although he now criticises it for its impractical 'sea of legs'. The raw, unadorned walls and minimal lighting emphasise the 'ruthless elegance'.
Karen McCartney, 70/80/90 Iconic Australian Houses.
Sitting room, the Phillip Island House
'Chiaroscuro lighting creates mood as furniture disappears or becomes sharply lit by shard of intense light. The Sinbad chair sits behind a prototype for a coffee table designed by Marshall for the Adelphi Hotel.'
Karen McCartney, 70/80/90 Iconic Australian Houses.
Kitchen of the Phillip Island House
'Modular stainless steel benches, designed by Marshall, sit between the sunroom on the left and the wall of windows to the ocean on the right. The rigorously monochromatic interior of concrete, terrazzo and stainless steel allow the views to be the hero.'
Karen McCartney, 70/80/90 Iconic Australian Houses.
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