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https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/aug/02/australia-2025-house-of-the-year-blok-three-sisters-prefab-beach-shack-modules-brisbane-stradbroke-island>
"Split it, sell it, or find a way of keeping it in the family? That’s the
question three sisters asked themselves when they inherited a property, built
by their parents in the 1970s, on a plot of land near Home beach on
Minjerribah/North Stradbroke Island.
The sisters had been holidaying at the house since they were children, and the
site was “almost impossible to replicate”, says one sibling, who asked to
remain anonymous. “We decided quite quickly we didn’t want to get rid of it,”
she says. As the older building had been eaten by mycelium, the hard part was
deciding what to do with it next.
When the architect Daniel Burnett from Brisbane’s Blok Modular viewed the house
to discuss the owners’ vision for three units, the sisters took him to the
beach, where they all got in their bathers and “sat around in the water for
about two hours”, he says. Along with sharing memories, they made one request:
equitable access to the beach – “or we’re going to have fights”.
“No matter how old you get, the sibling dynamic is still present,” he says.
“They were quite unapologetic about that.”
Forming a committee of sorts, the sisters (who are in their 60s) assessed every
design decision as one. “It was a unified force,” says Burnett. The result is a
trio of two-storey terraces identical by design, from the hardwood floors to
the light fixtures.
Each three-bedroom, two-bathroom unit was designed so the occupants would feel
immersed in nature, says Burnett. “You can sit anywhere in that building – even
though it’s a long skinny house – and feel like you’re on the beach,” he says.
“It’s magic,” says one sister. “Right now I’m looking out over the sea watching
the whales go by.”"
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
