A visit to one of Portsea’s iconic beach boxes helped influence the renovation of this compact family home.

The owners — a family of three who had grown up surfing and fishing on the Mornington Peninsula — engaged Blair Smith Architecture to refurbish their 65-square-metre, two-bedroom unit located in an experimental retro development of prefabricated homes built in the 1950s called Harbour Gate.

The house was simple, small, and rundown, but in a truly unbeatable location. It also had direct access to Portsea beach and pier, and was close to a green strip of public land between Port Phillip Bay and ‘Millionaire’s Walk’  — home to some of the Mornington Peninsula’s most sought after (and expensive) real estate.

‘While appearing somewhat unassuming from the outside, each unit [in Harbour Gate] is comprised of eight reinforced plaster domes, craned into place and then covered with conventional construction techniques,’ director Blair Smith says.

‘When we first visited the site, the clients took us down to the bathing boxes on the Portsea front beach — one of which was owned by a friend of theirs,’ adds design lead Jack Heatley. ‘We discussed how — with a little bit of ingenuity — you can really get a lot out of compact space. The beach box demonstrated an “essential” kind of living which I think, comes across in both a functional and aesthetic way.’

The existing house looked like it hadn’t been touched since the ’70s, complete with mustard-coloured bench tops, an old electric stove and oven, and vertical blinds ‘you would normally find in an old solicitor’s office,’ says Jack.

Despite this, the architects managed to turn the shack into their family’s primary place of residence through internal refurbishment alone.

‘A breathable lime-based paint with a subtle texture was selected to celebrate the domed surfaces,’ Blair says. ‘Much like sand on the shores is the backdrop to a beach, the sandy-coloured paint finish forms the backdrop of the house, allowing the individual objects of the design to come through. Another important choice was the limestone kitchen bench evoking imagery of fossilised shells, but also a nod to Portsea’s history of limestone quarrying and construction.

‘The cabinetry colour is a muted response to local coastal scrub. These tones are carried through to the bathroom with handmade tiles and terrazzo, creating an idyllic place for a post-swim rinse.’

The renovations also drew on the home’s quirks from the prefabricated build, which lead to ‘segmented’ rooms or zones each topped by a slightly domed ceiling. The architects continued this sense of separation with a series of individual furniture-like elements; a limestone-topped kitchen island curved at its corners and detached from the wall; a timer banquette seat that defines the edge of the dining ‘zone’; and the threshold of each room is trimmed timber reveals for additional character.

Now, the family and their two dogs dogs feel perfectly at home in their understated shack, where they step out their rear gate and right onto the beach.