Australian Residential Architecture and Design
FRESH FAC E D
ISSUE 124
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Creating homes for the way we live today
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Y STARTS WITH CORINTHIAN
At a Glance
Musings From the editor
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Contributors
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1 of 16 Working with an architect
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Trust in your architect is imperative to achieving a good result, as seen at 1 of 16 by Panov Scott Architects. 49 Products Fresh finds
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A selection of the latest design products for the home. Outdoor Products Backyard and beyond
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Studio Made by Morgen
One to watch Clayton Orszaczky
Studio Jeffrey Alan Marks
Made by Morgen’s Nick McDonald creates simple, stripped-back furniture that is practical and well made.
In the past three years, Sydney practice Clayton Orszaczky has completed eleven projects, with many more in the pipeline.
In-demand Santa Monicabased interior designer Jeffrey Alan Marks has designed a collection of elegant fabrics.
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132 Revisited Cammeray House by Luigi Rosselli Architects
From a sculptural chaise longue to lush plant tiles, these beautiful products can bring something new to an outdoor space. Windows & Doors Positive outlook
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Ingeniously designed and cleverly crafted, these window and door products open up a world of design opportunity. 87 Postscript Laneway Studio An above-garage studio in the Sydney suburb of Redfern offers an appealing model for the transformation of the utilitarian laneway.
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People Philip Stejskal Architecture
First House Challis Penthouse by MI Architects
Western Australian practice Philip Stejskal Architecture is committed to making great architecture accessible to all.
Andy Macdonald of MI Architects reflects on one of his first projects – a rooftop apartment in Sydney.
AT A GLANCE
This meticulously crafted house is imbued with a classical sensibility tempered by moments of inventive wit.
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These pages are filled with moments of architectural delight and an abundance of design inspiration, from the crafty and economical to the bold and flamboyant. 18
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Project Nymph by Zen Architects
New house Newcastle, NSW
Alteration + addition Melbourne, Vic
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1 of 16 by Panov Scott Architects
Garden Room House by Clare Cousins Architects
Loft House x2 by Brad Swartz Architects
Alteration + addition Sydney, NSW
Alteration + addition Melbourne, Vic
Guest studios Sydney, NSW
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Three Piece House by Trias
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One Room Tower by Phorm Architecture + Design with Silvia Micheli & Antony Moulis Guest studio Brisbane, QLD
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Matraville Residence by Tzannes
Bramston Residence by Richard Kirk Architect
Outside In House by MODO
Platform House by Studio Plus Three
New house Sydney, NSW
New house Brisbane, QLD
Alteration + addition Melbourne, Vic
Alteration + addition Sydney, NSW
CONTENTS
Musings
You’ll notice that the pages of Houses have been reinvigorated and we’re very excited about sharing our new look with our loyal readers. The creative force behind the design is Janine Wurfel of Studio Metrik, whose subtle and elegant approach refreshes a familiar and much-loved magazine celebrating Australia’s best residential architecture. This redesign has presented us with the opportunity to stop and reflect on what Houses is all about – good design for the way we live today, including the homes we live in, the products we use in construction and the furnishings and fittings we choose. We share the residential work of Australian architects and promote their wealth of knowledge in responding to diverse contexts and constraints, changing needs and environmental and social concerns. We’d love to hear what you think of our new look, so please feel free to get in touch! Katelin Butler, editor
01 Check out the Design for Life: Grant and Mary Featherston exhibition at Heide Museum of Modern Art, on until 7 October 2018. Tracing the explorations of new materials, technologies and production of furniture throughout the 1960s and 70s, the exhibition highlights the holistic nature of Grant Featherston’s practice. heide.com.au
03 03 We’re excited about the upcoming announcement of the NGV’s Rigg Design Prize 2018, with the winner to be revealed on 12 October. The ten shortlisted Australian design studios have been invited to design a purposebuilt interior that responds to the 2018 theme of “Domestic Living.” The ten designs will be exhibited at NGV Australia from 12 October to 24 February 2019. Pictured is Deco House interior by Amber Road (architecture by Folk Architects), one of the shortlisted studios. Photograph: Lisa Cohen. ngv.vic.gov.au
02 At the gala presentation of the 2018 Houses Awards, held at Sydney’s Ivy Ballroom on 27 July, we were delighted to exhibit the results of a modelmaking studio held at the University of Technology, Sydney. In a class led by Celeste Raanoja and Nick Kovac of Make Models, each student had been allocated an Australian House of the Year from the seven years since the program’s inception. Pictured is the model of Auchenflower House by Vokes and Peters, winner of the 2017 Australian House of the Year. Photograph: Anna Kucera. See snaps of the other models at architectureau.com/articles/ students-model-australian-houseof-the-year-winners
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04 Explore some of Sydney’s most important and architecturally inspiring buildings and spaces at Sydney Open, 3–4 November 2018. Access more than sixty sites by joining intriguing Focus Tours on 3 November and explore the city with the Sydney Open Pass on 4 November. Tickets on sale now. Pictured is Rose Seidler House by Harry Seidler, which will be part of the Focus Tours program. Photograph: Nicholas Watt. Find out more at slm.is/open
Write to us at houses@archmedia.com.au Subscribe at architecturemedia.com Find us @housesmagazine
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MUSINGS
Follow us for design inspiration.
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ARCHITECTURAL WINDOWS AND DOORS BY
Contributors Editor Katelin Butler Editorial enquiries Katelin Butler T: +61 3 8699 1000 houses@archmedia.com.au
Tobias Horrocks Writer Tobias Horrocks is an architect who designs with cardboard. A Victorian living by the Sydney seaside, he lectures in computational design theory at the University of New South Wales and undertakes PhD research at the University of Technology, Sydney.
Editorial director Cameron Bruhn Editorial team Cassie Hansen Josh Harris Alexa Kempton Melinda Knight Mary Mann
Tess Kelly Photographer Tess Kelly is a commercial photographer based in Melbourne. She specializes in architectural and interior photography. Tess photographs projects in a considered, composed editorial style. Her images capture an overall concept as well as the intricacies of detail, form and materials.
Production Simone Wall Design Metrik studiometrik.com General manager, sales & digital Eva Dixon Account managers Lana Golubinsky Victoria Hawthorne Brunetta Stocco Bianca Weir Advertising enquiries All states advertising@ archmedia.com.au +61 3 8699 1000
Scott Burrows Photographer Scott Burrows is an experienced architectural photographer in Queensland, with a career spanning twenty years. He follows a simple rule for architectural imagery: it must inform and excite, otherwise his client’s intention is lost.
Gemma Savio Writer Gemma Savio is a director at Sydney-based Savio Parsons Architects. She has a diverse creative practice that is enriched by her sustained contribution to academic research, writing and multidisciplinary collaborations.
CONTRIBUTORS
Published by Architecture Media Pty Ltd ACN 008 626 686 Level 6, 163 Eastern Road South Melbourne Vic 3205 Australia T: +61 3 8699 1000 F: +61 3 9696 2617 publisher@archmedia.com.au architecturemedia.com New South Wales office Level 1, 3 Manning Street Potts Point NSW 2011 Australia T: +61 2 9380 7000 F: +61 2 9380 7600 Endorsed by The Australian Institute of Architects and the Design Institute of Australia.
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Print management DAI Print Distribution Australia: Gordon & Gotch Australia (bookshops) and International: Eight Point Distribution
Subscriptions architecturemedia.com/store subscribe@archmedia.com.au or contact the publisher above ISSN 1440-3382
Cover: Garden Room House by Clare Cousins Architects. Photograph: Tess Kelly.
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Managing director Ian Close Publisher Sue Harris General manager, events & administration Jacinta Reedy
Copyright: HOUSES® is a registered trademark of Architecture Media Pty Ltd. All designs and plans in this publication are copyright and are the property of the architects and designers concerned.
DuraSquare. Striking. Precise. Rectangular. The new bathroom series, DuraSquare, blends the precise edges of the rectangular outer form with soft, organically owing inner contours. The washbasin made from DuraCeramŽ sits on top of a matching metal console, shown here in chrome. The glass shelf provides practical storage space. More information available at Bathe, 25 John Street, Leichhardt, NSW. 2040, Tel: 1300 133 320. Bathe showroom, 1 Craine Street, South Melbourne, VIC. 3205 and www.duravit.com
Terrarium House by John Ellway
Cabbage Tree House by Peter Stutchbury Architecture
Boneca Apartment by Brad Swartz Architects
Springhill House by Lovell Burton Architecture
Morningside Residence by Kieron Gait Architects
Monash Road House by Zuzana and Nicholas
Nightingale 1 by Breathe Architecture
Thanks to our 2018 Houses Awards supporters:
Bolt Hole by Panov Scott Architects
Hole In The Roof House By Rachel Neeson And Stephen Neille
Bruny Island Hideaway by Maguire and Devine
See your house here next year
The Books House by Luigi Rosselli Architects
Blinco Street House by Philip Stejskal Architecture
B and B Residence by Hogg and Lamb
Italianate House by Renato D’Ettorre Architects
Register now for the 2019 program housesawards.com.au
Lune de Sang Pavilion by CHROFI
Fitzroy Lane House by Kennedy Nolan
Coastal Garden House by Neeson Murcutt Architects
King Bill by Austin Maynard Architects
Thoma House by Candalepas Associates
Curatorial House by Arent and Pyke and Luke Moloney Architecture
North Perth Townhouse by Simon Pendal Architect
North Melbourne Terrace by Matt Gibson Architecture and
Cleveland Rooftop by SJB
THREE PIECE HOUSE BY TRIAS
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This comfortable and unpretentious home is remarkably of its place and creates a compelling dialogue with the fabric of the neighbourhood.
Words by Gemma Savio Photography by Benjamin Hosking
01 The rust-toned render references the hulls of passing coal ships.
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Stockton, bounded by the Hunter River on the northern edge of Newcastle, has a suburban character reflective of life on the peninsula. Despite it’s proximity to the city, this place is innately peripheral, a suburb edged by a complex topographic boundary that shifts between mangrove embankment, riverfront promenade and vast stretches of open coastline. This definitive margin between land and water is skirted by a perimeter of sprawling parkland that creates a public border to the suburb. The shared terrain forms a democratic edge that is peppered with neighbourhood landmarks. These monuments to recreation signify an additional boundary condition that is tenuous and blurred and is repeated throughout the suburb. Ofering a counterbalance to the unnavigable shoreline, the cricket pitch is subtly delineated in the expansive turfed lawn and the oval is loosely distinguished by a colonnade of ubiquitous Norfolk Island pines. Located on a corner block adjacent to the oval, Three Piece House sits at the threshold between the shared communal edge of Stockton and the more private neighbourhood streetscape. Trias directors Jennifer McMaster and Jonathon Donnelly designed the house for a retired couple from Sydney, and the dwelling has helped to stitch the lives of its owners into the fabric of the neighbourhood. Through an architectural response that is remarkably of its place, the architects have finessed the suburban vernacular into an architecture that is comfortable and unpretentious. Adopting the vestigial form of its neighbours, the house is outwardly elemental. The brick plinth, pitched roofs, corner windows and chimney are derived from the pattern language of the suburb. These elements have been foregrounded in the elevation hierarchy and appropriated in a manner that initiates patterns of habitation. Presenting a response to context that goes beyond being a collection of references, the architectural manoeuvres throughout Three Piece House make legible the idiosyncratic patterns of
THREE PIECE HOUSE
2 Newcastle, NSW
New house
Downsizers
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dwelling that have shaped the character of this coastal suburb. With the house as a reference point, the layered patterns of its surrounds are given clarity as a series of habitable edges, thresholds and shifting boundaries. Operating as a diagram for the general habitation of Stockton, the house is distilled to a public edge with a semi-private middle that is set within bounded land. The site itself is sunken, an anomaly that is acknowledged by a series of low rendered brick walls. Positioned to formalize the street corner, the walls are interrupted by two brick entry paths and edged with native groundcover that will partially obscure the walls over time. This pattern is repeated along the streetscape, where sandy front gardens are allowed to creep into the median strip. In a gesture that extends the public domain and allows the owners of the house to participate in customary front yard barbecues, the house is pulled generously of the site boundaries. An exercise in modesty, the house exemplifies the Trias rhetoric that advocates for “less but better.” As a result, the experience of dwelling in this house occurs at its edges, allowing a pattern of occupation befitting its site. The home is comprised of three pavilions – a living wing, sleeping wing and guest studio – and each space encourages activity at its periphery. Arranged around a courtyard, the living pavilion is shaped by a series of generous openings. The kitchen window to the east invites early morning sunlight and encourages engagement with the street, while on the opposite side of the kitchen bench, large timber doors blur the kitchen with the courtyard. In the guest studio the bed and day bed are pushed to the extremities of the building, where windows have been placed to extend the space into the garden. Throughout the house openings are made habitable by extended ledges sized for sitting and admiring views to the city. The southern view over the river is fragmented to focus on landmarks of the city. These are the permanent fixtures of a harbour view that is made ephemeral by enormous passing coal ships. In their absence, the latent significance of these vessels is directly expressed in the rust-toned render that references the hulls of the ships. This colour forms part of a limited material palette that is consistent throughout the house and applied in a manner that exhibits a considered approach to detailing. Externally, the profile of the rough-sawn timber cladding is rescaled and separated to establish the fence line, while the masonry plinth, made of bricks salvaged from the existing bungalow, is carefully eroded to form steps, seats and raised garden beds. Inside, the matched grain of plywood joinery and raked ceilings echoes the topographic nature of the place and demonstrates an ainity with the implicit quality of the surrounds. With subtlety and a sense of reverence, Trias has created contemporary suburban architecture that forms a compelling dialogue with the fabric of the neighbourhood.
