The Gable Wall — Nepean Sea Road Residence

About this project

The defining piece in this Nepean Sea Road home is a full-height storage wall whose face is cut into a run of house-gable profiles. Where the gables fall, the joinery opens into oak-lined alcoves — a cushioned window-seat nook deep enough to curl up in, a display recess, and a lit shelf. The rest of the wall is flat, handleless and quiet, so the cut-outs read as deliberate rather than decorative.

It is a genuinely difficult piece to build. The gable profile has to run continuously across multiple shutters and carcasses while the reveals stay tight, the oak lining has to meet the painted faces cleanly on an angled joint, and the concealed lighting has to be integrated into the alcove heads. This is CNC-and-drawing work, not something assembled on site.

Storage is worked hard throughout: open cubbies at low level for books and baskets, a bench seat with a drawer beneath it, a slim desk return, and a window seat that runs into the reveal. The palette stays pale — warm white joinery, light oak, pale timber flooring — so the room feels larger than its footprint.

Design style: Warm Scandinavian-Japanese — pale oak, soft white joinery, concealed lighting, no visible hardware