Two Parts House by Sonelo Architects: A Coastal Sanctuary in Mornington

Category: Residential Design

Priority: Low

Positioned along the windswept coast of Mornington, Victoria, the Two Parts House by Sonelo Architects is not merely a residence—it’s a considered response to the evolving nature of family structure and domestic life. Seamlessly merging contemporary design sensibilities with coastal vernacular traditions, the home serves as a flexible, restorative sanctuary designed with multigenerational living at its heart. Set within a suburb known for its relaxed seaside character, the architectural strategy of this project illuminates broader themes vital to 21st-century residential architecture: adaptability, contextual intelligence, and the creation of spaces that foster both connection and autonomy.

Design Focus and Context: Creating a Home for Generations

Multigenerational Living

The brief presented to Sonelo Architects was one familiar to many Australian households: a desire to accommodate extended family—specifically overseas-based parents—in a manner that balanced proximity with privacy. In response, the architects conceived a plan fractioned into two offset volumes, joined by a transparent, glazed corridor. This deliberate separation organizes the home into two primary functions: one for the day-to-day routines of a young family and the other, a tranquil retreat able to function autonomously.

This configuration reflects a fundamental design principle for contemporary homes: the ability to support flexible, tiered occupancy. Not strictly dual-occupancy in the regulatory sense, the Two Parts House is nonetheless an emblem of architectural responsiveness to complex living arrangements increasingly present across Australia and globally.

Connection to Site and Setting

Sited obliquely, the house capitalizes on both solar orientation and visual permeability. Rather than face the street frontally, the orientation was rotated to frame key axes: a central internal courtyard and a park positioned opposite. This subtle maneuver reflects the architects’ sensitivity to landscape and lifestyle, ensuring that even in suburbia, space communicates with nature. As light moves through the volumes and into the void between them, the internal and external boundaries begin to dissolve, thereby enhancing the coastal sanctuary quality of the residence.

Architectural Language and Composition

Spatial Zoning and Internal Logic

The plan’s strategic division produces well-zoned interiors that speak to different modes of use and time-of-day occupation. The primary wing houses family everyday spaces—living, kitchen, bedrooms, utility—while the secondary wing is conceived as either a guest studio, cabana, or office. These dual wings are bridged by a glazed link, which performs multiple functions: light well, transitional corridor, and display gallery.

This bridging element also introduces an architectural counterpoint—a transparent pause between opaque, textured massing. Its slenderness and openness mediate the relationship between built form and landscape, while offering opportunities for cross-ventilation and passive solar gain. Such interstitial spaces are a recurring motif in contemporary residential architecture, offering threshold and relief zones.

Adaptability and Future-Proofing

The secondary volume exemplifies adaptable design. It can operate in concert with the main household or independently, supporting multigenerational living, rental accommodation, or evolving family needs such as a teenage retreat or home office. Sonelo’s approach encapsulates the growing importance of multifunctional zones within domestic architecture. Globally, architects are recognizing the value in floor plans that can be reinterpreted as lifestyle needs change—without structural alteration.

Material Strategy and Climate Responsiveness

Coastal Vernacular Reinterpreted

The home’s material palette calls upon familiar references from the local vernacular, transformed for contemporary relevance and performance. The dominant materials include:

• Zincalume Skillion Roofs: With a low maintenance, corrosion-resistant finish, these mono-pitched forms efficiently deflect coastal rains while allowing for higher ceilings and light-filled interiors.
• Painted Bagged Brickwork: A textured finish offering both durability and aesthetic warmth, this technique provides thermal mass appropriate for southern Australian climates.
• Horizontal Weatherboards: Evocative of traditional beach houses but rendered in a refined contemporary manner, offering durability and resonance with the surrounding streetscape.

Environmental Performance

Passive design strategies are embedded throughout the planning and construction of Two Parts House:

• Orientation maximizes natural daylight and passive solar heating.
• Operable glazing enables cross-ventilation, especially via the glazed passage.
• Material massing—particularly the brickwork—assists with thermal lag and energy efficiency.
• Courtyard landscaping helps regulate microclimates and offers privacy zones.

In the context of Australia’s climate zones and energy standards, such passive strategies reduce operational costs while promoting comfort—a key consideration for sustainable residential architecture today.

A Global and Historic Lineage of Domestic Sanctuaries

Comparative Practices in Multigenerational Living

Two Parts House is part of a lineage of homes that respond to multigenerational needs:

• Australia: The “granny flat” or backyard secondary dwelling has been a standard solution, though often secondary in design priority. In contrast, Two Parts House elevates the secondary zone to architectural equality.
• North America: Here, in-law suites or accessory dwelling units (ADUs) are gaining popularity, particularly in housing-constrained urban contexts. However, they are frequently conversions or add-ons rather than cohesively integrated into original design.
• Europe: In Mediterranean cultures, compound homes with courtyards historically supported extended families. Similarly, Scandinavian prefab strategies are now integrating modular “granny pods” within communal housing schemes.

What distinguishes Sonelo’s approach is the delicate balance between autonomy and connection. The two parts of the house can function separately or together, a duality that aligns with international best practices in flexible, long-term home design.

Technical and Structural Specifications

• Approximate Size: Estimated between 250–350 sqm, aligning with average-size Australian custom homes suited for dual living.
• Structural System: Load-bearing masonry with brickwork base walls; timber or steel framing supports roof spans of skillion structures.
• Roof Form: Zincalume mono-pitch, facilitating water runoff and orientation clarity.
• Glazing: Presumed timber or aluminum-framed double glazing for improved thermal efficiency.
• Insulation: High-performance internal wall systems appropriate for temperate coastal conditions.
• Finishes: Bagged and painted brickwork, weathered timber cladding to minimize maintenance and blend with the surroundings.

Architectural Insights: Lessons for Designers and Homeowners

Two Parts House offers compelling takeaways for architects, builders, and homeowners alike:

• Embrace Flexible Design: Creating spaces that can adapt to different uses over time—particularly when welcoming extended family—is a sustainable design strategy that future-proofs the home.
• Draw from the Local Typology: Understanding local materials and climatic responses ensures that contemporary homes feel embedded and perform appropriately in their settings.
• Leverage Threshold Spaces: Interstitial spaces—like the glazed corridor—offer architectural richness while serving clear climatic and functional purposes.
• Blur Indoor–Outdoor Boundaries: Especially in temperate regions, fostering connection to landscape is not only desirable from a lifestyle perspective—it contributes significantly to thermal comfort and biophilic engagement.
• Plan for Autonomy Within the Whole: By offering privacy without isolation, homes like Two Parts House cater to the human need for both connection and retreat.

Conclusion: A Sanctuary for Today and Tomorrow

With the Two Parts House, Sonelo Architects articulate a nuanced vision of what home can be in a rapidly changing world: a place of peace, resilience, and adaptability. More than a beachside retreat, the house stands as a case study in multigenerational living done right—balancing tradition and innovation to create architecture that resonates across age groups, lifestyles, and time. For architects exploring the intersection of family dynamics and site-responsive design, this project is a resounding lesson in clarity, context, and craft.

Explore more: Hunter & Folk – Original Feature on Two Parts House