HOUSES 124
NEW HOUSE
2 Site Floor
506 m² 137 m²
Design 1 y 6 m Build 10 m
Per m² $4,760
Products Roofing: Lysaght Custom Orb in Colorbond ‘Shale Grey’ External walls: Rockcote smooth-set render in custom red oxide mix; Radial Timber silvertop ash board and batten in Preschem Radial Timber sealer Internal walls: Plywood ceiling Windows: Shamrock rosewood frames in Sikkens light oak finish; Viridian low-e glazing; FSA Encore dual arm winder Doors: Shamrock rosewood doors in Sikkens light oak finish; Style Finish Design custom D-pulls in brass; Parisi Alto 5001 handles in brass Flooring: Recycled bricks in dry-look sealer; Tongue n Groove Piccolo Eterna flooring in ‘Graupa’ Lighting: Louis Poulsen PH 2/1 pendant and wall light; Tovo Wedgie uplights and Panorama Noosa outdoor spotlights Kitchen: Recycled brick island; Caesarstone benchtop in ‘Fresh Concrete’; Astra Walker Icon mixer; Fisher and Paykel Active Smart French-door fridge, Touch and Slide cooktop and rangehood; custom brass joinery handles by Trias Bathroom: Astra Walker Icon mixer; Acapulco terracotta brick, grey terrazzo tile and ‘Flake White’ ceramic tile from Surface Gallery Heating and cooling: Real Flame Heatseaker fireplace External elements: recycled bricks Other: Maruni Hiroshima chairs and Lightwood stools and chairs from Seeho Su; Armadillo and Co rugs
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02 The living pavilion is shaped by a series of generous openings, arranged around a courtyard. 03 The boundary of the nearby oval is loosely distinguished by a line of Norfolk Island pines. 04 Interior spaces encourage activity at the home’s periphery, strengthening the connection with the site.
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05 The island bench continues the palette of recycled bricks seen on the ooring of the circulation spaces. 06 The interior is characterized by a limited material palette and a considered approach to detailing.
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THREE PIECE HOUSE
The brick plinth, pitched roofs, corner windows and chimney are derived from the pattern language of the suburb.
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07 In the guest studio, the bed is pushed to the edge of the building and windows extend the space into the garden. 08 The site is sunken, an anomaly that is acknowledged by a series of low rendered brick walls. 08
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Architect Trias studio@trias.com.au trias.com.au
HOUSES 124
NEW HOUSE
Project team: Jonathon Donnelly, Jennifer McMaster Builder: GTS Constructions Engineer: Northrop Landscaping: Trias with Sustainable Surrounds
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PROJECT NYMPH BY ZEN ARCHITECTS
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PROJECT NYMPH
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Verandah Study Bedroom Deck Dining Kitchen
7 Laundry 8 Lounge 9 Paved garden 10 Void 11 Terrace
Paying homage to the nearby Royal Botanic Gardens and Fawkner Park, this alteration and addition to a Victorian terrace house in Melbourne’s South Yarra brings the gardens inside, creating a nourishing and restful backdrop for life.
Words by Hannah Wolter Photography by Derek Swalwell
In Greek mythology, nymphs are spirits of the natural world, depicted as beautiful maidens who inhabit rivers, forests, mountains or meadows. Similar to the Latin concept of genius loci – the spirit of a place – these goddesses are bound to particular landscapes. Project Nymph, the renovation and extension of a Victorian terrace house in Melbourne’s South Yarra, was named in recognition of Zen Architects’ focus on creating a sense of place. Paying homage to the dwelling’s proximity to the Royal Botanic Gardens of Melbourne and Fawkner Park, the architects have responded to the landscape, establishing a strong connection between the house and the gardens that bookend the street. The result is a nourishing and restful environment for a busy mother and her young daughter, with enough room to accommodate regular interstate guests. The existing house was a single-fronted terrace, and the renovation has been conceived as an “old box” and a “new box” connected by a vast double-height volume – the boxes being the original terrace and a new two-storey addition at the rear of the site. The connecting volume is partially glazed and partly covered by a tall timber pergola, and on reading the floor plans the junction between the interior and exterior of this connecting volume is vague. This translates into the lived experience of the house, as
HOUSES 124
the material qualities are continuous between the interior/exterior threshold, bringing the qualities of the courtyard garden into the kitchen and dining area. Project architect Laura Bulmer explains that Zen intentionally avoided domestic imagery, in a move to take the emphasis of household “stuf.” This is particularly evident in the kitchen and dining area, which feels akin to a garden pavilion. Laura gives credit to the owner’s bravery in allowing the architects to bring typically exterior materials into the interior, such as the split bluestone pavers. The solid block wall that runs the length of the southern boundary was imagined as a garden wall, extending the garden reference further. Open riser timber stairs project from this wall, with the kitchen tucked underneath, giving the impression of the kitchen being under the canopy of a tree. At the top of the stair, a bridge connects to the main suite with an adjoining terrace. During the design process, the architects were aware of a proposed development behind the site and were able to mitigate future overlooking with perforated screens that carefully edit views from this upper terrace toward the city, with the dome of the Melbourne City Synagogue in the foreground. In a joyful and appealing gesture, the second bedroom and ensuite are accessed via a long bridge that traverses the double-height volume and it’s from this vantage point that the overall efect
ALTERATION + ADDITION
01 The architects have avoided domestic imagery, seeking instead to create a space akin to a garden pavilion. 02 The interiors feature materials typically used for exterior applications, such as split bluestone pavers. Artwork: Zhong Chen. 03 A double-height pergola made from recycled spotted gum brings a strong vertical dimension to the design.
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2 Melbourne, Vic
Alteration + addition
3 Site Floor
Family
of the textures and materiality really comes into force. Raw concrete blockwork, fibre cement, grey-stained hoop pine ply, blackbutt battens, bluestone paving and the black accents of the steel railings all contribute to the impression of a garden setting. Outside, a double-height timber pergola made from recycled spotted gum brings a strong vertical dimension to the design and it’s this quality, paired with the positioning of the private outdoor space to the side boundary rather than to the rear, that diferentiates this design from a typical terrace house renovation. The tall, narrow typology with a northern aspect is one that Zen Architects had previously explored in its Green House project in Carlton North, which shares similar spatial qualities and techniques for passive heating and cooling. With a strong focus on sustainable architecture, Zen Architects has employed a number of strategies for managing and storing heat gain in this project, including mechanical seasonal shading that tucks away under the eaves and is supported by the pergola. Other tools to manage heat gain include steel hoods to the ground-floor bedroom and study windows, which, in an opportune collaboration with the engineer, double as structural lintels. A bedroom and study on the ground floor are contained within the original house – a cellular design that didn’t capitalize on the north-facing aspect. Zen has created two generous and luminous rooms here, employing its sensitive and energy-eicient approach to the restoration of heritage homes. The design for the new part of the build gives precedence to the living areas and main bedrooms, while wet areas and service spaces take a modest back seat. The kitchen, dining and living spaces open onto the courtyard, allowing them to swell when the glass doors are open and the retractable shading is overhead, or close down into smaller, cosy areas on cooler days. The owner’s notable art collection provides flashes of colour and interest throughout the house and imagery from tales such as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is suitably akin to the theme of fantasy and mythology suggested by the project’s name. The “landscaped” efect of the material palette and the playful architectural gestures of the bridges and towering pergola give the house, as a whole, the impression of a garden “stage.” This landscape provides a supporting backdrop for the life that ensues, for the plants, the art and the people.
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04 The second bedroom and ensuite are accessed via a long bridge that traverses the doubleheight volume.
PROJECT NYMPH
218 m² 250 m²
Design 2 y Build 9m
Products Roofing: Lysaght Klip-lok in Colorbond ‘Windspray’; Laserlite polycarbonate roofing; CSR Bradford Anticon insulation blanket and batts External walls: Lysaght Spandek cladding in Colorbond ‘Monument’; Foilboard Green rigid insulation; Urban Salvage blackbutt battens in Grimes and Sons Weathered Edge Internal walls: Boral Designer Blocks; Cemintel Barestone; plywood in Grimes and Sons Weathered Edge; Urban Salvage blackbutt ceiling battens in Bona clear matt Windows: Double-glazed windows with timber frames in Dulux paint by Pickering Joinery; Breezway louvres; Viridian Energy Tech glazing Doors: Designer Doorware door furniture; Halliday Baillie sliding door furniture; Brio sliding door tracks; Frits Jurgens pivot door mechanism Flooring: Eco Outdoor split-stone paving; Urban Salvage tongueand-groove blackbutt boards and decking boards; Big River Armourply blackbutt plywood Lighting: Alpha LED downlight and wall washer; Volker Haug pendant; Molto Luce wall light; Havit Lighting spotlight Kitchen: Astra Walker tapware in brass; Miele appliances in stainless steel Bathroom: Astra Walker tapware, towel rails and hooks in brass; Caesarstone benchtop in ‘Pure White’; Laminex Aquapanel wall linings Heating and cooling: H2O Heating hydronic heating; Shade Factor retractable shading; Fujitsu airconditioning External elements: Kennedy’s Timbers recycled timber posts and beams in Cutek ‘Grey Mist’; Truss Forte Louvamesh metal screen
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HOUSES 124
ALTERATION + ADDITION
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05 A bedroom and study are contained within the original house at the front. Artwork: Zhong Chen.
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06 Light and bright wet areas and service spaces take a back seat, while living spaces are given precedence.
5m
Architect Zen Architects +61 3 9482 3504 info@zenarchitects.com zenarchitects.com
PROJECT NYMPH
Project team: Laura Bulmer, Ric Zen Builder: Dome Building Projects Engineer: Tim Gibney and Associates Lighting: Light Project Energy Rating: Filter ESD Building Surveyor: Red Textas Landscaping: Lucy Williams (design), BRS Landscape (construction)
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1 OF 16 BY PA N OV SCOTT ARCHITECTS
Ground floor perspective
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01 The rear gutter line has been retained to mirror the skillion form of the other fifteen terrace houses in the row.
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HOUSES 124
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In transforming a single dwelling in a row of heritage terrace houses, Panov Scott Architects has respected the integrity of the collective while creating a maverick individual.
Words by David Welsh Photography by Brett Boardman
When I met Panov Scott Architects’ founders Anita Panov and Andrew Scott at 1 of 16, our conversation turned to the concept of the individual within the collective. The intact nature of this collective – a row of sixteen Victorian terrace houses in the Sydney suburb of Newtown – is one of the collective’s obvious strengths. But what Anita and Andrew find most interesting here is the role of the maverick individual in the group. The realm of that individual sits behind the dwelling’s front facade. While the front two rooms of the terrace have been left intact, from there on the architects have developed a refined strategy of experimentation to unlock the maverick character of this particular house. Understanding the building by drawing it at a larger scale helped to establish a program of eight smaller-scale experiments. Like the individual terraces that make up the overall row, each experiment in this project forms an important part of the completed family home. The first experiment was the garden – establishing connections to nature and the outdoors is crucial on small sites. Designed with landscape
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architect Kirsty Kendall, the garden and rear yard are set higher than the floor level of the kitchen/dining area, creating the feeling that the ground-floor spaces of the house sit in the garden. The back door doesn’t really have a threshold anymore; instead, it has become a seat. (Dropping the rear floor level is experiment two, while the kitchen/dining configuration, separate from the lounge area, is experiment four.) The garden spaces, combined with a central light well, access to the yard via large counterweight windows (experiment three) and the planted roof of the rear shed, work to enliven the indoor living areas with a loose interplay of light, which will soften as the plants establish themselves. The kitchen joinery, with its stiletto support corner of metal and plywood, is part bench, part desk, part sideboard (and part of experiment four), acting as a tenon that binds the kitchen galley to the rear living/ dining space. This is a restrained celebration of the kitchen as a social space and a symbolic centre of the family home. Upstairs, a room has been added within the middle bedroom (experiment five). Extending the room into the rear light well area with a new volume, lined
1 OF 16
4 Sydney, NSW
Alteration + addition
Family
3
1 +1
with blackbutt ply and fibre cement, provides space for a bed and concealed storage, and allows the majority of the room to remain intact. Experiment six is the cloud light. Like a bat signal hovering high over the city, it seems to float at the top of the stairs and is the first intervention that you notice when entering the house. Working with the original hallway arch at the bottom of the stairs, it acts as a type of ephemeral demarcation between public and private zones within the home. The cloud light also heralds the bathroom spaces of to the side (experiment seven) – an assembly of separate spaces that also uses the curved geometry in its selection of fixtures and placement of enclosing tiled walls. Experiment eight is the flourish that resolves the geometry and form of the new rear bedroom. The room, as designed, was ambiguous in program – at various times it was going to be a study, or a guestroom, but in the end it became a kid’s bedroom. The splayed window and skylight in this room evolved through experimentation in drawing. Studies in proportion and line, particularly in elevation, allowed the architects to establish datum lines and angles that respect the Victorian proportions of the windows and doors, adapted to address the need for light and air. They also allow interaction with the surprisingly well-used rear lane, which is more often than not populated by street artists and street art enthusiasts, along with workers from the businesses that back onto the lane. The atypical result is that the corner of the room is simultaneously blown out and contained by the triangular geometries, expanding the interior beyond its limited footprint and allowing not just the room, but also the house as a whole, to connect to its context beyond the rear fence line. The project’s material selection could also be counted as an experiment; the palette is sophisticated without delving into opulence. Texture, nuanced surfaces and light have been thought about carefully in the selection and placement of materials. This series of individual experiments has resulted in a cohesive whole. For those who experience them, these elements might open up a whole new way of looking at things or change how they feel about being in a particular space. The long-term benefits of these maverick acts will become evident in time. The reason for conducting the experiments is humble and straightforward: in the architect’s own words, it is to simply “make people happy.”
HOUSES 124
ALTERATION + ADDITION
Powder room
Site Floor
153 m² 147 m²
Design 1 y 7 m Build 10 m
Products Roofing: Lysaght Custom Orb, Klip-lok gutters and downpipes in Zincalume and custom flashings in Colorbond ‘Night Sky’ External walls: Cemintel Barestone panels; Tilling western red cedar vertical cladding in Cutek ‘Black Ash’; re-used brickwork in Dulux ‘Domino’ and ‘Celtic Sky’; off-form concrete Internal walls: Gyprock plasterboard in Dulux ‘Vivid White’; off-form concrete Windows: Velux skylight; custom western red cedar frames in Cutek ‘Black Ash’ by Longma Joinery; custom steel frames in Dulux ‘Domino’ Doors: Custom sliding door in Corian ‘Glacier White’; solid-core sliding door in Dulux ‘Vivid White’; Brio sliding tracks Flooring: Boral blackbutt flooring in Synteko ‘Natural Oil’; polished concrete Lighting: Boaz Audrey Tilt downlight; Muuto Ambit pendant lights; Alti Balloon wall light; Ovo Modern recessed wall lights from Da Voluce Lighting Studio Kitchen: Armourply blackbutt veneer joinery; Cemintel Barestone joinery; Corian benchtop in ‘Glacier White’; Smeg oven; Fisher and Paykel fridge; Miele dishwasher; Villeroy and Boch sink; Brodware Yokato mixer in Weathered Brass Organic Bathroom: Inax Yohen Border mosaic tiles from Artedomus; Johnson Tiles Waringa tiles; Catalano Verso basin, Zero toilet and Vitra Memoria basin from Rogerseller; Kaldewei Centro Duo Oval bath; Brodware Yokato tapware in Weathered Brass Organic External elements: Re-used bricks; off-form concrete Other: Jardan Furniture Nook lounge and Seb dining chairs; custom dining table
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1 OF 16
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This is a restrained celebration of the kitchen as a social space and a symbolic centre of the family home.
