Nestled into the small coastal town of Barwon Heads, on Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula, AB House offers a considered degree of compartmentalisation that accommodates a variety of occupations. Office MI–JI embeds a flexibility into the home, allowing it to expand and contract according to the number of inhabitants while offering a feeling of calm retreat.

Sitting neatly tucked into its suburban allotment, AB House comes together as an expressed steel-framed structure that hovers with a sense of purpose above the ground plane below. Needing to clear the possible flood levels of the area, the entire home is elevated one metre to ensure the ebb and flow of water remains undisruptive to the house proper. Replacing an existing home, the building comprises a series of compartments, differentiated according to use and the varied levels of activity across the residence. Office MI–JI utilises the connecting corridor length as the spine of the home to define and usher movement, while also bringing all the elements of the home together under the one roof.

Within a newly designed landscape setting by Bush Projects, AB House is built by David Webb Building Solutions and fitted out internally with a collective of custom joinery by Pavilion Joinery. The zoning across the site corresponds to the intended length of potential stays –long, short or transitional – and allows the home to always feel full and animated, no matter its occupancy. With the site set back from the street, a sense of privacy is emphasised, and by focussing on light coming in from above and controlling the angles at which it does engage with the interior, Office MI–JI creates a true feeling of retreat.

With front portion of the home grouping the living, dining, kitchen, study and one bedroom, this space forms the primary residence for the owners. The transitioning portion in the middle then provides a relief and separation, containing a separate powder room and laundry, with the rear volume then bookending the site, designed for guests. Separated yet still connected through the walkway, this rear area brings together a series of two bedrooms with their own bathrooms and an additional living space addition to the one at the front.A focus on simplicity defines AB House. Office MI–JI uses insertions of colour and the shifting shards of natural light to softly add a sense of movement amongst a more muted collective of base elements.