Watson Cottage

This cottage, in the peri-urban makeshift sprawl that is Betty’s Bay, is an exercise in smallness that tests size requirements of the holiday house typology. The result is cause for the idiom small-is-beautiful.
In this inspired setting with the magnificent mountainous backdrop, the new building sits lightly and somewhat afloat on a rock landscape. The cutaway porch, the projecting bay windows, and the sensitive low flush-aligned roof all contribute to an architecture of humble restraint in service of its dramatic backdrop. The simplicity of the ‘L’ shaped footprint shows a deft hand at planning that can align and overlay entry, connection between sea and mountain and the pragmatics of use and circulation into an accomplished and efficient layout.
The simplicity of materials and skilful detailing contribute sparse interiors that through strategic apertures and bay window seats, connect the scale of the body inside, to the staggering views beyond.
The architects have achieved through smallness a space and place of elegant repose.