Tuckeroo Residence by Paul Uhlmann Architects

A style or particular sense of fashion can rarely address the individuality of a site and the clients who wish to occupy it. For Paul Uhlmann Architects, the beauty and success of an architectural solution lies in its ability to connect with both the client and the individual demands of a site. Located at Suffolk Park at the Southern end of the Tweed Coast, the Tuckeroo Residence is an example of this very principle in practice, where site, client and architects are in perfect sync.

As a holiday residence for a group of five extended family couples and their children, the brief called for both private and communal spaces that would encapsulate a relaxed holiday experience, whilst making the best of the beachfront location. At its core, the residence is a careful interweaving of these elements, melding private with communal spaces and indoor with outdoor.

Like a series of tents around a central gathering fire, the program of Tuckeroo Residence includes private sleeping pavilions connected to the main living space by a communal deck that flows out towards a pool and the beach beyond. An approach that can only be described as raw and almost primal, it establishes the innate need to be reconnected with the land, in a setting warmly encouraged by a strong sense of family.

The success of the residence is mainly due to the architects’ careful consideration of each design issue and a return always to emulating a relaxed communal living. Design features make the best use of the site to address issues in multiple layers, with seemingly effortless integration. A central screened deck, blurring a complete sense of containment, ensures fresh airflow within the building, whilst the semi-outdoor communal deck connecting the sleeping pavilions to the main living space provides an exterior circulation system that benefits from cross ventilation as well as offering residents the rejuvenation of natural surroundings.

Energy efficiency, sustainability and local council town planning requirements are addressed through features that are as much about comfort and experience as they are about the environment. Sliding screens and doors can be adjusted and hidden within walls to provide control over climatic changes, as well as the opening and closing of spaces. In terms of construction, the Tuckeroo Residence makes the best of modular timber framing as a sustainable and easily-handled material, along with the fire-restricting properties of copper cladding and steel. The warm, earthy colours of these material selections easily welcome relaxation and exude a rawness that is fitting for the natural surroundings.

Following the age-old idea that good gatherings are always in the accompaniment of good food, an open kitchen faces the main living area adjacent to a semi-outdoor verandah space. This semi-outdoor space is visually connected through the kitchen benchtop, which extends out towards the verandah and provides an eating area beside a dedicated barbecue corner. The verandah, with screened sliding doors, offers a complete and unobstructed connection between the living spaces and the beach beyond.

A detailed canopy pergola freshens up the living spaces with natural light, alleviating the sense of weight from the roof and assisting in the control of air moisture. The lattice-like timber systems that hover above the exterior circulation system and interwoven outdoor courtyard and verandah spaces all blur the sense of threshold and refine a consistent rhythmic flow from inside to outside.

With an idea that is seamlessly threaded throughout the residence, from material to program, to its response to the site, the Tuckeroo Residence embodies the essence of the ideal holiday experience. It is a fine tapestry of a successful relationship between the architects, clients and site, beholding a way of living that no one would surely ever want to leave. +

PHOTOGRAPHY David Sandison

1. The park and beach reserve location play an integral part in the Tuckeroo Residence’s design. Private and communal spaces are an intermingling between outdoor and indoor spaces, with the residence’s program simply separating sleeping quarters from the remaining spaces; the kitchen, dining, lounge and verandah all seamlessly connected. 2. The threshold between inside and outside is blurred as a central semi-outdoor communal deck separates the sleeping pavilions. 3. The lattice of timber that hovers above the communal deck maintains a connection with nature, whilst encouraging cross ventilation. The deck flows from the front of the residence through to the communal spaces and beach reserve behind it. 4. As the communal deck dividing the pavilions reaches the building’s core, a central screened deck with vegetated courtyards blurs a sense of containment and allows the building to breathe. 5. The pleasures of a barbecue can be enjoyed as the kitchen benchtop extends towards the verandah