Concept imageHouse, Marram Flats, 2021 (Sample)
Saltcourt House
A one-level house in Marram Flats, turned inward around a court to get out of the wind.
Boathouse, Hawser Quay, Built 2019 (Sample)
Hawser Boathouse
A boathouse for the sailing club on the north basin, with a roof that lifts toward the water.
Concept imageThe brief
The Vesper Bay Sailing Club had a tin shed and a waiting list. It needed dry space for 12 small boats and one room where its members could meet. The budget was small.
The site is on the harbor wall, beside the slip. Storms come straight in from the west, so the doors had to face the weather and still open wide.
- Client
- Vesper Bay Sailing Club
- Size
- 2,400 square feet
- Finished
- 2019
- Holds
- 12 small boats and a club room
- Built of
- Stone base, plaster walls, clay tile roof and timber doors
The idea
We drew one long roof, like the net sheds that once lined the quay. Boats go at the water end, level with the slip. The club room sits beside them at the land end.
The cut gave us the shape. A small boat is easier to store with its mast up. So the roof lifts three feet toward the water, and a mast can stand under it.
Plan
Floor plan
Boats at the water end, with the club room beside them at the land end.
Section
Long section
The roof lifts three feet toward the water, so a mast can stand under it.
Sun study
Follow the sun
Late in the day, the sun reaches the back wall of the boat hall through the open doors.
What was built
The boathouse opened in 2019. It has a stone base, plaster walls and a clay tile roof, so it sits well beside the old harbor. The two big doors are oiled timber, and they slide on a steel track.
On race days the doors stay open from end to end. Anyone on the quay can walk in, look at the boats and stop by the club room.
Concept imageFrom outside: At dusk 
Concept imageInside: Masts up, doors open 
Concept imageModel: The study model
Elevation
Harbor elevation
Two sliding doors make up the whole sea side.
Detail
Door track
The head of a door: the steel track, a hanger and the top of the timber leaf.
From the journal
March 5, 2026
What a boathouse taught us about doorsThe biggest thing we drew for the sailing club was not the roof. It was a pair of doors. By Calla Verhoeven (Sample)
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