The Three Best Facade Styles for Sydney’s Northern Beaches

1. Modern Coastal Facades

Lean into the natural environment around you in the Northern Beaches with a modern coastal facade. Where traditional coastal facades lean into overly nautical aesthetics, modern coastal is led by a more minimalist and clean look. Think airy, open spaces with generous windows that invite natural light and sea breezes.

Timber cladding, softened minimalism, and tactile textures, such as weathered timber or painted brickwork, add character. These features create homes that feel connected to the coast while maintaining a timeless, functional design.

Interested in exploring modern coastal facades? Here’s a checklist to guide your design:

• Negative spacing on facade flats
• Bi-fold doors and expansive windows
• Vertical timber cladding
• Minimalist shaping (flat, clean lines)
• Low ornamentation
• Neutral colour tones
• Coastal landscaping
• Gabled rooflines
• Tactile texturing materials

2. Box Modern Facades

Box modern facades steer away from more coastal design aspects, but still work exceptionally well in the Northern Beaches by offering a complementary contrast to natural elements.

Tapping into Modernist design principles, box modern facades utilise clean lines, minimalism and the boxes that make the name. Other common features include floor-to-ceiling windows, pillars to support the structure, neutral colours, and timber cladding to add interest.

A standout feature of this facade is the multiple interlocking or offset box-like forms. These boxes are typically squares or rectangles and can involve a range of presentation principles. They may be stacked, bridged, or cantilevered to create visual interest. Many single-storey homes feature one monolithic box, offering a simple but eye-catching design.

Interested in box modern facades? Here’s a checklist to guide your design:

• Rectangular or Square Boxes
• Low Ornamentation
• Vertical Wooden Cladding
• Floor-to-Ceiling Windows

Pillars of Environmental Overhang

3. Mid-Century Modern Facades

For a warmer aesthetic and opportunities to incorporate colour, consider mid-century modern (MCM) facades. The warmer features of this style stem from the iconic use of timber. Walnut, rosewood, and oak are common globally, while Australian designs feature Tasmanian oak, spotted gum, and blackbutt. Concrete, breezeblocks, and chiselled stone complement standout timber features, building on a clean, tactile aesthetic. Colour has consistently been featured in mid-century design, with MCM leaning toward earthy tones like oak, olive greens, burnt orange, and mustard yellow.

MCM design centres on purpose. Think flat roofs without unnecessary angles, crisp geometry, and horizontal lines. These organic structures interact with natural coastal environments through features like interior courtyards and open-plan layouts, blurring boundaries between indoors and out.

Interested in MCM facades? Here’s a checklist to guide your design:

• Olive green, oak, khaki, burnt orange or mustard yellow in the palette 
• An accent colour panel 
• Any flat horizontal planes that aren’t the roof
• A flat or low-pitched roof
• Minimal ornamentation 
• Warm lighting
• Exposed wood
• Vertical wood panelling 
• Clean, rectilinear geometry

Where to Find Out More

We recommend exploring Sydney’s Northern Beaches to see examples of these facade designs. The checklists provided above can help you determine the different elements of each. Our display rooms also offer a glimpse of the different facades and the opportunity to speak with one of our home consultants.