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Entry Sitting Living Kitchen Light well Dining Courtyard Store Bedroom
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02 The metal and plywood kitchen joinery acts as a tenon that binds the kitchen galley to the rear living space.
ALTERATION + ADDITION
03 The dining and kitchen/living space feels as if it sits within the raised rear garden, designed with Kirsty Kendall.
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04 A dramatic “cloud light,” referencing the form of the original hallway arch, appears to float at the top of the stairs.
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05 The bathroom comprises an assembly of separate spaces defined by a series of curved walls in white tile.
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06 A splayed window and skylight in the corner of the rear bedroom expand the interior beyond its limited footprint. Artwork: Mark Whalen.
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Architect Panov Scott Architects +61 401 413 434 / +61 421 447 534 anita@panovscott.com.au andrew@panovscott.com.au panovscott.com.au
ALTERATION + ADDITION
Project team: Anita Panov, Andrew Scott, Justine Anderson Builder: Hobbs and Blair Constructions Engineer: Cantilever Consulting Engineers Landscaping: Kirsty Kendall Landscape Architect
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1 OF 16 MEET THE OWNERS WORKING WITH AN ARCHITECT
Trust in your architect is imperative to achieving a good result, as seen at 1 of 16 by Panov Scott Architects. Here, Houses editor Katelin Butler chats with owners Andrew Boddam-Wetham and Amelia Goldsmith about working with an architect. Photography by Brett Boardman
Katelin Butler Could you tell us a little about your family and your background? Andrew Boddam-Wetham I’m a sign-writer and I split my time between a sign-writing business and creating fine art, murals and other design illustrations. Amelia Goldsmith I’ve got a background in working with food, so it was always important that we had a great kitchen in our house. When we started the process with Andrew and Anita of Panov Scott Architects, we only had one child but were hoping for a second. We ended up getting pregnant and Harry, our second child, was due around the same time that the house was due for completion. Harry was late, and so was the house! Now we have Alice (six years) and Harry (eighteen months). KB Why did you decide to engage an architect? AG I don’t think it was ever really a question. It was always the way we envisioned it would be done. AB-W Yes, definitely. My grandfather is an architect in New Zealand and I’ve got other architects in the family, including cousins and uncles. I suppose this helped me to understand what an architect can bring to a project like ours. I believe that you need to have a professional on board to get the result you’re looking for. I don’t think there was another option for us. AG When looking for a house to buy, we came across so many “cookie-cutter” houses. We knew that wasn’t what we wanted. We wanted someone with experience to make the most of the house we had.
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01 The Victorian terrace house has been opened up, with visual connection between rooms. Artwork: Angela Fox
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02 The owners’ trust in Panov Scott Architects led to surprising and delightful spaces and details.
03 A new volume has been added to one of the children's bedrooms, providing space for a bed and concealed storage.
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KB How did you discover Panov Scott Architects? AG I’ve got a few friends who work in the industry – both architects and landscape architects. This was before Instagram took off, so it was really useful to have this guidance from friends. It was recommended to me that I look online at the Australian Institute of Architects’ website; I clicked through to the Inner West Council Built Environment Awards’ Marrickville Medal for Conservation and Panov Scott were
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highly commended for Three by Two House (see Houses 96) that year [2014]. We looked at Andrew and Anita’s website and we instantly knew that we wanted them to design our house. AB-W Andrew and Anita’s practice seems to have gone from strength to strength since then. KB How did you prepare for your first meeting with the architects? AG We made a Pinterest board and I tore pictures out of magazines and made a folder – but it was pretty basic. AB-W We didn’t have a blueprint for what we wanted. We wanted Andrew and Anita to take the lead. AG Yes, I think there was only one thing that we pushed back on in the whole project! KB Your brief sounds like it was reasonably open, but what were the key elements that you wanted in your renovated home? AG We wanted our house to be airy and light. We also wanted an extra bedroom upstairs and a bathroom downstairs. But that’s about the extent of it! AB-W It was a pretty open brief, that’s for sure. It was about letting Andrew and Anita read the situation and where we were at in our lives. We wanted to give the architects a chance to develop their own ideas. They didn’t get any
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resistance from us – everything always went in the same direction. AG We didn’t have an unlimited budget, so that was something that was considered, too. KB Yes, placing trust in your architect can help to achieve the best outcome. Is the result what you expected? AB-W Definitely. The level of detail that’s gone into some of the windows and openings is amazing. AG Without an architect, we wouldn’t have anything like what we’ve got today. Nick, our builder, continually referred to Andrew and Anita along the way. I think it’s paramount to have the architects managing the build on site. KB Did you have much involvement in the progress on site? AG We had meetings on site every week. We were living at my mum’s place at the time. It was quite full-on, especially as I was pregnant! AB-W Yes, it was an intense period, but it was also fun. There were testing times, but maybe that’s the beauty of the house being built at the same time as everything else – it’s more rewarding to live in it now. KB What advice would you give to someone who is thinking of working with an architect?
WORKING WITH AN ARCHITECT
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And would you engage an architect again? AB-W First and foremost, choose the right architect for you. Research the practice’s recent projects and you’ll straight away get a taste for what it does. The architect’s attitude to clients is hard to gauge at first. You’ve really got to have so much trust in the architect you choose. I do wonder what it’s like for someone who hasn’t had a great experience. It would be testing. I’d do another one tomorrow. I just loved it so much. But I wouldn’t do it with anyone else other than Andrew and Anita. The process should be exciting, fun and creative. Every party should be feeling good about it. Andrew and Anita told us at the start of the process that there is this energy – that you form a bond with your architect and you will always be connected with them through the house. And now, looking back, I can see that’s an accurate description. It’s so good to live in a house that you feel so strongly about. AG It’s now been four or five years since we engaged Andrew and Anita to design our home. So the friendship with them has really grown over that time. AB-W Also, time is the commodity that you have to be willing to spend. To us, the length of time that the process took doesn’t really matter – the longer it went on, the more developed the design became.
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A brutalism-inspired stone lamp, a table that fuses power connectivity and design and a playful pendant – these are just some of the exciting new products featured here.
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Find more residential products: selector.com and productnews.com.au
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01 New Volumes Collection 01 The first collection of Artedomus’s new line, New Volumes, explores and “pushes the boundaries” of Elba stone. Collection 01 features a brutalism-inspired desk lamp by Ross Gardam (pictured), a cantilevered side table and a grand dining table, all formed entirely of Elba. artedomus.com
03 Inline Solar roofing Monier’s Inline Solar system allows solar panels to sit flush within a roof, compared to traditional solar panels that sit on top of roofs. The panels can be combined with Monier’s flat terracotta or concrete range to create a contemporary finish that is strong and watertight. monier.com.au
05 The ETO table Designed by Tom Fereday for King Living, the ETO table is a sophisticated example of honest design. Finished in sustainably sourced oak and built around an aluminium frame, the table fuses power connectivity, wireless charging and lighting into one seamless design. kingliving.com.au
02 Taccia table lamp Designed by brothers Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni for Flos’s Home Collection, the Taccia table lamp plays with perception by giving the illusion of an upside-down hanging lamp. Flos's Home Collection is now available through Living Edge. livingedge.com.au
04 Polly Cabinet Tide Design's Polly Cabinet is a celebration of simplicity. Made of solid timber, the versatile storage and shelving cabinet is characterized by subtle, flowing lines and a natural finish. It is available in Tasmanian oak, American oak, American walnut and Tasmanian blackwood. tidedesign.com.au
06 Château cookers French oven manufacturer La Cornue has introduced its premium range of Château cookers to E & S showrooms in Australia. Each Château cooker is an original, manufactured as a single unit, handmade to order and assembled by a craftsperson in La Cornue's Paris workshop. eands.com.au
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PRODUCTS
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07 TwoInOne cooktop Miele’s TwoInOne cooktop combines advanced induction cooking technology with an integrated downdraught extractor. This allows for unobstructed views, making it ideal for open-plan kitchens where conventional rangehoods may detract from the overall design. miele.com.au
09 Techne shelves The Techne Shelves, designed by Techne Architecture and Interior Design for Grazia and Co., adopt a layered approach, with a powdercoated frame enclosing an organically formed mesh surround. The shelves are available in three configurations: tall, medium and low. graziaandco.com.au
11 Endure Interior paint Taubmans has launched a new formulation of its flagship Endure Interior paint, with advancements in technology incorporated to deliver improved protection. Offering “eightin-one” protection, Endure is available in low sheen, semi-gloss and matt. taubmans.com.au
08 AGO freestanding basins Italian design studio Antonio Lupi's AGO basins are designed to act as the centrepiece of the bathroom. Defined by its fluid lines, the AGO185 (pictured) is available in either Nero Marquinia or Carrara marble, while the AGO85 is available in thirty-one different colours. candana.com.au
10 Jules seating collection Designed for Duvivier by Charlotte Julliard, the Jules modular seating system includes sofas, sectional sofas and armchairs, corner units, chairs, ottomans, table separators and coffee tables. The seating can be upholstered in fabric, velvet or full-grain leather. domo.com.au
12 Jolly lighting range in Nau's Jolly lighting range, designed by Kate Stokes, translucent, hand-blown glass is juxtaposed with solid-coloured metal rods and shades to create a balanced material composition. The range's asymmetric, elfin-like form evokes a sense of playfulness and joy. cultdesign.com.au
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PRODUCTS
PEGGY 9 LIGHT Designer: Hangar Design Group Peggy lights up the Museum CafĂŠ at Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice. Interpret the polarity between black & white with the lightness of a rational and elegant design. White mouth-blown Murano glass shades contrast with a glossy black or satin bronze metal frame. by available at
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AUTHENTIC BEAUTY MADE TO LAST A LIFETIME Quick-Step engineered timber flooring has been designed with performance in mind. All Quick-Step timber floors are ďŹ nished with an advanced lacquer to give your floor added resistance to wear, marks and scratches. The new water-repellent Protect+ technology also helps to prevent water from penetrating and staining the joins, keeping your entire floor looking better for longer. quick-step.com.au speciďŹ er.premiumfloors.com.au
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Made by Morgen
Building on years of experience in the construction industry and taking cues from Danish modernism, Made by Morgen’s Nick McDonald creates simple, stripped-back furniture that is practical and well-made.
FURNITURE DESIGN
Words by Judith Abell
Hailing from a farm in south-west Victoria, Nick McDonald is the designer and maker behind Made by Morgen. Named after an unexplained nickname gifted to him by his father, Made by Morgen is based in a small workshop, complete with loyal dog, located in Melbourne’s northern suburbs. Nick took a circuitous route toward Made by Morgen, with steps along the way inspiring or skilling him for this moment. These steps include a significant period working in the building trade in Melbourne and a lengthy trip to Europe, where he spent time working with or observing furniture makers in Denmark, Germany and England. A critical experience was a two-week stint observing the manufacture of Finn Juhl furniture, in the Danish factory that holds exclusive rights to reproduction of this mid-century modernist’s work. Another was purchasing and renovating his own warehouse while working as a builder. Nick realized he had the skills and desire to be practical and creative. Nick also spent a number of years helping out on the family farm and this offered him the space and time that he needed to consolidate his knowledge and train his eye in making. A request to demolish a 1950s grandstand came with a consequent payment of 2,500 lineal metres of recycled hardwood and this became the medium for much experimentation and tinkering, a favourite pastime of his.
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Now back in Melbourne and finally in a “proper” workshop, it’s a busy time for Made by Morgen, with the studio’s first products launched in 2017. The work is predominantly solid timber furniture designed for domestic use – a side table, a bed, a dining table, a bench seat, a shelving unit to be launched soon and a sideboard yet to be prototyped. It is easy to see the aesthetic of modernists like Juhl in the work. Each piece is simple, stripped back and naturally finished, with subtle expressed jointing and what Nick calls “soft detailing,” where edges and corners are rounded. Nick describes himself as having simple tastes, and is more focused on developing designs that are practical and well made: “I’m not interested in creating pieces of art.” Nick still views the first product he developed as his favourite – the LIL side table. This solid timber piece is almost a perfect square in elevation, with one drawer, a floor-level shelf, a cut-out pull and the curved-edge finish he loves. Given the way his design eye has emerged, Nick can only pin down a new piece if he sees it at a scale of one to one, which allows him to work out if the proportions and details feel right. This is the way that LIL came into being and prototyping continues to be an essential process within the Made by Morgen workshop. madebymorgen.com
STUDIO
01 Nick McDonald, the designer and maker behind Made by Morgen. 02 Made by Morgen's AOB bed, AOB-S bench seat and LIL side table, all in solid American oak. 03 The AOD-RT table displays Made by Morgen's characteristic subtle expressed jointing and soft detailing.
