Tosin Oshinowo's OA House Turns a Narrow Beach Plot into a Minimalist Retreat

A four-bedroom beach house on Ikaare Island, off the Lagos lagoon, sits in sculptural white volumes that answer the white sands of the coastline. Tosin Oshinowo, the architect, curator and Wallpaper* Awards nominee for Best Private House 2023, designed OA House as a private retreat tuned to its seaside setting.

Every orientation in the house points toward water. Windows, outdoor areas and a generous swimming pool deck all face the plot's clean vistas of the Atlantic Ocean. The approach is deliberate and site-specific, blending crisp modernity with local design language.

What does the house actually look like?

The architecture is "deliberately restrained," according to the architect. Matte off-white walls, timber floors and an aqua-green pool define the interiors, set against a minimalist landscape of white sands, green palms and blue sea. The region's bright sun and distinctive vegetation frame the volumes' presence on the beach.

That restraint does the work. The pared-down palette creates a flexible, calming backdrop for living and relaxing — a quiet stage rather than a loud statement.

How does the layout handle a narrow site?

The ground floor hosts the main living spaces, opening toward the water views. The living space, the house's heart, works as an "open, breezy pavilion," Oshinowo explains. A hot tub and outdoor seating areas create what the architect calls a "gradual transition from the house to the shoreline."

Bedrooms also sit on the ground floor, placed toward the plot's rear for privacy. They still face the pool but turn away from the vastness of the ocean, giving a more cocooning feeling. Upstairs, further bedrooms feature their own private terraces for taking in the coastal landscape.

The narrow plot shaped the design rather than limiting it. "This project is particularly special because its narrow site became an opportunity to create an engaging visual transition through the property," Oshinowo says. "The house remains true to our minimalist aesthetic, with a calm, cohesive palette of subtle off-white tones across the floors, walls, and exterior ceilings, complementing the surrounding landscape and the aqua colour of the pool."

What does this change for private residential work?

Oshinowo frames the house as an argument for bespoke design over repetition. "No two homes are ever the same when designed for private clients," she says. "Residential architecture lets us explore the extraordinary diversity of possibilities within the world's most fundamental architectural typology, shaped by each client's individuality, lifestyle, and relationship with place."

OA House shows how a constrained coastal plot can produce architecture that feels expansive — and it adds another residential work to Oshinowo's growing portfolio at a moment when her practice is drawing international recognition.