Inside the ‘Hey House’: Why this unusual home has been named one of the BEST in Australia – boasting two split sections for sleep and work and a designer kitchen with a view of the sparkling plunge pool
- A unique house designed and built by an architect couple has been named Gold Coast ‘building of the year’
- HEY House in Main Beach takes its name from the initials of Pia and Richie Willemsen’s three children
- The architects’ five-bedroom home is split into two sections – one for socialising, the other for sleep and work
- They wanted to create a house that required minimal long-term maintenance where their kids could grow up
- HEY House scooped top honours at the 2021 Australian Institute of Architects’ Regional Architecture Awards
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A one-of-a-kind house custom-built by an architect couple has been named the Gold Coast‘s ‘building of the year’.
HEY House in Main Beach, which takes its name from the initials of designers Pia and Richie Willemsen’s three children, scooped top honours at the 2021 Australian Institute of Architects’ Regional Architecture Awards.
Carefully constructed between October 2018 and March 2020, the five-bedroom dream home is cleverly split into two sections – one for socialising, the other for sleep and work.
The Willemsens told Daily Mail Australia they wanted to create a house that required minimal long-term maintenance where their kids aged nine, 12 and 15 could grow up and enjoy as adults, later in life.
HEY House in Main Beach (pictured) was named the Gold Coast’s ‘building of the year’ at the 2021 Australian Institute of Architects’ Regional Architecture Awards
The Willemsens wanted to create a house that required minimal long-term maintenance where their kids aged nine, 12 and 15 could grow up and enjoy as adults, later in life
The swimming pool was strategically positioned in view of the kitchen so the Willemsens can watch over their children while they prepare meals
‘The kids were definitely the driver for building the house in the first place,’ said Pia.
‘We really wanted to create a space for our children in the style of work we normally do. It’s not a museum or a stereotypically fragile plasterboard house. It’s been built to last.’
The Willemsens describe the downstairs as a ‘bunker’, a place where family and friends can mix.
An entry mat flush with the floor creates a seamless pathway from the garden into the foyer, a large sunlit space dominated by a striking staircase that Richie calls his ‘favourite part of the house’.
An entry mat flush with the floor creates a seamless pathway from the garden into the foyer, a large sunlit space dominated by a striking staircase (pictured) that Richie calls his ‘favourite part of the house’
The upper section of the house (pictured) is metal cladded rather than being hand rendered, which would require the kind of long-term maintenance the couple were desperate to avoid
‘The foyer was a really important part of the build. We wanted it to be really social so when someone comes in they can look up to the mezzanine and the top level gallery and see you standing there and call out, “hey!”,’ he said.
‘It [the stairs] is flanked by two mainstream walls so it’s like a transition space that really connects the two different parts of the house.’
A ‘curtain’ of external blinds covering the upstairs façade cast light down into the courtyard and swimming pool, which was strategically positioned in view of the kitchen so the Willemsens can watch over their children while they prepare meals.
South-facing skylights flood the house with indirect light and allow heat to escape during the long Queensland summer.
A ‘curtain’ of external blinds (left) covering the upstairs façade cast light down into the courtyard, while south-facing skylights (right) flood the house with indirect light and allow heat to escape during the long Queensland summer
The Willemsens’ design was recognised with the inaugural Philip Follent Award for Building of the Year, plus a regional commendation for new residential architecture by the Australian Institute of Architects
The upper section of the house is metal cladded rather than being hand rendered, which would require the kind of long-term maintenance the couple were desperate to avoid.
Dark floors mean spillages or mishaps from children’s misadventures can be easily cleaned, while widespread use of robust materials like high-quality concrete mean the house will ‘last for a long time’.
While the couple declined to disclose the total cost of the house, Pia said it ‘wasn’t the most economical build’ because of the quality of materials they used.
‘There’s a lot of material value. You can actually see where the money has gone – it gives us real joy,’ Richie added.
The Willemsens’ design was recognised with the inaugural Philip Follent Award for Building of the Year, plus a regional commendation for new residential architecture by the Australian Institute of Architects.