Light Wave, Byron Bay

‘Light Wave’ is a Landscape, Pool & Cabana project on Lighthouse Rd Byron Bay. We wanted to create a poetic sculpture for shelter looking over the pool. The Wave Cabana is a playful, sheltering piece of origami, which is juxtaposed against the rectilinear pool. The site looks over the bay. When in the pool the whole view opens up, and then becomes framed while in the timber barrel of the cabana.

The project has added something to the fabric of Byron Bay. It sits above a very prominent walkway called ‘The lighthouse walk’. People stream past it everyday as they head towards the lighthouse. Most people love it and there is a wide array of nicknames for it throughout the town.

The engineers did an amazing job on a very steep site. The site is essentially a dune so foundation piers of 6m deep in two directons hold up the pool. The project cost was $170,000. A lot of this was sucked up in site prep and foundations. There was less an imperative on budget like most of our projects, and more about giving the client the experience they wanted. In sustainable terms the pool has a large holding tank set behind it underground that is fed by rainwater off the house roof. No town water is connected to the pool or its pumps.

The timber is an integral part of the wave. The inside of the Wave Cabana is clad in Blackbutt, as well as the balustrade. The timber adds warmth and sensuality to the folded form.