SHELTER from the STORM

Perched on a cliff at Kiama, this new house by architect Renato D'Ettorre embraces the Pacific Ocean, framing spectacular views while creating sheltered nooks for inclement weather

- STEPHEN CRAFTI

Like many in his repertoire, Renato D’Ettorre’s most recent project is both simple and yet complex – and highly orchestrated. Situated on a cliff face, it’s not the typical coastal offering of a large house with picture windows at every opportunity. “You could say that I’m not really into building a series of straight walls, working like a robot in a more mechanical way. I much prefer working with angles and chamfered walls that create a sense of lightness and the opportunity to play with light and shade,” says Renato, who liaised with senior interior designer Belinda Brown and the team from his practice.

While a sense of lightness was on Renato’s mind, he was conscious from the outset of also creating a robust house, in contrast to the previous timber cottage on the site built in the 60s, which shook at the foundations every time a storm set in – giving it the title of “the nervous house”. Renato designed the property for Marroun and her mother, Saada, who were previously living in an apartment in Sydney. Marroun says she wasn’t exactly sure which architect to employ or what she was hoping to achieve with the new build on the unusual triangular-shaped site which overlooks Kiama’s fabled Little Blowhole.