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July 18, 2026 — 5:00am
Architecture’s brutalist aesthetic from the 1970s doesn’t suit everyone but a Beauty Point family home overlooking Middle Harbour gives the genre a contemporary, modern feel.
Inspired by the Sydney ‘nuts and berries’ school of architects, which included Ken Woolley and Bruce Rickard, the house designed by CO-AP sits on a steep site among many established eucalypts.
CO-AP’s starting point for its design was a comment made by the owners.
The couple with two children said to architect Will Fung, the director of the practice: “We hope you don’t mind us telling you but we love 1970s brutalism.”
This was “music to our ears”, says Fung, who worked closely with the practice’s founder, Tina Engelen. “We’re quite chuffed when people think it is a completely reworked ’70s house.”
Aside from the off formed concrete walls and robust materials such as steel, there are certain other hallmarks that tie this house to the 1970s.
The home responds to the land’s contours, a 25-degree fall from the street. From the pavement it appears to be single level with an angular, mansard-style aluminium roof. However, immediately past the threshold the harbour makes its presence felt through the large sliding doors and windows that frame the living areas.
“We were partially inspired by the former interwar house on the site. One of its most endearing features was its large picture windows framing a panoramic view,” says Fung.
The owners, who lived in the original house for more than a year while planning the new home, had become accustomed to sitting on the front verandah in the eastern morning light where they would enjoy a coffee. “We’ve included a generous terrace as part of the entrance sequence to allow them a similar experience,” Fung adds.
Spread over two levels, the concrete house, detailed with timber ceilings and a steel staircase, features a kitchen, dining and living areas at ground level and orientated to the north-west. A curvaceous outdoor terrace extends the line of the sunken lounge, creating a swath across the site while also increasing the breadth of the view over the water.
CO-AP was also mindful of the protected gum trees, along with the established angophora that’s located adjacent to the front door. While these trees informed the floor plan, including the circular courtyard-style void that separates the study from the kitchen, the colour of the angophora suggested the colour palette for both the aluminium used for the roof and for the interior.
The galley-style kitchen, for example, features mossy green porcelain tiles (only six millimetres in depth). Verdi, a greenish marble, provides the splashback and a bespoke island bench/table supported by two chunky steel legs painted in a soft mushroom.
When it came to furnishing the sunken lounge, the palette started with two Gerrit Rietveld armchairs in an avocado hue. “Our clients already had these pieces so we went with that green palette,” says Fung, who, with Engelen, based the colour choices such as ‘nude’ on those that are produced by cosmetic companies.
However, this house goes well beyond shades of lipstick with its careful planning and subtle delineation of spaces.
The timber veneer joinery separating the kitchen from the dining area works extremely hard, with a built-in cocktail cabinet located on the dining side and the kitchen side concealing everything from the pantry to the fridge and appliance cupboard. As with many open-plan homes from the 1970s there’s a sense of transparency here, with views through the house, including the bridge on the first level that separates the main bedroom suite, walk-in dressing area and ensuite on the harbour side from the children’s bedroom wing on the other.
The architects were also mindful as to where the view corridors should be opened up and, as importantly, knowing when these needed to be shut down. A chandelier-like series of aluminium fins in the circular courtyard creates privacy on the upper level where the bedrooms are located.
Just completed, Beauty Point house both responds to its bush setting and is a gentle nod to the fact that architecture comes with a past as much as being for the future.
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