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Clayton Orszaczky O N E T O W AT C H
In the past three years, Clayton Orszaczky has completed eleven projects, with many more in the pipeline. Linda Cheng chats to co-directors Rebekah Clayton and Michelle Orszaczky about their approach to residential design. Words by Linda Cheng
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“A really interesting carrot was dangled,” says Rebekah Clayton as she recalls the impetus for her and Michelle Orszaczky to set up their architecture practice in 2015. That “carrot” eventually became Beach House, which was shortlisted in the 2018 Houses Awards. Rebekah and Michelle had previously worked together at Alex Popov and Associates (now Popov Bass), and formed a close professional and personal bond. “I didn’t want to set up a business on my own and Michelle and I had such a great working relationship and we had been friends for years,” says Rebekah. Michelle, meanwhile, had been practising on her own for some time. When Rebekah’s dream project came knocking while she was working full-time at MCK Architects, she told Michelle that she wanted to go out on her own, but would only do it if she did it with her. “Michelle basically turned and said, ‘I’ve been waiting for you to ask!’” And the rest, as they say, is history. In just three years, Clayton Orszaczky has completed eleven projects, with another three under construction and seven on the drawing board. Despite the number of projects, the practice is still made up of just the two of them and is arranged to suit their respective lives. “We wanted to create good work-life balance,” Rebekah says. “We actually work remotely [from each other] in our own oices and we share an online server. Some projects are highly collaborative. We consult and share frequently on projects, and sometimes they change hands midway.” The arrangement allows them to ofer a more personal service for their clients. “We actually made a very conscious decision to keep our practice small,” Rebekah says. “The reason for that is we pride ourselves on drawing every line and being responsible for the work produced by our practice. Our clients like the fact that when they sign us up, they get a director.” Michelle adds, “It also allows us to continue doing the craft that we love, which is designing and drawing and putting things together from holistic ideas.” The practice works exclusively with residential architecture. “We both love houses,” Rebekah says. “It’s so
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personal and we form quite strong relationships with the clients that we work with and it’s quite fulfilling to get to know people.” It is clear that for Clayton Orszaczky, designing houses is an irresistible urge. When Rebekah was asked by the clients of Beach House (her first and dream project) to submit a proposal, she “designed it there and then,” she says. “[The site] was so beautiful, I couldn’t help myself. The Beach House was probably the most amazing project I’ve ever worked on.” Located on the New South Wales south coast, the site is exposed to strong winds; in response, the design takes a courtyard house arrangement, clad in timber that creates a protective layer, allowing the interior to be open and operable. “The courtyard was twofold: it was a device for protecting the occupants from the wind and at the same time, gave them open space and access to light and insulation on days when it was bufeted by the wind from the coast. It allowed a sanctuary,” Rebekah says. For Michelle, one of her first projects was Barn House in Sydney’s Bondi, designed for landscape designer William Dangar, who is a friend and colleague. The project is a collaboration between Michelle, William and interior designer Romy Alwill. The design of the house recalls William’s rural background, referencing simple but iconic building forms as well as the timber houses on the hills of Greenland and traditional Japanese barns. “The iconic form of the gable roof is very evocative of a warm home that seems to appeal to people. It’s had a lot of interest as a result,” says Michelle. In fact, since the project was completed and published in a number of lifestyle magazines, it has led to a commission from across the country at Cottlesloe Beach in Perth. “One thing that really contributes to the quality and enjoyment of a project is the trust of the client,” Michelle says. “When the client trusts you, you feel empowered to make great decisions on their behalf. I personally have a bit of a side interest in mid-century architecture. My dream project might have a little bit of that thrown in the brief – a new house in a beautiful setting, that’s the dream.” coarchitecture.co
CLAYTON ORSZACZKY
â&#x20AC;&#x153;We pride ourselves on drawing every line and being responsible for the work produced by our practice.â&#x20AC;?
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01 Rebekah Clayton and Michelle Orszaczky, co-directors of Clayton Orszaczky. Photograph: Leila Jeffreys.
04 Headland House (2016) was designed in a complex split-level arrangement to suit its steep topography. Photograph: Chris Warnes.
02 Barn House (2015) was designed in collaboration with owner and landscape designer William Dangar and interior designer Romy Alwill. Photograph: Murray Fredericks.
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03 Beach House (2016) was designed in a courtyard house arrangement in response to its exposure to strong winds. Photograph: Chris Warnes.
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ONE TO WATCH
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GARDEN ROOM HOUSE BY CLARE COUSINS ARCHITECTS
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This deliberately restrained addition to a Victorian terrace – which replaces an oversized faux period structure – revolves around a central courtyard to create a verdant haven in Melbourne’s inner north.
Words by Linda Cheng Photography by Tess Kelly
Standing in the backyard of Clare Cousins Architects’ Garden Room House on a sunny summer’s day, you could easily feel as if you’re in subtropical Queensland. The white-brick rear elevation gleams against a backdrop of a cloudless mid-afternoon sky, with the sun’s rays ricocheting of the pool’s surface. But this is inner-suburban Fitzroy North in Melbourne. The house is surrounded by heritage terraces and the odd Edwardian mansion. The original front of the house – a double-fronted heritage Victorian – faces onto Edinburgh Gardens, a large park within a tightly gridded urban setting. In some ways, Garden Room House is its own verdant haven in one of the most sought-after pockets of Melbourne. It uses its large but hemmed-in site to its advantage, creating a close relationship between the garden and the dwelling. Clare Cousins Architects designed an addition to the original four-room Victorian that replaces an oversized double-storey faux period structure built in the 1980s. The new addition is single level and smaller than the previous. It continues the central corridor of the original house, leaving front rooms largely intact, albeit with a series of small interventions such as a new ensuite and a vivid Victorian blue powder room. The sight line from the front door through the new addition terminates at a wall, like a fullstop at the end of a sentence. But the variegated light and shadows on the surfaces hint at a continuing narrative.
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GARDEN ROOM HOUSE
4 Melbourne, Vic
Alteration + addition
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2 + 2 Powder rooms
In the backyard, the ground plane steps up dramatically. The rise from the front of the site to the back is two metres. The architects created a series of brick plinths and stairs that traverse the landscape. “Our strategy was to help gently navigate the topography of the site and also create opportunities for perching and resting,” says architect Clare Cousins. The topography of the landscape is mimicked in the rear facade’s stepped rectilinear form. Its crisp geometry is reinforced in the use of the stack bond brick pattern. “We wanted to reference the orthogonal shape of the back elevation rather than using traditional brick bond,” says Clare. Behind this stepped facade, a raking ceiling over the kitchen and dining area creates contrast against the adjacent, more intimate lounge area. Back inside, the new addition is arranged like an extrapolation of a four-room Victorian house, with zones rather than rooms. From the central spine, four new zones branch out: a lounge area, a kitchen and dining area, two children’s bedrooms behind a wall of oak timber panelling, and a courtyard or garden room that lends this house its name. The insertion of the courtyard erodes what would otherwise be a typical Victorian, cellular arrangement. Although the Victorian influence can be detected in the home’s DNA, the character of the home is decidedly un-Victorian. The ceiling in the lounge area is lowered, but with the floor-to-ceiling windows orientated toward the northern sun, it creates a warm, light interior in contrast to the rooms of the original house. The round column at the corner is an often-used structural device whose lineage can be traced to Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion. The courtyard is the keystone that makes the elements of the house coalesce, or as the architects describe, “it acts as a centralized lung to ventilate the house.” Just like an internal room, it has contained edges defined by a brickwall threshold and the house that surrounds it. The barbecue structure is distinctly fireplace-like. A raised terracotta brick ledge between inside and outside doubles as bench seating around an outdoor dining table. At the north-eastern end, an extended eave creates an undercover area for seating. “I do love a generous eave,” says Clare. “There’s something practical about being able to leave shoes [outside] or sit out here undercover, but still really feel like you’re outside.” The garden room also provides a visual connection all the way through the rear of the house into the backyard. On the opposite side to the lounge is a study for one of the owners, who is a writer. From her desk, she can look through the courtyard and lounge room and supervise the children playing in the backyard. In fact, wherever you look in this house, there is a view to the greenery outside. This is a deliberate strategy to make the addition feel larger than it is, despite its reduced size comparative to its predecessor. “For us, there is always consideration of how to draw the occupant’s eye out and give a sense of being immersed in landscape,” says Clare. “Even when we’re building in close proximity to boundary walls or fences, creating a garden vista pulls your eye out. These internal spaces aren’t huge. But they borrow from the space outside.”
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ALTERATION + ADDITION
Site Floor
766 m² 288 m²
Design 1 y 2 m Build 1 y
Products Roofing: Lysaght Trimdek in Colorbond ‘Surfmist’ External walls: Bowral dry-pressed brick in ‘Chillingham White’ Internal walls: European oak engineered lining boards Windows: Viridian LightBridge glazing Doors: Custom oak door pulls Flooring: Fibonacci Stone terrazzo tiles; Austral Bricks Nubrik paving brick in ‘Acland Cream’ Lighting: Douglas and Bec Line wall light; Anna Charlesworth brass wall sconce; Muuto Fluid pendant; Artemide Discuri 14 wall/ceiling light; Nemo Lighting Potence Pivotante wall light; vintage kitchen pendants; general lighting from Ambience Lighting Kitchen: Eco Outdoor Cotto glazed wall tiles in ‘Seafoam’; Carrara marble benchtop; linished brass benchtop; Qasair integrated rangehood; Astra Walker tapware; Fisher and Paykel integrated fridge and DishDrawer dishwasher Bathroom: Bisazza glass mosaic wall tiles; Perini wall tiles; Astra Walker fittings; Kaldewei undermount bath; Carrara marble vanities Heating and cooling: Escea freestanding gas fireplace; DeLonghi hydronic radiator panels External elements: Austral Bricks Nubrik paving brick in ‘Acland Cream’; Fisher and Paykel integrated barbecue Other: Made Measure saddle leather joinery handles 01 The crisp geometry of the rear facade is reinforced in the use of the non-traditional stack bond brick pattern.
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02 Generous, strategically placed glazing contributes to warm and light interiors throughout. 03 The courtyard that gives the house its name acts as a centralized lung to ventilate the house. 04 In contrast to the period home, ceilings have been kept low to enhance a horizontal spatial experience.
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GARDEN ROOM HOUSE
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Barbecue Dining Kitchen Living Pool Water tank Store Garage
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05 A series of brick plinths and stairs traverse the backyardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s steeply rising landscape. 06 The kitchen bench height is in direct alignment with the water level of the pool, allowing for easy supervision.
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GARDEN ROOM HOUSE
The new addition is single level and smaller than the previous. It continues the central corridor of the original house, leaving front rooms largely intact.
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07 A vivid Victorian blue powder room is one of a series of small interventions in the existing house.
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Architect Clare Cousins Architects +61 3 9329 2888 clarecousins.com.au studio@clarecousins.com.au
ALTERATION + ADDITION
5m
Project team: Clare Cousins, Oliver Duff, Alistair Nancarrow, Felicity Slattery, Jessie Fowler, Sarah Cosentino Builder: ProvanBuilt Engineer: Co-Struct Landscaping: Eckersley Garden Architecture
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LOFT HOUSE X2 BY BRAD SWARTZ ARCHITECTS
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LOFT HOUSE X2
Born of a unique collaboration between neighbours, this project saw two rear-lane parking spaces in inner Sydney transformed into spatially elegant one-bedroom dwellings that evoke a sense of calm.
Words by Tobias Horrocks Photography by Katherine Lu
The most absorbing part of Brad Swartz Architects’ work is not sculptural forms or exotic decorative efects. Photographs of the projects are not destined to be clickbait, fodder for the internet-weary eye. It is not “exciting architecture.” It is the opposite: it is calming. Mood – the creation of atmosphere, taking care of the psychological efects of light or warmth or enclosure – is more often associated with hospitality projects than residential architecture. The curation of mood is important in any spatial design, but in small living spaces like Loft House x2 it is critical. Brad’s first project was his own home, which made the most of a twenty-seven-square-metre footprint – a project that turned a studio apartment into a one-bedroom apartment. (Not the practice’s record, though; it has since done the same for a twentyfour-square-metre space.) It isn’t surprising that the majority of this young practice’s projects have been apartment interiors, but what is surprising is the consistency and confidence the architects display in their design language. All the interiors are white and bright, with black-painted steel details and natural timber floors and linings. Brad’s details are clean and precise, his joints and junctions tidy. “Tidying” is a good word to describe the role of the joinery – it conceals everything, not just consumables and detritus, but also the equipment and machinery of domestic life.
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It’s clear that Brad believes that clean lines are essential to feeling comfortable in a small space. Loft House x2 consists of two nearly identical second dwellings at the rear of existing neighbouring terrace houses, designed first and foremost as Airbnb accommodation – so in that sense it is in fact a hospitality project. One neighbour had the idea to develop their backyard in this way and persuaded the other neighbour to join in. They both lost of-street car space but gained rental income to compensate. “Airbnb and services like GoGet replacing private cars have made it more afordable to live in the inner city,” says Brad. “Our practice’s mission statement … is to provide small, sustainable inner-city places that don’t feel small.” Holiday planning these days typically involves browsing a selection online, trying to balance location, price and interior ambience. Often, to get close to the best parts of town but within your budget, the compromise might be size. This project is in a prime tourist position just a stone’s throw from the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Visualize the place with the help of the photographs: can you see it as a welcome retreat after a hectic day of sightseeing? Just how much calm and relaxation can you aford, per night? Mood is an important selling point. With a footprint of thirty-five square metres per dwelling to work with, the clients wanted an
GUEST STUDIOS
01 Small walled courtyards fill both dwellings with natural light and ventilation while also providing a space for plants. 02 Introducing double-height space to the living areas conjures a feeling of loftiness when seated below. Artwork: Nick Cox. 03 The kitchen, laundry, TV, storage space, stairs and bathroom all interlock within a compact service spine.
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architect who could deal with tight space. When they saw what Brad had done with his own apartment, they knew they had the right person for the job. Loft House x2 demonstrates a number of tactics for increasing the feeling of spaciousness. This includes carefully modelling the spatial flow: counterintuitively, sacrificing some storage space and introducing a chamfer that smooths the transition from the wardrobe to the wall has resulted in a spatial flow that feels gentler and therefore calmer. Designing a balustrade detail by the bed that angles the steel plate uprights in alternate directions serves to exaggerate both the openness and the sense of enclosure, depending on your point of view. Introducing doubleheight space, if only for the last metre and a half of the living space, conjures a feeling of loftiness when seated below. Leaving the mezzanine floor structure open and unlined, detailed like an old warehouse, increases the feeling of spaciousness. Privacy is made a priority, balanced with light and views: screens double as security devices to the street windows and clear glazing from the rear facade allows views to the courtyard garden and the sky. Improvising when necessary is another important tactic. There wasn’t room for a basin in the ensuite shower/toilet cubicle, so it has been embedded in the bench that is both oice desk and vanity (open cupboards to reveal mirrors as needed). One of Brad’s main inspirations is Glenn Murcutt and it makes sense – like Murcutt’s, this is architecture of subtlety, of fine balances between traditional vernacular forms and modernity. “When you pass a Murcutt house driving down a country road, you don’t immediately register it as something new and not a farm building that could have been there forever,” says Brad. “It’s not until you get closer that you realize it is special, architecturally.” Externally, Loft House x2’s materials match the context, with a subtle diference in bond and brick size. The pitched roof also helps it fit in with the surroundings, but like a project in Tokyo, this time we have the local planning regulations to thank – the shape is actually the maximum allowable building envelope. It would be easy to dismiss this project at first glance, but it rewards a second look. Rent it on Airbnb if you can and swap the 2D for the corporeal, the eyes for the whole body. It is a good-looking project, but it feels even better.
