Smooth bricks from PGH Bricks & Pavers were part of the materials palette specified by architects Vokes and Peters for a new single-storey home in Tallow Beach NSW.

Located at the edge of a low-lying coastal reserve, Byron Bay House and Studio features an open-spaced layout with the design focussed on two key themes: the importance of nature in the everyday, and exploring the potential for layering of space as an alternative approach to the conventional pavilion-style beach house model.

Keeping the modest budget and the middle-aged owners’ long-term outlook for the house in mind, the architects restricted the structure to a single storey design and a compact layout. The architects also explored the ‘fat’ plan for the beach house – a planning approach that celebrates spatial complexity and nuanced lighting conditions.

To achieve this, the architects employed a rich and tactile material palette including, among others, bricks from the Smoke (Smooth) range by PGH.