Architecture Wednesday: St. Andrews Beach House

It’s not your typical beach—St. Andrews is a secluded seaside area that’s popular with some families because of its lack of amenities—so who needs a typical beach house?

Which explains this little beach house, designed to emulate an old beach shack despite its modern shape and interiors. Oh, and it’s small … tiny …wee. It’s about 16 feet wide, nestled into the sands. And though it’s a modest affair, it still provides everything you need in a small beach shanty on a quiet beach.

The St Andrews Beach House is a two-story dwelling that’s entirely circular in shape to allow guests to take advantage of the remote location’s stunning 360-degree views. Since the owner wanted to interrupt the land as little as possible, the house stands on its own, blending in with the wild bushes of the immediate terrain. And while it may have been hard, building a home on sand, one of the perks was not having any immediate neighboring; the owner was free to keep things simple and pleasantly wooden, inside and outside, concentrating on useful space to the point that it doesn’t even have hallways.

On the ground floor are the public spaces, kitchen, dining and living room, and even a small laundry room. There is also an open deck area that sits nestled into the outer surface of the house so that it feels like an indoor- outdoor space.

A central spiral staircase leads to the second floor, where you’ll find the bedroom and bathroom spaces; rather than being separated into traditional bedrooms, the area is like an open concept bunk room that is still afforded privacy between adult and kids’ areas by thick curtains that can be easily drawn or pulled back. In order to maintain that simple, relaxed beach shack feel, the bedroom floor also features some open areas for entertainment and game room spaces.

But, being so far out and remote, the owner was keen on sustainability, so the house is quite efficient and low maintenance; there are solar panels that eliminate the need for fossil fuels and gas to power the home, and a cylindrical concrete water tank collects rain water during the wet season, which is used to water the garden and flush toilets.

It’s simple, sure, but quite a place to get away from everything.

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