There can be few places to live on earth as beautiful as Camp Cove, a secluded beachfront location and millionaire’s playground with views across Watson’s Bay to the famous Sydney skyline.
So when you’re building a home in a place like this, it makes sense that the views are the star of the show – and should be given their rightful place in the spotlight with considered fenestration.
Some years ago now, we were honored to be approached by renowned skincare entrepreneur, Dr Philippa McCaffery, who had recently purchased a teardown property in this coveted location and had big plans for her new home – plans that included bronze windows. But as well as being on the other side of the world, there were some challenges to overcome. Let’s take a look at this incredible project…
Beachfront living
Dating back to 1890, the original house on this plot once enjoyed absolute beach frontage until a public promenade was built at Camp Cove in the 1950s – but when it was purchased by McCaffery for $9.2m in 2014, it was still one of only ten properties fronting onto the popular beach – a narrow arc of sand protected by rocky outcrops either side, making it ideal for swimming and snorkeling.
In the sales listing, the original cottage-style house was described as having a ‘distinctly 70s design’ with glass fronted living, a conversation pit and wet bar plus four bedrooms, an eat-in kitchen with separate dining room, a study and a walled foregarden overlooking the promenade.
A contemporary vision
McCaffery’s vision was for an altogether more expansive and modern property – one that would sit in harmony with the luxury homes of fellow residents including Mad Max director George Miller and Westfield CEO Steven Lowy.
That vision included making the absolute most of the stunning views over Sydney Harbour Bay – but in replacing a home that featured the standard plate glass windows with their characterless reflections, McCaffery was looking for something more elegant and subtle – and her search led her across the Atlantic, to Renaissance Genuine Solid Bronze.
Exploring bronze performance
Having fallen in love with the look and feel of our bronze windows on our website, the client flew to the United States to visit us and gain a greater understanding of our systems and how they would perform in their specific location.
Bronze is an elite choice for fenestration in coastal settings due to its natural corrosion resistance, and we were able to reassure Ms McCaffery that these qualities could be combined with a factory-applied patina coating to achieve the refined look she was going for, while also delivering superior thermal performance and weather resistance for the lifespan of her new home.
Having ticked every box on design, aesthetics and practicality, there was one final hurdle to clear – building regulations compliance. We worked very closely with the client and her local authority to provide all the necessary information and specs so that the windows could be approved for installation in Australia. This plus importing the windows (requiring some very meticulous packing and paperwork on our side) represented a significant additional investment for the client – but the results were well worth it.
Framing iconic views
We supplied all the windows for this stunning home, which retains the classic pitched roof in a nod to the original house, but replaces those plate glass windows with a carefully considered series of windows and doors. This included a number of fixed windows on both the ground and first floors, as well as several sets of French doors opening onto the property’s street side balconies and upper beachfront terrace.
The piece de resistance was a set of folding doors – six sections with five lites in each – that can be fully opened back to allow seamless access from the property’s main living area onto the terraced sandstone entertaining area, which offers a spa pool, dining area, landscaped gardens and purpose built watercraft storage with steps leading directly down onto the beachfront via a private entrance.
Maximizing natural light
The result is a truly distinctive home that’s perfectly adapted to its unique surroundings; flooded with light and offering unobstructed northerly views over the harbor thanks to the narrow sightlines of the custom bronze windows, but also with a bold and contemporary character the dovetails seamlessly with classic Aussie beachfront architecture – understated, elegant and cool.
In early 2024, it was revealed that this stunning home had changed hands again for a cool AUD$32m – more than three times what it was bought for just a decade earlier. We’re honored to have played a part in the development of a property that will undoubtedly continue to be a jewel in the crown of the Camp Cove community for many years to come.
Got a project coming up?
Wherever you are in the world, if you have an ambitious architectural project in the pipeline and you think bronze windows would be a good fit, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. If you’d like to learn more about bronze windows, in particular around their suitability for coastal homes or their thermal performance, learn more here.
