Situated just behind the dunes overlooking Hog Bay, the native bushland that defines the KI Shores site is for those amongst us value a lack of mobile coverage and the variables of the elements as an essential part of a beach side escape. Providing a counter position to the cleared and overdeveloped sites now becoming prevalent along this stretch of coast, KIShores is a window to values and experiences of Australian beach culture that have become misplaced in recent times. Canvas Projects has designed new accommodation pods for the KI Shores site embracing a nostalgia for the lost summers spent at the beach, disconnected (and unplugged) from the worlds left behind.
The project draws reference fromAustralian beach shack vernacular, from the Victorian bathing sheds to the whalers/ sealers homesteads once found on this island. We have distilled all the requirements for shelter and harbour to concise simple structures where the location and surrounding environment are celebrated before all else. Informally sited, the cluster of prefabricated shacks have some common outdoor kitchen and dining enclaves between pods, encouraging a sense of community and commonality between like-minded holiday makers. The Australian hardwood exteriors will silver with time, the galvanised roofs will dull with these, and the internal hardwood floors and wall linings will slowly wear from the sand that is brought in under foot, creating a narrative of pathways within each pod.
The design of these pods is anchored in the unique construction methodology required for this isolated site. In close consultation with pre-fabricators, the pods have been designed as flat pack components that are able to be efficiently brought across on the ferry and erected by local trades. The pods touch the ground lightly, minimising the amount of heavy invasive insitu construction in this sensitive native landscape.