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1 Per dwelling
Site Floor
35 m² 48 m²
Design 1 y Build 6m
Per m² $6,875
Products Roofing: Lysaght Custom Orb in Colorbond ‘Monument’ External walls: Creative Bricks Ebony slimline bricks in ‘Edinburgh’; compressed sheet in Murobond Bridge Paint Internal walls: Plasterboard in Dulux ‘Vivid White’ Windows: Steel Design frames painted black Doors: Viridian Glass Lumina Cloud acid-etched glass doors Flooring: Australian Architectural Hardwoods blackbutt flooring in Bona Traffic Natural; concrete Lighting: Brightgreen T900 LED track lighting Kitchen: Laminex laminate in white; Carrara marble benchtop; Fisher and Paykel integrated appliances; Astra Walker mixer in brushed chrome; Barazza Cubo sink from Abey Bathroom: Cibo Design Fineline 2 basin; Brodware fittings and fixtures in brushed chrome; slatted blackbutt flooring; Better Tiles porcelain tiles in white Heating and cooling: JWI Louvres external blinds; Daikin airconditioning External elements: Super Grey pebbles Other: Staple and Co Eugene sofa; Project 82 Bale chair; Artek Table 90D coffee tables; Tait Volley lounger
04 A subtle chamfer smooths the transition from the wardrobe to the wall, resulting in a gentler, calmer spatial flow.
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Loft House x2 demonstrates a number of tactics for increasing the feeling of spaciousness.
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05 The two nearly identical dwellings sit at the rear of existing neighbouring terrace houses.
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06 External materials match the context, with just a subtle difference in bond and brick size.
Architect Brad Swartz Architects +61 421 444 338 bradswartz.com.au brad@bradswartz.com.au
LOFT HOUSE X2
Project team: Brad Swartz, Emily Elliott Builder: Rozzi Constructions Engineer: Cantilever Consulting Engineers Landscaping: Outdoor Establishments
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ONE ROOM TOWER BY PHORM ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN W I T H S I LV I A MICHELI AND ANTONY MOULIS
Axonometric 1:250
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This detached extension to a Queenslander house challenges conventional models for alteration and addition projects with a design that oscillates between connectivity and autonomy. Words by Fiona McAlpine Photography by John Gollings
01 The detached addition to the rear of a Queensland cottage acknowledges the timber-and-tin character of the neighbourhood.
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This micro project tackles macro urban issues such as sprawl and overpopulation by reclaiming and reinventing small-scale spaces in the suburbs. The clients for One Room Tower, Antony Moulis and Silvia Micheli, are architectural designers, theorists and educators at the University of Queensland. For this project they were motivated by a series of personal circumstances that required an extension to their home, to cater for visiting family members who sometimes stay for months at a time. The couple set about sketching a series of options to investigate a feasible solution. Typical configurations for extensions often involve a “lift and infill” strategy or a rear addition, but the owners’ design ambitions ruled out these options. While the budget was restrictive, this constraint provided a unique opportunity. “We intended to build something inventive, something ‘explorative and special,’” Silvia explains. Mindful of the existing cellular quality of the rooms within their cottage, Antony and Silvia engaged Paul Hotston and Yohei Omura of Phorm Architecture and Design (see profile in Houses 113). “We were particularly drawn to the spatial efects, volumes and play of light in Phorm’s past projects,” says Silvia. “We visited the In-Between Room (see Houses 98) and the Taringa Tree House.” These two projects challenge conventions for house extensions by manipulating forms within tight site restrictions or intentionally testing how people live (comfortably) in small spaces. The architects and clients shared an interest in retaining the local timber-and-tin character of their neighbourhood and agreed on a detached extension to the Queenslander cottage. The underutilized backyard was quickly identified as an opportune site. The team collaborated to develop a simple brief that facilitated highly flexible social, eating, bathing and sleeping spaces. The resulting One Room Tower is a single volume that meets the maximum height restriction of 9.5 metres above ground level, while capitalizing on the spatial opportunities of the compact backyard. Both architects and clients were opposed to the conventional “lift and infill” strategy based on the tangible (and prolific) presence of imposing two-storey Queenslander renovations. The tower is surprisingly unassuming. Externally, the form is aesthetically sympathetic to familiar characteristics within its setting; in particular,
ONE ROOM TOWER
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Guest studio
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through the pitched roofline and horizontal cedar board cladding. The careful composition of the of-centre gable roof, translucent cladding and large sliding windows ensures the tower is undeniably contemporary and site-specific. A strategic manoeuvre twists the tower of alignment with the surrounding street grid, establishing its presence as an autonomous structure. This ensures the original cottage remains untouched and belongs within its enclave. Instead of presenting a sheer wall to the street, the twist works to reduce the impact of the tower’s height over the surrounding cottages. This also creates four courtyard spaces at ground level: two landscaped courts to the rear, a play court for the children and a social court that mediates between the cottage, the tower and the street. Arriving in the social court, either via a breezeway stair from the cottage or the concealed fence gate from the street, the court bleeds into the tower’s doma. As Yohei explains, “the doma is a traditional Japanese space, translating to ‘dirt floor,’ where shoes are removed before entering.” Here, the singular volume of the tower is revealed. With sparse furnishing, the solid element of the core, rising through the tower, is countered by a soaring lightfilled void to the ceiling above. A sequence of spaces transitioning from public to private spirals upward, pivoting around the core. There are spaces within spaces, each defined by a change in height and material. The structural core and frame operate in partnership to reinforce the tower’s volume. The core is the primary fixed element, containing the plumbing and electrical services. Nudged of-centre, the core generates spatial variation, serving each platform’s individual needs. This frees the spaces of furniture and facilitates countless modes of occupation. The tower becomes “a private residence for our parents, a quiet oice, a playspace for our children, and a place for entertaining, from dinner parties to the pyjama variety,” says Silvia. The tower is expertly assembled and incorporates smart detailing. The horizontal planes of the platforms join only at the vertical laminated veneer lumber frames, allowing light, air and sound to slip down the internal wall lining. The exposed vertical framing emphasizes the singular volume and draws the eye upward. The translucent industrial structural floor above the doma provides filtered light below and large cedar-framed windows slide back to draw the external spaces in. There are no rooms in the tower, just a single volume with defined spaces that borrow from one another and allow the family to remain connected. Budget is the mother of invention. The kitchenette is a simple module: the bathroom basin and mirror borrow the circulation space of the stair, which utilizes atypical (and inexpensive) materials such as pool fencing and cargo net as the balustrade. Arriving at the upper platform under the varying quadrants of the cofered ceiling, the core terminates, facilitating sweeping views across the pyramid roofs of the neighbourhood and the city skyline beyond. Here, the viewer registers the dialogue between the tower and its context. One Room Tower is an inventive model for a house extension that preserves Brisbane’s timber-and-tin character, which is increasingly under threat from new builds. While sensitive to the evolving city fabric, the project is an intensely personal and beautiful response to the changing needs of Antony and Silvia’s family.
HOUSES 124
GUEST STUDIO
1 + 1 in main house
Site Floor (tower) (tower + house)
268 m² 63.5 m² 170 m²
Design 5 m Build 8m
Products Roofing: Lysaght Custom Orb in Zincalume; Kingspan Air-cell Retroshield insulation; custom Zincalume folded gutters, flashings and downpipes by the builder External walls: Cedar Sales Western red cedar shiplap cladding; Lexan Thermoclear polycarbonate sheeting in ‘Clear’ and ‘Opal’; Cemintel Compressed Sheet Internal walls: Juken Strandboard; Dindas Structural LVL framing; hardwood veneer plywood from Mister Ply and Wood Windows: Custom Western red cedar windows by Timberware; Truth Hardware window hardware; Arens remote window winders Doors: Custom steel frame and polycarbonate sliding doors by Watkins Steel; custom timberframed sliding doors with fibreglass and plywood by the builder Flooring: Concrete; Gunnersen hoop pine plywood; exterior-grade hardwood plywood from The Bunker; Sandgate Timber Mill square-edge cypress decking Lighting: Flos 265 swing-arm from Euroluce; Caribou Elegant track lights and Razor strip lights; ultra-thin LED floods from Essential Electrical Wholesalers Kitchen: Hardwood veneer plywood cabinetry from Mister Ply and Wood; Affordable Stainless Products stainless-steel benchtop; AFA sink; Posh mixer Bathroom: Nikles shower head and mixer; Roca toilet; vanity from Ausbuy; Posh tapware; My Shower Grate Shop floor waste Heating and cooling: Dynabreeze wall-mounted fan External elements: Concrete courtyard, broom finish Other: VSH Timbers cypress balustrade; MP Mesh Products wattle pool panel in white powdercoat
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02 The towerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s angled placement signals it as an autonomous structure.
A sequence of spaces transitioning from public to private spirals upward, pivoting around the core.
03 Sliding doors allow the tower to engage with the backyard. 04 Open spaces meet the brief for highly ďŹ&#x201A;exible social, eating, bathing and sleeping zones.
HOUSES 124
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05 Inside, the tower is a singular volume. Spaces are defined by changes in materials and ceiling height. 07
06 On the upper level, windows frame views of the neighbourhood and the city skyline. 07 The structural core and frame reinforce the tower’s volume and facilitate flexible occupation.
HOUSES 124
Architect Phorm Architecture and Design +61 7 3255 2732 phorm@phorm.com.au phorm.com.au
GUEST STUDIO
Project team: Yohei Omura, Paul Hotston Collaborators: Silvia Micheli, Antony Moulis Builder: Greg Thornton Constructions Engineer: Westera Partners Certifier: Cornerstone Building Certification Town planner: Urbicus
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F I S H E R & P AY K E L S H O W C A S E
Classic style, state-of-the-art performance
Fisher and Paykel’s Classic cooker is designed to be a feature piece in the kitchen. Here we discuss technological ingenuity and design inspiration with Adam Moody, chief designer for cooking and dishwashing products.
What was the thinking behind the development of Fisher and Paykel’s new Classic cooker? Adam Moody: In the past, Fisher and Paykel appliances have had either a Contemporary or Professional aesthetic; this project introduces a third styling option. Our design team recognized that among the customers who are looking for a freestanding cooker, there are those who prefer a more traditional aesthetic – something that’s a little more expressive in its design. The Classic product strikes a nice balance between contemporary and classic and is available in a range of colours that can suit any kitchen. The black Classic cooker, for instance, can act as a feature piece in the kitchen without doing so in an overt way, because dark colours recede and the black makes it “sit back” a little, while the extra chrome details really pop in contrast to the colour. The cooker is also available in eye-catching red and white. What makes the cooker's performance state of the art? AM: Because the oven is electronically controlled, we can optimize every stage of the cooking process, ensuring fast heat-up times and accurate temperature results with minimal fluctuation. The Classic cooker includes two fans to ensure the air flows evenly through the cavity, both top to bottom and left to right. This delivers reliable cooking results with no hot spots or uneven cooking, whether you are using one shelf in the middle of the oven or multiple shelves and filling up from one side to the other. How does this aesthetic work for designers and architects as part of a wider kitchen project? AM: Architects and designers have responded well to the Classic aesthetic. It gives them a beautiful showpiece when they want something on display, as well as a range of colour options to help the product blend in if they want it to sit more quietly in the kitchen space. How does the cooker complement other appliances? AM: The Classic cooker is designed to work alone as a product as well as within the Fisher and Paykel product family. The dial of the Classic black cooker, for instance, uses the same finish as other products in the collection. A consistent visual language is a really important design consideration for us, as it allows our customers to choose different products that all match cohesively when installed in the kitchen.
01 For more information: fisherpaykel.com
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FISHERPAYKEL.COM
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01 The black Classic cooker blends a heritage aesthetic with state-of-the-art performance. 02 The 140-litrecapacity oven provides ample space to accommodate multiple dishes. Two fans optimize airďŹ&#x201A;ow for accurate temperature control. 03 Details and ďŹ nishes are consistent with other products in the Fisher and Paykel range.
