Coastal Privacy Meets Public Life

Sydney-based architecture practice Common Office has completed Ramsgate House, a four-storey residence near Bondi Beach that reimagines classical architectural language for contemporary coastal living. Designed for a young family, the project responds to a brief that sought both a strong connection to Bondi’s identity and a sense of privacy within one of Australia’s busiest tourist destinations.

Photo credit: Anson Smart

Photo credit: Anson Smart

Photo credit: Anson Smart

The home’s location adjacent to Bondi Beach became the defining challenge of the design. Positioned within a highly public environment, the project balances openness and seclusion through a carefully considered planning strategy involving extensive council negotiations, design revisions, and discussions about how the building would contribute to the local streetscape.

Photo credit: Anson Smart

Photo credit: Anson Smart

Photo credit: Tom Ross

Central to the design is a reinterpretation of the classical loggia, a historic architectural element that has appeared across centuries from antiquity to modernism. Drawing inspiration from Rome’s Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana, Common Office introduced a series of masonry arches that establish a transitional threshold between the public street and private domestic life.

Photo credit: Tom Ross

Photo credit: Anson Smart

Photo credit: Anson Smart

The architects describe the design as existing somewhere between Bondi and Miami, combining a restrained decorative quality with references to Art Deco architecture. This approach is expressed through the building’s street-facing façade, where structural brick arches create rhythm while softening the relationship between the home and its urban surroundings.

Photo credit: Anson Smart

Photo credit: Anson Smart

Photo credit: Anson Smart

Constructed primarily from traditional double brick, with some triple-brick elements, the residence uses its architecture as environmental infrastructure. The load-bearing arches frame views and natural light while providing shade and depth suited to Bondi’s coastal climate. Thickened thresholds and deep window reveals further reduce solar heat gain and help maintain comfortable interior temperatures.

Photo credit: Anson Smart

Photo credit: Anson Smart

Photo credit: Anson Smart

Inside, the arch motif evolves into a sculptural stairwell that extends through all four levels, drawing daylight deep into the house. The circulation sequence culminates in a copper-clad pavilion at the uppermost level, designed as a gathering space with elevated views toward the beach and ocean. The copper exterior is intended to weather naturally over time, allowing the building’s appearance to evolve.

Photo credit: Anson Smart

Photo credit: Tom Ross

At the rear of the property, arched forms reappear around steel-framed windows set within stucco surfaces. A double-height living area opens toward a garden and swimming pool, where native planting reinforces connections to the local ecological landscape.

Interior design, developed in collaboration with Handelsman + Khaw, complements the architecture through durable materials and muted finishes selected to respond to the demands of the coastal setting.

Environmental performance also informed the project. Passive design strategies, natural ventilation, daylight access, and native landscaping contribute to a home that seeks to balance architectural character with long-term sustainability.

By combining classical references with climate responsiveness and a strong sense of place, Ramsgate House offers an interpretation of coastal living shaped equally by Bondi’s public energy and the private needs of family life.

Common Office

Common Office was founded on an interest in interiors, buildings, urbanism, and territory. Emerging out of a body of work that ranges between domestic and large scale urban design proposals, the office is committed to making buildings, design research, and speculative work.

Current work includes a series of houses, housing projects, the design of a furniture line, communal buildings, and research initiatives. All projects are treated as equal, regardless of scale, program, or requirements. The design process is rigorous, and the Office believes that organisation and clarity are crucial to achieving projects that actively contribute to both urban and domestic life.