Wildcoast | Rachcoff Vella Architecture

Within a deep recessive void an oversized timber door opens to present a soft, welcoming underbelly of winter beach tones and a sense of calm. Wildcoast offers refuge, a place of timeless well-crafted interiors and select fine furniture beautifully set against the wind-swept sand dunes and evocative coastal landscape.

Wildcoast is a new dwelling situated on the sand dunes on a Melbourne back beach. Inspired by the evocative coast line its materials and forms are inspired by its immediate context. Bunkered in; Wildcoast aims to protect from prevailing conditions whilst offering platforms to embrace its immediate and broader dynamic context.

During early design iterations a decision was made to horizontally offset the first floor living zone from the ground floor bedroom wing rather than stacking them vertically in a more economical manner. This additional cost was balanced by reducing floor area, but seen as a win in creating a natural protective zone to the exposed living spaces.

Refuge at Wildcoast is about creating a calm sense of place that provides opportunities for memories to be created, it resists complication and presents the contrary to a busy city life. The effort and rigour involved in details like the alignment of; light fittings with joinery, concrete patterns with door handles and tap fittings with tile layouts had to be seen but not heard.