Timber brings warmth and practicality to family’s dream home

Practicality, warmth and colour were the winning attributes behind the extensive use of Boral Timber’s hardwood flooring in the building of a waterside family home in Queensland’s Noosa Waters.

Seven years after first dreaming of building a home at the exclusive residential estate, The Anchorage, on the Sunshine Coast, English architect Sarah Waller moved her family across the other side of the world to live their dream.

Sarah’s project brief, developed with her husband Paul and two daughters Tiggy and Tamsin, was to create a stunning family home by the water.

“We gave up our lives and businesses in England to do this,” said Sarah, who seven years ago rented a holiday property only a few doors down from the house she eventually built. “There is some unique architecture in the area and I really wanted to leave my mark on Noosa Waters with this project.”

Timber floors were a natural choice for the open plan, contemporary style of the house. Sarah specified 216 square metres of Boral 19mm solid strip flooring in Australian Beech. A blend of lighter Australian species - Australian Beech was installed on both levels of the house.

“I designed it so it would bring warmth to the house, to soften its appearance and to be warm underfoot – and being a family home – it’s also easier to keep clean than tiles,” Sarah said.

“Not only did I choose timber for its practicality and warmth, but I specifically selected Australian Beech for its unique colour and variation of hues. I went for a select grade to avoid dark knots and to provide an even colour,” she added.

While Australian Beech was installed randomly throughout the house, Waller used Spotted Gum for the stair treads for its width and hard nature in what is a high traffic area.

Sarah said she had a growing preference for timber flooring in all her architectural projects. “In both my personal building projects and my commercial projects I prefer to specify timber flooring wherever possible because of the warmth and character it brings to my architecture.”

The timber flooring was installed on plywood over a concrete slab on the ground floor and on particle board on the first floor.

Sarah Waller’s architectural style is generally big and strong with thick, solid elemental plains coming together in a unique way. Even from the street the Noosa Waters house has a strong presence with water views apparent on entering the gatehouse.

The front door opens on to a spacious area that engenders a feeling of volume and seamless flow between indoor and outdoor living, the sliding doors stacking outward removing all boundaries between the two areas.

The house, built to accommodate all the family’s needs, has four bedrooms including a master suite with ensuite bathroom and media room; two work studios and a family media room as well as a scullery off the kitchen and an upstairs study room for the children. The outdoor areas feature a kitchen and two eating areas, one by the pool and the second canal side.

The floor was installed by Specialist Timber Floor Installations from Buderim, Queensland.