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FISHER & PAYKEL SHOWCASE
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Low Operating Force
(03) 9703 1006 sales@ciilock.com www.ciilock.com
Backyard and beyond
From a sculptural chaise longue to lush plant tiles, these beautiful products can bring something new to an outdoor space. Find more residential products: selector.com and productnews.com.au
OUTDOOR PRODUCTS
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01 MVS Chaise Vitra's MVS Chaise appears at first as a sculptural object, but its comfort becomes apparent upon use. Designed by Maarten Van Severen, the chaise is ideal for a rejuvenating rest and the frame makes it easy to shift from a sitting to a reclining position. livingedge.com.au
03 Slim Wall fencing Modular Walls’ Slim Wall fencing provides a smooth and rendered aesthetic. It can also accommodate a paint, tile or textured finish. Slim Wall is acoustically rated and allows for the integration of wall lights and decorative elements. modularwalls.com.au
05 Morsø Forno outdoor fire Acting as a large oven, grill and heat source, the Morsø Forno provides all that is needed for outdoor entertaining. It can be used to cook pizzas and bread in a few minutes, grill meat and vegetables, and with the addition of a stainless steel door, it can bake, slow cook and smoke. castworks.com.au
02 Bay Armchair The B&B Italia Bay Armchair, designed by Nipa Doshi and Jonathan Levien, is a large, sculptural outdoor seat with a sense of visual lightness. Its enveloping backrest is formed from polypropylene fibre that interlaces to create air pockets and provide transparency. spacefurniture.com.au
04 Venus porcelain panels Maximum’s Venus porcelain panels were used for the external and internal floors of this coastal house in Tasmania, designed by Mac Young. Made in Italy, Maximum’s large-format, fine-profile porcelain panels offer design flexibility and are strong, light and sustainable. maximumaustralia.com
06 Light oak timber stain Sikkens’ Cetol BLX-Pro in ‘Light Oak’ was used on this Merbau hardwood deck in Bangor, New South Wales. Cetol BLX-Pro is a quick-drying water-based exterior timber stain that is highly durable, environmentally friendly and ideal for use on decks and outdoor furniture. sikkens.com.au
HOUSES 124
PRODUCTS
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07 The Twins collection Designed by Mut Design for Expormim, The Twins collection includes two armchairs, sofas and an ottoman. The individual pieces share similar genetics, but each one has its own personality and unique characteristics, so that they can work well together or separately. kezu.com.au
09 Farmhouse bench The Farmhouse Bench, designed by David Harrison for Robert Plumb, is essentially a modern take on the traditional country bench. Made from New Guinea rosewood with stainless steel or brass details, the bench is capable of sitting outside all year round. robertplumb.com.au
11 Go Large patio umbrella Designed for intimate spaces, Basil Bangs' Go Large patio umbrella features a canopy of 1.9 metres. With a lightweight anodized aluminium frame and solution-dyed acrylic fabric offering UPF50+ sun protection, it is ideal for small balconies and terraces. basilbangs.com
08 Dichondra repens plant tiles Used here around a Gold Coast pool designed by Fluxe Architecture Studio, Plant Tiles Australia's Dichondra repens tiles are formed of a dense thatch of lily pad leaves and stems. Dichondra repens is hardy under most conditions and does not require mowing. planttiles.com.au
10 Seam chair collection Inspired by the act of tailoring a piece of fabric into a form-ďŹ tting garment, the Seam chair range by Tait exhibits clean lines, reďŹ ned joining details and impeccable form. The collection includes a dining chair, stacking chair and bar stool, in a rich and earthy colour palette. madebytait.com.au
12 CleverDeck Xtreme capped decking Futurewood's CleverDeck Xtreme is a 138mm-wide capped co-extrusion solidcomposite timber decking product. It is made with a hard outer shell which is scratch and water resistant and easy to clean. It is available in four virtually fade-free colours. futurewood.com.au
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If you desire style, build it with Austral Bricks. www.australbricks.com.au
Positive outlook WINDOWS & DOORS
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Ingeniously designed and cleverly crafted, these window and door products open up a world of design opportunity. Find more residential products: selector.com and productnews.com.au
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01 Schlage S-6000 digital touchpad door lock The Schlage S-6000 digital touchpad door lock from Allegion is sleek and easy to use. It provides up to eight different user PINs as well as temporary access codes for contractors or guests. The lock can be operated with a PIN, fob or card, all of which come with the device. allegion.com.au
03 Botanica Timber sliding doors Trend’s Botanica Timber sliding doors are defined by a clean design aesthetic. They are available with tall and wide panels, which provide a sense of openness and create an unblemished view. The wide range of styles in the range can complement any design. trendwindows.com.au
05 Alumiere windows and doors Stegbar’s Alumiere range has a strong, bold profile suited to contemporary architectural designs. The range offers a high level of acoustic performance and is resistant to high winds, making it an ideal choice for coastal areas. All hardware is corrosion resistant. stegbar.com.au
02 Gull-wing doors Bent and Curved Glass collaborated with PTW Architects and Monarch Renlita to create a set of unique operable gull-wing doors atop an apartment building in Bondi, Sydney. The curved glass allows the doors to hug the elliptical vault profile of the rooftop living pods. bentglass.com.au
04 Slidemaster door system Architectural Window Systems’ top-hung Slidemaster door creates a seamless transition from inside to out. A unique sill minimizes the risk of trips and falls and is compliant with disability access regulations. The top-hung design means large panels slide effortlessly. awsaustralia.com.au
06 Madera timber cabinet handles Castella’s Madera timber cabinet handles are made from Tasmanian oak or European beech and feature subtle fixing finishes in matt black, polished chrome, gold, satin chrome or brushed gold. The Tasmanian oak handles range in colour from straw to reddish brown. castella.com.au
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Jeffrey Alan Marks FA B R I C D E S I G N
Santa Monica-based interior designer Jeffrey Alan Marks has designed a collection of elegant fabrics in crisp yet soft blues, creams and greys that takes inspiration from the ocean.
Jeffrey Alan Marks is one of a handful of uber-successful Los Angeles-based interior designers whose luxury work is in demand among the rich and sometimes very famous. But where his contemporaries such as Kelly Wearstler and Martyn Lawrence Bullard reimagine Hollywood Regency to the point of breathtaking opulence, Jeffrey’s aesthetic is rather more understated, although no less sophisticated. The Santa Monica-based designer’s high-end Californian coastal cool style is very photogenic, and memorable for its distinct mix of tailored comfort and relaxed elegance. He’s designed a lot of beach houses during his twenty-five years in practice, as well as innercity townhouses, country retreats and mountain getaways across both the UK – where he studied at London’s Inchbald School of Design – and the US. Regardless of a project’s location, Jeffrey’s design inspiration is the ocean and it informs his signature colour palette of crisp yet soft blues, creams and greys, used to great effect in his recent fabric collection for Australian furniture manufacturer and supplier King Living. Abstracted waves, fish scales and a flock of seagulls pepper the designs, some of which are developed from Jeffrey’s previous collaboration with American fabric house Kravet, while the majority are brand new. “I thought about how the fabric would be used and then identified what was missing in the marketplace,” he says. “There are
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so many fabrics out there and it was important to create a range with a good price point.” The Oceanview fabric collection took Jeffrey two years to complete and is invested with a sense of the designer’s own personal narrative. A couple of designs are named after his Californian hometown of La Jolla and many of them were initially sketched on the beach in Malibu, where he spends a lot of his time. They also resonate with his own personal style. As he explains, “I didn’t want my fabrics to be too vivacious or too ‘in your face.’ I didn’t want them to be the star of the room, instead I want them to be quiet and soothing.” It’s a philosophy that filters through both his residential and commercial projects, all of which sport a timelessness devoid of passing fads or gimmicks. As he prepares to open a new office in Aspen following the opening of his San Francisco studio, he’s also working on a number of restaurants in Santa Monica. In Australia for the launch of Oceanview, he marvelled at Sydney’s quality of light and complimented local designers for being adventurous, punchy and brave. Sense of place is important to Jeffrey and it’s something he wrote about in his first book, The Meaning of Home (Rizzoli, 2013), and continues to eloquently explore in both his interior and product designs. jam-design.com
STUDIO
01 Santa Monicabased interior designer Jeffrey Alan Marks. 02 The King Living collection, which includes the Intuitive, Whitetop and Birdview fabrics, is inspired by the sea. 03 Jeffrey's Marin Cal project characteristically balances tailored comfort and relaxed elegance.
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Philip Stejskal Architecture IN PROFILE
With projects ranging from modest, deft alterations and additions to elaborate but economical new houses, Western Australian practice Philip Stejskal Architecture is committed to making great architecture accessible to all. Words by Rachael Bernstone Photography by Bo Wong, Robert Frith & Peter Bennetts
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Doing more with less is a fundamental goal of many young architects, but time, maturity and growth often blunt those early idealistic notions. In the case of Philip Stejskal, who took on his first solo project ten years ago, this characteristic could be a natural consequence of starting a practice just after the global financial crisis, but I suspect it is inherent to the architect himself. After graduating from the University of Western Australia in 2001, Phil worked at a large firm in Perth and then Darwin before travelling overseas, then joining Coda in Fremantle. “[Coda founders] Kieran and Emma knew that I wanted to go out on my own and they made it possible by suggesting that I go part-time,” Phil says. Once the private jobs morphed into a fledgling practice, he launched Philip Stejskal Architecture (PSA) in 2011. His Fremantle-based team now includes Yang Yang Lee, Louise Allen and Julia Kiefer. Recently, the practice has expanded to include a Melbourne-based satellite studio, led by one of Phil’s longtime collaborators Claire Holmes. The firm’s first project – Bellevue Terrace Alterations and Additions (see Houses 101) – won the national Australian Institute of Architects Award for Residential Architecture –
Houses (Alterations and Additions) in 2014, an unusual feat for an emerging practice. On a small budget, the rear of the four-room cottage was reimagined by repositioning the bathroom along the southern wall, making way for a new indoor/outdoor room. Terraced steps down to the garden bridge the 1.5-metre height diference. With a north-facing light scoop and operable shutters, the diminutive addition embodies Phil’s work in a perfectly formed nutshell. It’s modest and compact, in keeping with the worker’s cottage itself, but explodes the living experience with a “Queensland” style verandah. The project gives credence to the idea that small-scale projects can produce whimsical and joyful spaces. “Regardless of the weather, the owners can pivot the panels to bring in light and air,” Phil says. “It was completed four years ago and they use that space all the time – all year round – by opening the glazed sliding doors that connect it to the kitchen. They can relax out there or entertain by bringing out a large table that fits across the room.” I ask whether PSA would consider new work at this scale and Phil says they have several jobs underway with similar or smaller budgets. “We don’t turn down any
01 Philip Stejskal at the Philip Stejskal Architecture studio in Fremantle. Photograph: Peter Bennetts. 02 Bellevue Terrace Alterations and Additions in Fremantle (2013) involved the clever addition of a new indoor/outdoor room on a small budget. Photograph: Bo Wong. 03 Artfully arranged terraced steps lead from the Bellevue Terrace addition down to the garden 1.5 metres below. Photograph: Bo Wong.
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Described as a “prescription for urban health,” the six rights comprise the right to space, sunlight, fresh air, privacy, community and tactility.
projects,” he laughs. Of course, that’s a prudent business approach in a depressed market, but I think it speaks to his belief that every project – large or small – presents opportunities to explore the “bill of rights for human habitation,” as defined by Michael Sorkin in his book Local Code: The Constitution of a City at 42 Degrees North Latitude. Described as a “prescription for urban health,” the six rights comprise the right to space, sunlight, fresh air, privacy, community and tactility. All of those rights were in short supply at South Terrace Alterations and Additions 2 in Fremantle, a singlefronted Victorian terrace that Phil reworked over four years, concluding in 2015. “We were forced to ‘gather’ light at a high level, using a roof form that reaches up with scoops and the roof terrace at the rear of the block,” he explains. “And we were able to carve out a north-facing courtyard with a day bed, and a main bedroom suite upstairs that provides access to the roof terrace.” Phil reworked the plan and incorporated storage within circulation spaces to achieve better flow and connections to the new courtyard. The use of of-the-shelf materials, including lattice screens and Bunnings doubleglazed windows, helped to reduce costs while addressing privacy, sun control and thermal comfort. Upstairs, the balcony floor is made of mesh grating that works in concert with clerestory windows to bring northern light deep into the block. “The budget on this one was more generous, which allowed us to execute some spatial flourishes to get light, and to use brickwork instead of blockwork. The cabinetry was a big component, but it still has a certain economy to it,”
04 Philip Stejskal Architecture’s bright, well-ventilated studio space is located within Fremantle’s heritagelisted Atwell buildings (1893). Photograph: Peter Bennetts.
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05 For South Terrace Alterations and Additions 2 (2015), the architects brought in light by carving out a north-facing courtyard. Photograph: Robert Frith.
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Phil says. “We left many of the materials – like the concrete floors and ceilings – in their raw state.” Having learned early on that working within tight constraints – whether site- or budget-related – encourages innovation to flourish, Phil admits that tackling a tabula rasa project can be daunting. PSA was engaged to design the front house of two at Calais Road in Wembley Downs, Perth, a subdivided block for three generations of one family. The new two-level house occupies the footprint of the original home and is surrounded by the existing terraced garden. Appearing single-storey from the street, it ofers the opportunity to age in place with a main suite on the ground floor. Taking its cues from the suburb’s mid-century modern origins, the design borrows that era’s massing and materials with a stone blade wall that defines the entry sequence and continues inside. Several recesses are carved into the solid form to introduce light and connect with the garden on both levels. Obviously it feels diferent from the earlier Fremantle projects, but there are similarities too, such as the use of timber battens for privacy and sun control. PSA’s latest project – the Blinco Street House in Fremantle, completed in 2017 – was commissioned by an ofshore shiftworker. He wanted a home that was grounded and private, allowing him to retreat and decompress after weeks away before re-entering the world. The entry sequence responds to that brief with a dark, secluded moment of pause before the front door, which opens to a circular entry hall. This “library” space of books and objects prompts the owner to reconnect with his “shore life.” It leads to a combined kitchen/living/dining area, with high ceilings and windows, which opens to a garden that will become a lush outdoor room over time. Upstairs, three bedrooms and a bathroom are shielded from the street by a fully operable lattice facade, with screens that tilt in and out for sun control and privacy, allowing the owner to re-engage on his own terms. The interior material palette is restrained, although it features slightly more elaborate finishes than earlier projects, such as glazed bricks in the splashback
06 Calais Road House (2017) uses timber battens for privacy and sun control, a device seen in earlier projects. Photograph: Bo Wong. 07 The mid-century modern-inspired Calais Road House features several recesses carved into its solid form. Photograph: Bo Wong.
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and Paperock benchtops. “We spent some extra money on materials and the intricacies to set up that play between public and private, and between the dark and grounded lower floor and the lighter second floor and roof terrace,” Phil says. While he enjoys designing bespoke houses, and this one is a triumph, Phil is equally concerned with adapting and improving mass housing. In a bid to make architecture more accessible, he’s working on a series of plug-in modules that address fundamental design deficiencies in the vast majority of houses. “We were working from the premise that 80 percent of housing stock, half of which is facing the wrong way and has no access to northern light, could be improved using a modular system that is tailored to the almost universal specifics of the ubiquitous project home,” he says. “It’s a way of afordably improving the sustainability and spatial amenity of existing houses.” For this architect, the idea that everyone should have access to a certain standard of sustainability and wellbeing at home, regardless of their budget or means, is a strong motivating force. And that desire to pursue spatial romance and delight – for everyone, not just a select few – seems likely to intensify over time rather than diminish. architectureps.com
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08 The upstairs rooms of Blinco Street House (2017) are shielded from the street by an operable lattice facade. Photograph: Bo Wong. 09 An internal pond contributes to a dark, secluded moment in the entry sequence at Blinco Street House. Photograph: Bo Wong. 10 Blinco Street House features more elaborate ďŹ nishes than earlier projects, such as glazed bricks in the splashback and Paperock benchtops. Photograph: Bo Wong.
