At our last house, by the beach, we tiled large square near-white tiles with a "lappato" finish. It's a tile with a texture on it, but also has a reflective glossy finish between the texture. It's hard to explain, but easy to see if you see it in person. It's like having the grip advantages for the wet bare feet of a textured tile, with the reflective glam of glossy. They were effective by both measures.

When selecting windows it’s a good idea to think about how they perform thermally. The frames influence this as well as the glazing. Timber, uPVC and thermally broken aluminium frames are lower conductors of heat and cool than regular aluminium or steel frames, but they do come at a cost premium. Timber frames also require much more maintenance. And, of course, aesthetics come into play. The windows you select will affect your NATHERS or BASIX rating and will also affect your heating and cooling requirements. For more information these websites have useful information: https://renew.org.au/renew-magazine/buyers-guides/window-buyers-guide/ https://www.wers.net/werscontent/how-to-select-windows

Is it the brickwork being weathered away, or the mortar between the brickwork? You may be better to get the brickwork repointed if it is just the mortar. With an exposed position like yours I would not consider adding any cladding that needs maintenance with repainting, such as any of the James Hardie products. I would consider some of the Colorbond products that are designed for extreme marine environments, but use them vertically over the walls, instead of roofing. I would engage a designer with a good eye and local experience with designing homes with this sort of exposure. There are lots of surfside homes that have not weathered well over the decades due to the detailing of the materials, joins and connections not being professionally considered for an exposed marine environment. By the way I love the rugged, almost brutalist look of your home. A good designer can help soften the look of your home, but it can't easily, or cost effectively be changed into a beach house style home, which are usually made of lightweight materials that need lots of maintenance. Work with what you have, rather than try to make it look like something else, and fail. Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls

It looks like a clever update -- looking at the photos though , it looks like an addition has been built ( at a 20 or 30 degree angle ) on one end ? Everyone is different , and the house looks like it had good bones , but I would have thought only 1 addition ( either the 'end' or the rear room' ) would have been more cost effective to get the extra space ? Overall , very well done !