Live and work by the sea

On a rocky stretch of coast, Live and Work by the Sea is a two-storey oceanfront residence where a small community of remote workers can live, gather and work under one roof. Sandstone walls anchor it against the weather, while a long glazed frontage opens every shared room to the horizon. The result is a house that works like a studio and still feels like home.

The brief came from a group of independent professionals who wanted to leave the city without leaving their work behind. They needed private rooms for rest, shared spaces for meals and conversation, and quiet, well-lit places to focus, all on an exposed coastal site battered by salt wind for much of the year.

Just as important was the balance between together and apart. Nobody wanted to feel they were living in an office or working in someone's kitchen, so the house had to let people choose how much company to keep at any hour of the day.

We split the programme across two floors: bedrooms and private studies above, and a single open ground floor for kitchen, dining and co-working below, linked by a sculptural spiral stair. A deep sandstone frame shelters the glazing from the prevailing wind, and sliding walls let the ground floor open fully onto a timber terrace and plunge pool.

Local sandstone, pale oak and lime plaster give the interiors a calm, warm palette that ages well in the salt air. Acoustic linings and a run of alcoves along the glazing create quieter corners for calls and deep work without closing anyone off from the view.

Today the house supports a changing group of residents who work full weeks without ever feeling shut in. Thick masonry and cross ventilation keep it cool in summer, and the south-facing glazing gathers low winter sun, so the shared rooms stay comfortable all year.

Residents describe it less as a workplace than as a place they are glad to come down to each morning, where the sea sets the pace of the day.