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Challis Penthouse by MI Architects FIRST HOUSE
As one of his first projects, Andy Macdonald of MI Architects was given the opportunity to explore his interest in “colonizing underutilized roof space.” Eighteen years later, Andy reflects on this apartment design and its influence on his practice’s subsequent work. Words by Andy Macdonald Photography by Murray Fredericks and Anson Smart
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In 2000 I moved into my first share oice with my good friend Jim Osborne, a landscape architect. One day he arrived at work flushed with excitement – he had found an empty roof space for sale and wanted me to be his architect. As a student in the UK, I had been fascinated with colonizing underutilized roof space to bring “living” back into the decaying city centres of 1980s Britain, so my excitement easily matched his. As Jim worked to get his finances in order, we joked that we would need to helicopter in a caravan until he could aford to build. But out of the blue, the owner announced she was selling the rooftop with the one-bedroom unit on the level below it, ruling Jim out financially. We were gutted. But “Lady Luck” was shining her light on me and one week later I was approached by two friends who had just bought the apartment, and thus my first (pent)house was born (first published in Houses 38). I made an immediate start (conscious to mask my enthusiasm from a surprisingly understanding Jim sitting at the next desk). The brief from the clients (a couple of very tall chefs who were opening a garden shop) was clear and straightforward: “Masculine with a great kitchen – and as much outdoor space as possible. The rest is up to you.” In reality there was only one location for the stair and at around fifty square metres, the upper level would have to be for living and outdoor space. The forty-square-metre one-bedder below would be converted into two bedrooms, two bathrooms and the entry. At that time, most of my projects were either alterations and additions to narrow Sydney terraces or apartment renovations, so I was no stranger to the tyranny of the “space and storage” ruler. Every feasible space had to be used – be it under the stairs, niches in walls or ceiling cavities. So while perhaps a little odd, my proposal that the ensuite shower be in the hallway simply felt … right. The rest of the ensuite was shoehorned under the stairs and behind the wardrobe like a Japanese puzzle with secret cupboards laced into every available crevice. The clients were no strangers to the Sydney party scene and their brief for the guest bathroom was “nightclubby” (for the smallest bathroom ever!). With no space for a sink, a blade of stainless steel simply redirects water from the wall-mounted tap, onto the wall and into the linear strip drain on the floor; and in showering, everything (except the toilet paper) gets wet.
01 Andy Macdonald of MI Architects was excited by the idea of “colonizing underutilized roof space.” Photograph: Murray Fredericks. 02 The new second level of the apartment was “an opportunity for some architecture.” Photograph: Murray Fredericks. 03 The upper level contains a single room with two glazed walls that capture views of the CBD. Photograph: Murray Fredericks.
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We wanted to ensure that none of this wizardry was obvious on arrival and designed the entry sequence to be grand and flooded with natural light – from above, through the hallway/shower and through the glass door of the tiny guest bathroom. Upstairs we had a cleaner slate: more space and, being a new build, an opportunity for some architecture. A single room with two glazed walls captures views of the CBD to the west and Sydney Harbour to the north-east. The other two (more solid) walls to the south-east are clad in copper and timber recycled from a woodshed (with a nod to the work of my favourite practice at that time, Caruso St John Architects). The skillion roof rakes upward to create bespoke pivoting steel glazing that can be left open all day, which prevents the owners coming home to a hotbox and floods the room with natural light. The kitchen was to be robust and practical and while maybe it is not what I’d do today, I’m still proud of the detailing in all its earnest robustness. I feel that eighteen years on, my design process is more fluid. With the benefit of experience I can work more efectively and make decisions much more easily. Time, after all, is not something that can be hurried, bought or replaced. It is often said that one’s early creative obsessions remain and develop throughout a career and “putting things on top of other things” became a signature move for my practice in those early years. The machinations of navigating through strata title, legal responsibilities and planning regulations are all pretty fraught and then there are the access issues. My clients, who are still good friends of mine today, inadvertently set me up as a bit of a “go-to” man for rooftop extensions. But these days it is more about larger houses, which, although free of the complications of strata and the tyranny of small spaces, come with their own complexities. The bespoke joinery and tricky detailing are a common link – just no more showers in hallways!
04 Every feasible space had to be used, including niches in walls, ceiling cavities and under the stairs. Photograph: Anson Smart. 05 The brief for the guest bathroom was “night-clubby.” Photograph: Anson Smart.
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Architect MI Architects +61 2 9212 3800 info@mac-interactive.com mac-interactive.com
Project team: Andy Macdonald, Emma Townsend Builder: David Tisdall Engineer: SDA
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M AT R A V I L L E RESIDENCE BY TZANNES
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Light-filled and airy, this dwelling re-imagines the suburban home and experiments with new modes of multi-generational living.
Words by Sing d’Arcy Photography by Katherine Lu
Experimentation is at the core of innovation. In architecture and design these terms are often associated with radical aesthetics, bold colours and novel materiality. However, the real day-to-day innovations that improve the quality of the built environment and people’s lives tend to happen in a less dramatic manner, though with no less impact. The Matraville Residence by Tzannes is one such project that aims to test the status quo of suburban residential design. This house experiments with new planning regulations and new modes of multi-generational living as well as fundamentally questioning the future of the suburban block. Matraville is in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, about nine kilometres from the CBD. Sandy and suburban, the area is defined by inter-war bungalows in varying shades of liver and red brick. Sprouting from the roofs of many of these bungalows are first-floor additions built to the boundaries. This type of housing leaves the residents with little visual amenity or acoustic privacy and limited access to sunlight and cross-ventilation. This was the case with the existing house on the site. The clients had lived there as a family – plus grandmother – for six years before deciding to rebuild. They liked the area and, despite the old house’s shortcomings, wished to remain part of the local community.
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Luckily for them, they didn’t have to worry about trying to decide on an appropriate architect, as they had a family connection at Tzannes. Mladen Prnjatovic, director at the firm, took on the project. The budget was limited and the location an unremarkable plot in a typical suburb. This gave the Tzannes team the perfect conditions to experiment with its long-held hypothesis that suburban living does not have to equate to poorer amenity and design. The first stage was testing the potential of the new Complying Development Certificate process (CDC). Mladen says that for this project, the CDC process resulted in a better outcome than the traditional development application process might have, “unlocking a whole lot of potential.” The CDC allowed them to configure the ground floor as a giant eastfacing U-form block, with two courtyards – one in the centre and one at the rear. Reminiscent of Spanish patio houses, this lower level is conceived as a masonry box, with the rooms opening onto either the central courtyard, such as the main bedroom, or both courtyards, as in the kitchen/living space. The double aspect of the living spaces provides wonderful light and cross-ventilation, with an incredible degree of visual privacy from the neighbouring house.
MATRAVILLE RESIDENCE
01 Elements of suburban living – swimming pool, garage, room for the children – have been incorporated without compromising on the quality of design.
5 Sydney, NSW
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In contrast to the low-slung masonry base, the upper level has been conceived as a metal-clad pavilion. Its gable end pays homage to the suburban context and takes its cues in height from the neighbours. It clearly stands out as a new development, but does not hog light and views and is respectful to its current neighbours, while also protecting the client’s amenity from any potential future developments. Dormer windows have been elongated to form giant pop-out hoods that open onto the inner courtyard. Their splayed reveals provide privacy as well as refracting the light that enters the rooms. This feature adds drama to the bedroom spaces, which are quite modest in plan but very generous in section. The upper level contains three bedrooms, a study and a large second living space. Integral to the brief was the desire for a “multi-generational mode of occupation,” whether that be the clients’ children or parents. The upper living room currently allows the children to have their own space, while the lower living room can accommodate communal meals or act as a quiet zone for the client. One of the best aspects of the design is that a lot of people can be in the house at any one time without feeling as if they are on top of each other. This is an aspect that the clients and Mladen believe is key to successful intergenerational living, and here it has been achieved through ingenious spatial configuration. The clients comment that the house has “so many diferent zones to escape to” and all of them are “light and airy.” A reverse brick-veneer wall system was used on the ground floor, where the majority of the wall is shaded; all of it is painted white to reflect the sunlight and reduce the heat load. Upstairs, the construction is lightweight. Along with a mechanically assisted extraction system and consideration for crossventilation, the first floor remains cool in summer and warm in the winter months. The Tzannes team believes that “design can add value at any pricepoint,” and Matraville Residence demonstrates that this can be achieved. The aim of this project was to “re-imagine suburban living” and it has been done in a way that allows for all the benefits of this paradigm – swimming pool, garage, room for the children – without compromising on the quality of design and amenity. Let’s hope more clients and architects take on this challenge, because the results of this experiment demonstrate that the suburbs can only get better.
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2 Powder room
Site Floor
539 m² 290 m²
Design 6 m Build 11 m
Per m² $6,600
Products Roofing: Lysaght Custom Orb in Colorbond ‘Monument’ External walls: Rendered brick in Dulux 'Natural White'; Lysaght Custom Orb in Colorbond ‘Monument’ Internal walls: Plasterboard in Dulux 'Natural White' Windows: Aneeta sliding windows; Vental retractable external blinds Doors: Solid-core interior doors in Dulux 'Natural White'; Parisi hardware; front door in Dulux ‘Gold Rush’; Madinoz hardware (front door) Flooring: Polished concrete, sealed; Abbey Timber timber flooring, oiled Lighting: Cappellini Meltdown table lamp; lights from JSB Lighting; Hunza garden spike lights Kitchen: Caesarstone benchtop in ‘Jet Black’; black glass splashback; American oak veneer and gloss black polyurethane joinery by Sublime Custom Cabinetry; Qasair rangehood; Zip Hydro Tap in matt black; Wolf cooktop; Miele ovens, fridges and dishwasher; Abey Schock Magma sink; Sussex Scala mixer in custom matt red Bathroom: Axa Uno basin from Reece; Studio Bagno basin; Sussex Scala tapware and fittings in brushed brass; Kaldewei bath; Villeroy and Boch toilet and bidet; solid American oak benchtop and veneer joinery doors by Caravello Joinery Heating and cooling: Big Ass Fans Haiku ceiling fan; Jetmaster fireplace; airconditioning External elements: Polished concrete floor; Western Australian karri timber decking; aluminium front fence in Dulux powdercoat ‘Monument’ Other: Cappellini Cannot side table and Revolving Cabinet in red, PP Møbler Flag Halyard Chair and Offecct Montparnasse Easy Chair, all from Cult; Designer Rugs Hare and Klein rug
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The double aspect of the living spaces provides wonderful light and cross-ventilation.
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02 Considered spatial conďŹ guration allows for comfortable multi-generational living, as required by the clients. Artwork (Lâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;R): Mary Teague; Michael Rose.
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03 The courtyards permit wonderful natural light and allow cross-ventilation. 04 The lower level is in the form of a masonry box with generous openings onto the courtyard.
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06 Elongated dormer windows on the ďŹ rst ďŹ&#x201A;oor provide privacy to the bedrooms, while also adding drama. 07 In contrast to the low-slung base, the upper level has been conceived as a metal-clad pavilion.
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Architect Tzannes +61 2 9319 3744 tzannes@tzannes.com.au tzannes.com.au
HOUSES 124
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Project team: Mladen Prnjatovic, Connor Denyer, Thomas Hale, Bruce Chadlowe Builder: Artechne Engineer: SDA Structures Landscaping: Kate Mitchell Design Lighting: Light Practice Hydraulics: Liquid Hydraulics
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BRAMSTON RESIDENCE BY RICHARD KIRK ARCHITECT
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BRAMSTON RESIDENCE
In the leafy Brisbane suburb of Tarragindi, this house wraps around a generous central courtyard to strike a delicate balance between nurturing family life and responding to its natural setting. Words by Sheona Thomson Photography by Scott Burrows
After a decade of living “either upstairs or downstairs” in their old Federation-style Queenslander home, clients Anwen and Michael Batchelor – both keen gardeners – wanted change for themselves and their two children. While life at the level of the tree canopy was enjoyable, they didn’t want to be there all the time and began to imagine a lifestyle more directly connected with a garden. Early searches for a new home with groundfloor living areas were met by houses with dispiriting little lawns and no trees. “This was out of the question for us; we knew we couldn’t live our lives without trees,” says Anwen. They decided to build afresh on their site within the landscape that they loved, on a tree-lined street in Tarragindi, one of Brisbane’s inner green belt suburbs at the northern base of Toohey Mountain. However, this approach also brought a challenge: “It was diicult to find a ‘spec’ builder who was willing to work around our trees,” muses Anwen. So she and Michael decided to enlist the expertise of an architect. Published photos of the Arbour House (see Houses 77) attracted them to Richard Kirk Architect, and they engaged Richard to help navigate their quest for sustainable, connected living and landscape preservation. With the old house removed, they began the task of calibrating a new lifestyle pattern to the gently sloping topography and existing flora. As much as the clients sought connection to place and to live sustainably, they also wished for their new home to support and nurture real relationship within the family. “Very quickly, a courtyard form emerged as the best way to achieve these goals,” says Richard.
HOUSES 124
“We travelled in Mexico years ago and loved the courtyards there, as private outdoor spaces that connect the rest of the house together,” says Anwen. Richard also notes the use of the form in Asian cities and its relevance to defending against increasing density and building more sustainably in Australian suburban settings. Bramston Residence’s courtyard volume, which also contains a pool, is wrapped on three sides by a compact “C” form that opens to the east. The streetside wing includes the children’s sleeping rooms and shared play and study spaces on the ground level, with parents’ rooms above. Set a little lower, the northern wing contains a flexible living, dining and kitchen space that opens wide onto a garden terrace and the verdant landscape stepping down beyond. The space has a low centre of gravity, creating an interior grandeur that sits between the sky views of the courtyard and the glorious green world of the garden. The formal entry is at the south-western corner; all spaces of the dwelling are connected by a circulation spine and unified beneath a single roof plane that slopes steeply from the front to the back, punched through by the courtyard void. The disciplined unity of form is further reinforced through material expression, with the exterior clad in dark-stained plywood. While the new house sits closer to the front boundary than its predecessor, its darkened skin screened by a stand of king ferns and a full-height wire trellis loaded with climbing herald’s trumpet vines is experienced as a kind of recessive, solid shadow. The species were selected by the clients for their size and tendency to shield and “scale down” the building while bufering the interiors.
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01 A disciplined unity of form is reinforced through material expression, with the exterior clad in darkstained plywood. 02 Contrasting with the dark exterior, the courtyard and garden terrace glow with a rich lining of tallowwood. 03 A northern wing with an open living, dining and kitchen space opens onto a garden terrace and verdant landscape.
