Seafoam: A Mid-Century Modern Coastal Masterpiece

In the coastal town of Woonona in New South Wales, Seafoam stands proud as a Mid-Century Modern homage to Australian seaside dwellings. Designed by Nadine Ryan of Nadine K Design and constructed by Lambert Building, Seafoam maintains the warm welcome of a coastal retreat while ensuring the modern structure is as engaging from outside as it is from within.

It’s a bold reimagining relying on resilient materials from the Hardie™ Architectural Collection, and a strong understanding of the architectural DNA of coastal Australia.

Creating a house inspired by movement

Wanting to take advantage of Seafoam’s seaside location, Nadine and the team at Lambert Building looked to incorporate a unique design that would bring the outside in for the coastal retreat.

Seafoam stands out from the crowd as a uniquely Mid-Century Modern house design that focuses on sweeping lines and geometric patterns, breaking the mould of what a typical coastal abode should be. The house has a distinct lean to it, drawing the eye to the beach that lies just 500 metres away.

The Mid-Century design doesn’t stop at the front facade - a curved rear wall gives the home a sense of softness, balancing the sharper geometric front with a more organically coastal gesture that flows into an open entertaining area with a pool and cabana.

The heritage of coastal architecture also inspired the material choices. “If you look at traditional, old coastal homes they’re all about thick weatherboards," said Nadine Ryan. “Linea™ Weatherboard really captures that look - it gives us an opportunity to keep some of that heritage design language while still modernising the home.”

An exterior built to last

The extensive use of Linea™ Weatherboard to create Seafoam’s exterior serves an important dual purpose. The cladding is 16mm thick, offering deep shadow lines that draw the eye, but also give the project a timber-look finish that is strongly reminiscent of traditional weatherboard.

Linea™ Weatherboard is also the weatherboard that weathers well, with the Hardie™ fibre cement cladding bringing an added factor of durability and low-maintenance. Linea™ Weatherboard’s ability to resist shrinking, swelling, warping and damage from moisture is critical for a coastal build, ensuring Seafoam has the ability to withstand high winds, salty air and scorching sun to become the family home that the clients dreamt of.

“As a builder working right on the coast, durability is always top of mind,” said Dan Lambert of Lambert Building. “While timber has a tendency to warp and crack over time in this environment, the fibre cement composition of Linea™ Weatherboard and Axon™ Cladding meant we could deliver the classic charm of a timber weatherboard look with the benefits of Hardie™ fibre cement.”

Bringing together a cohesive design

Part of the mission with bringing Seafoam to life was ensuring the Mid-Century Modern architecture would blend into the neighbourhood while also retaining its own presence as a unique coastal home.

The unique facade evolved organically during the design process. “It was less about outdoing other houses on the block and more about using the structure of the house to maximise the natural settings”, said Nadine Ryan. The result of this design process is a perfectly balanced home, with strong geometric lines drawing the gaze along while mitred corners convey a sense of smoothness and wholeness.

With the front facade featuring a striking gabled roof, attention-grabbing lean-away wall and a deep cut-out eave, the Lambert Building team wanted to add another layer of cohesive depth. They used Axon™ Cladding to dress the soffits, with the clean vertical lines complementing the deep shadow lines of the Linea™ Weatherboard used on the exteriors of the house.

“Using both Axon™ Cladding and Linea™ Weatherboard gave us a greater degree of flexibility to maintain the flow of the design,” explained Dan Lambert. “Executing the key aspects of Seafoam’s design - mitred corners, angular pillars, curved wall - was made possible with these Hardie™ cladding products.”

Continuity was a key focus of the Seafoam build, and Nadine also deployed the Axon™ Cladding to great effect elsewhere in the property. The external soffits were complemented with the use of Axon™ Cladding in the front inside living room, maintaining the exterior lines into a strong Mid-Century Modern interior design. This combined with the large window frontage allowed the living room to capture the essence of the outdoor seaside retreat while maintaining all the creature comforts of a fully-covered area.

An oasis of calm, for the residents and for the builders

As much as the residents will be making the most of Seafoam’s indoor-outdoor spaces to relax, the team at Lambert Building also had a practical reason for favouring products from the Hardie™ Architectural Collection.

The ease of installation offered by the Hardie™ Architectural Collection helped ensure the build could run smoothly. Mitring corners on the Linea™ Weatherboard allowed the team to carry shadow lines seamlessly around corners, a central design cue for the project.

Similarly, integration of Axon™ Cladding helped ensure the build team was able to efficiently use their time to dress the soffits and internal walls. With shiplap joints and 1200mm wide panels helping to enable rapid installation without a compromise on finish, the team was able to keep the Mid-Century Modern home design cohesive from the exterior to the interior.

The integration of sloping ceilings and deep soffits, front and rear, also allowed Nadine Ryan to counterbalance the openness afforded by the multiple large windows throughout Seafoam. The result was a gentle balance of open expanse and closed shelter, with the traditional style of the Linea™ Weatherboard and timber look of the Axon™ Cladding giving both the outdoor and indoor spaces a sense of stability and warmth.

Ready to recapture timeless design?

Mid-Century Modern might be the best way to enjoy the beauty of timeless Australian architecture, with the Hardie™ Architectural Collection helping to ensure that your project has all the hallmarks of modern resilience.