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Contrasting with the dark exterior, the courtyard and garden terrace glow with a rich lining of tallowwood. Built-in joinery elements shoulder the functions of domestic life, and the floors are in finished concrete. Underfloor heating is embedded in the ground-level slabs, but the system is rarely needed. The courtyard strategy allows all internal spaces to receive light from both the north and the south. In winter, the floors absorb the heat of direct sunlight and reradiate this warmth. In the steamy Brisbane summer, the passive cooling efect achieved by tuning wide timber-framed openings within the eicient courtyard design guarantees interior comfort on all but the most extreme days. Within flexible spaces that commune across the courtyard, the family inhabits the home with a sense of togetherness, even as individuals engage in separate activities. While each zone is articulated by thresholds and distinct transitions, the visual fusion of spaces is remarkable. Looking back at the house from the garden, sight lines reach through the courtyard and into the depths of the southern wing. “Wherever I am, I can see the kids and what they’re doing,” says Anwen. A tensile mesh that stretches the full length and height of openings to the courtyard cleverly meets pool enclosure safety standards. While Bramston Residence may be “a house about a garden,” there is a public value underpinning the private interests of Michael and Anwen in making their home as they have. Backyard gardens are habitats for biodiversity, but as they disappear through the razing tendencies of bloated home building, much is lost from our shared cities. Had the family left this block to find their garden lifestyle somewhere else, who knows what would have become of the grand old jacaranda tree at the bottom of the garden, which by nightfall becomes “a highway for wildlife.” Now, and into the foreseeable future, this plot in Tarragindi will thrive in the care of people who saw an important alternative to maximizing buildable area on a block. Bramston Residence demonstrates inventive architectural restraint in delivering a generous and connected home while preserving the landscape values of the larger site, which will continue to yield outcomes well beyond the joys of a single family.
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Products Roofing: Lysaght Spandek in Colorbond ‘Dune’ External walls: Shadowclad Natural Groove stained plywood cladding Internal walls: Austral Plywood hoop pine with tallowwood veneer Flooring: Excel Concrete decorative concrete in ‘Raven,’ satin/matt Lighting: Inlite Deep Starr II adjustable lights; Ambience Lighting Pitch rotating spotlight; Lumen 8 Architectural Lighting wide diffused batten; Nocturnal Lighting Dunnart wall light in aged brass from Light and Design Group Kitchen: Stainless steel bench; Sussex Scala pull-out mixer; Zip HydroTap water filter; Smeg induction cooktop; Fisher and Paykel pyrolytic built-in oven; Miele integrated dishwasher Bathroom: Classic Ceramics matt white tiles; Stonebaths Bertina freestanding natural stone bath and solid-surface stone basin in matt white; Caroma Urbane Invisi wall-hung toilet; Villeroy and Boch Oberon rectangular bath and Astra Walker Icon tapware from Bretts Timber and Hardware Heating and cooling: Bosch solar panels External elements: Eco Outdoor bluestone pavers
04 A luxurious bathtub on the upper level affords views across the courtyard to the nearby parklands. 05 A tensile mesh that stretches across openings to the courtyard cleverly meets pool enclosure safety standards.
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Architect Richard Kirk Architect +61 7 3434 8000 mail@richardkirkarchitect.com richardkirkarchitect.com
NEW HOUSE
Project team: Jonathan Ward, Karl Eckermann, Katy Roberts Builder: Craft Building Company Engineer: DEQ Consulting Engineers Hydraulic design and fire service: NBA
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OUTSIDE IN HOUSE BY MODO
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This purposefully recessive, distinctively contemporary alteration and addition to a rundown bungalow celebrates the house’s architectural lineage while providing room for modern living.
Words by Ross Brewin Photography by Benjamin Hosking
With any alteration and addition project involving an old house, the extent to which the existing structure should be physically changed and extended is somewhat of a dilemma. On the one hand, one could argue it is not worth all the efort (and money) to repair a tired, slumping, wobbly old building designed in and for a diferent social milieu. On the other, these longstanding structures connect us to the relatively recent past and retain significant cultural value, reminding us of how things were once done as well as being vessels for the memories of those who lived there before. In the case of the fourth owners of a rundown, two-storey, vaguely Queen Anne style home in Melbourne’s bayside suburb of Williamstown, the desire to maintain the integrity of the old house and the stories that came with it led to the conception of a set of purposefully recessive yet boldly contemporary alterations and additions that accommodate the modern needs of the family of four. The primary addition is in the form of an approximately fifty-squaremetre extension to the rear. On first impression, this new addition does not seem so diferent from a typical open-plan backyard reno containing the standard suite of kitchen, dining and living areas. However, the careful manner in which this deceptively simple white box has been composed and positioned sets it apart, in both a comparative and a literal, physical sense. The extension is articulated as a distinctly new pavilion that is deliberately positioned just next to the old house, careful not to touch it too heavily, maintaining a respectful distance, as it were. This separation is expressed (and made watertight) with a metre-wide strip of thin steel-framed glazing that afords views down to small pockets of revegetated garden, up to an ornate dormer window of the old house and beyond to the brick chimneys and terracotta gargoyles of neighbouring roofs. This gap, along with the stark white material finishes in the pavilion,
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4 Melbourne, Vic
Alteration + addition
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works to frame the old house as a distinct ornate structure, while from a functional point of view it permits a wash of natural light into the rear rooms. An element that further enhances this sense of distinction between the old and the new is the matter-of-fact way that the external weatherboards and timber windows of the existing house have been preserved along the rear interior wall of the new pavilion. The weatherboards also add necessary acoustic attenuation and visual texture to the largely plain surfaces of the open-plan space. At the southern end, the weatherboards are cleverly incorporated into the finely detailed kitchen joinery, subtly blurring what is old and new, interior and exterior, and cladding and cupboard door. A small room created in the centre of the thoughtfully reworked existing residence spatially connects the house to the extension. Labelled on the plan as a library, this space also acts as an entry lobby, a fireside sitting area, an indoor plant nursery and a spatial funnel that directs light borrowed from the extension into the depths of the old house. Mounted on the northern wall of this room are a series of thin, white, folded-steel shelves, behind which is the housing for a frameless glass pocket sliding door that when closed provides acoustic separation between the public zones of the ground floor and the private domain of upstairs. Much like the design of the pavilion itself, both of these new insertions are as thin and recessive as possible to allow the unique qualities of the existing house to proudly sit forward. The ground-floor rooms of the old house have been meticulously restored to celebrate and highlight the spatial and ornamental features of this particular style of house, including the tall ceilings, intricate leadlight windows and dark-stained timber wall panels and strapping. The grandeur and darkness of these spaces perfectly complement the brightness of the upstairs and the restrained whiteness and humble scale of the new extension. I spent some time looking around and discussing the project with the owner (who is also the builder) and one of the last things he said to me on my way out the side door was, “Could you mention Jimmy in the article?” Jimmy was the site supervisor for the construction and largely responsible for the fine craftsmanship evident in the repair of the existing house, having carefully disassembled, labelled, sorted and reconstructed large parts of the building that had fallen into disrepair over its ninety-or-so-year lifespan. Jimmy and the rest of the build team – owners, garden designer and architect – should be greatly commended for the respectful and bold manner in which this tired building and surrounding site have been brought back to life, through the careful repair and alteration of the house and garden, as well as the sensitive way in which the contemporary addition frames, connects and ultimately heightens the experience of each part of this revitalized dwelling.
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ALTERATION + ADDITION
Powder room
Site Floor
565 m² 226 m²
Design 9 m Build 10 m
Products Roofing: Butynol roofing in grey External walls: VM Zinc cladding Internal walls: Gyprock plasterboard, custom lining board and existing weatherboard, all in Dulux ‘Lexicon Quarter’ Windows: AWS aluminium windows in white powdercoat; custom steel windows in white powdercoat Doors: Capral 900 high-performance door in white powdercoat Flooring: Husqvarna Hiperfloor polished concrete Lighting: Lights from Lucretia Lighting, Gamma Illumination and Brightgreen Kitchen: Qasair rangehood; Liebherr fridge; Falcon cooktop and oven; AFA Exact undermount sink; Mizu Drift gooseneck pullout mixer Bathroom: Axa Sheer basin; Astra Walker mixer in brushed platinum; Carrara marble benchtop; Urban Edge Ceramics Folded wall tile; Margres subway floor tiles in Ash from World Trade Access; New Age Veneers Richmond Teak veneer joinery door Heating and cooling: DeLonghi hydronic radiator panels; Daikin inverter airconditioning
01 The rear extension is articulated as a distinctly new pavilion, maintaining a respectful distance from the old house.
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02 A metre-wide glazed gap frames the old house as an ornate structure and brings natural light into the rear rooms. Artwork: James Butt.
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OUTSIDE IN HOUSE
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03 The extant weatherboards have been cleverly incorporated into the ďŹ nely detailed kitchen joinery. 04 Dark-stained timber features and high ceilings have been highlighted in the meticulously restored old rooms.
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ALTERATION + ADDITION
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Porch Entry Bedroom Laundry Library Study Living Dining Kitchen Pantry Barbecue Garden Shed Retreat
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05 The roof and floor planes of the rear pavilion curve gently around to form a barbecue area.
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Architect MODO +61 437 879 833 mo-do.net info@mo-do.net
OUTSIDE IN HOUSE
Project team: Michael Ong Builder: Sargant Construction Engineer: Structural Bureau Landscaping: Amanda Oliver Gardens
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P L AT F O R M HOUSE BY STUDIO PLUS THREE
01 The hard-to-miss triangular form of the extension cantilevers dramatically to the west, supported by a single column.
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PLATFORM HOUSE
Responding to its tricky triangular block, this project is an inversion of the traditional two-storey home, with a raised platform for living offering panoramic views and a genuine connection to the public realm. Words by Leanne Amodeo Photography by Brett Boardman
There aren’t too many suburbs across the country that boast convenience and charm quite like Bellevue Hill does. It’s seemingly close to everything – the CBD, schools, public transport, a number of shopping centres – but feels like it’s not. And therein lies its appeal. This eastern Sydney neighbourhood is leafy and quiet and even has its own patch of natural bushland in the form of Cooper Park. So much of its charm comes from the built environment as well, with heritage buildings peppering the area’s narrow streets alongside modern homes of impressive form and design. For Studio Plus Three’s clients, Ken and Adeline, it was the perfect place to return with their two young sons, after living and working in Singapore for an extended period of time. Living overseas during the design phase, the couple left directors Simon Rochowski, Julin Ang and Joseph Byrne the clear directive to have fun with it. Having this type of free rein proved advantageous because this site is about as challenging as they come. The site, originally a square-shaped corner block, had previously been subdivided on a forty-fivedegree angle, leaving two modest triangular sites. Ken and Adeline’s three-bedroom, single-storey home had no discernible outlook or relationship to the outdoors, a lack of natural light and compromised spatiality. The only way to reconcile these issues was to add a first-floor volume. “We could have spent a lot of money trying to achieve those things on the ground level,” says Simon. “But we realized that if we actually inverted that idea, and put all the living and social spaces upstairs
HOUSES 124
and all the private spaces downstairs, we’d get a much better, albeit slightly out of the ordinary, result.” The addition is nothing short of outstanding: a brilliantly bold, rigorously conceptualized structure that takes the limitations of the site’s shape and makes them a feature of the house. The hard-to-miss triangular form cantilevers dramatically to the west, supported by a single column, making its expression all the more impressive. It was important that the cladding be lightweight and so Simon and Julin applied cypress timber, charring it to a midnight black using the ancient Japanese technique of shou sugi ban. Engineering aside, the dark exterior also serves to heighten the lightness of the interior. As Julin explains, “We wanted there to be a contrast between the inner and outer parts of the volume so that when it’s cut away, the light beneath the dark is revealed.” It’s an idea that had its origins in the playful concept of a coconut and manifests in pared-back, open-plan kitchen, dining and lounge spaces finished with pale European oak flooring, blackbutt window reveals and clean white walls. These elevated living areas are undeniably light and airy. But most importantly, they provide the connection to the outdoors that the clients desired. With each side of the volume punctuated by generous openings, the boundary between inside and outside is cohesively mediated. “It was this connection to the natural environment that we really wanted to achieve, so each of the openings addresses a specific tree,” notes Simon. “We were also trying to get a sense of the surrounding
ALTERATION + ADDITION
02 The upper-level volume is punctuated with generous openings that mediate the boundary between inside and outside. 03 The living spaces feature a pared-back palette of European oak flooring, blackbutt window reveals and clean white walls.
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4 Sydney, NSW
Alteration + addition
Family
greenery going all the way through the house.” The western aspect’s large Moreton Bay fig tree feels like part of the interior, framed perfectly as it is by a fullheight window, which provides views to the CBD and adjacent roads below. Yet it is problematic in also letting in unfiltered western sun and not providing any privacy from Ken and Adeline’s closest neighbour. A bespoke patterned metal sliding screen elegantly resolves these issues in one gesture, even allowing dappled light to dance around the interior when drawn. This is a truly social home that has a nuanced dialogue with the public sphere, unlike so many Sydney houses that are closed to the street. In this respect, the design is influenced by Simon and Julin’s time spent in Holland, where every home has a very open relationship with the street. Such openness is best expressed in the north-facing deck, which borrows outdoor space to make the interior seem larger than it is. The architects looked to Katsura Imperial Villa in Kyoto for inspiration and in many ways this deck is like a pavilion in an expansive garden because of the leafy outlook. It’s also logical in plan, with openings from the dining area and kitchen providing an easy circulation path. In displaying a careful attention to detail, the angle of the bench seat (as well as the internal window reveals) echoes the forty-five-degree cut of the site, ensuring that the upper level’s triangular form is no mere gimmick. This area is one of two new outdoor settings that Studio Plus Three seamlessly incorporated into the scheme. And it contrasts nicely with the ground-floor deck, a more secluded space sheltered by the cantilevered volume’s soit and accessible via both boys’ bedrooms. Only minor updates and some reconfiguration were needed downstairs, making way for a fourth bedroom, closet and ensuite and a staircase that’s bathed in plenty of natural light from the upper level. This is architecture that pursues simplicity through meticulously articulated planning and sophisticated yet rational design. Its unwavering respect for context and a strong connection to the landscape is its ultimate success, allowing this house to finally breathe.
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Powder room
Site Floor
376 m² 254 m²
Products Roofing: Lysaght Klip-lok roof decking in Colorbond ‘Shale Grey’ External walls: Cypress boards, charred by builder; Carter Holt Harvey Shadowclad plywood in Dulux Weathershield ‘Paperbark’; Murobond Murowash ‘Just White’ Internal walls: Gyprock plasterboard in Dulux ‘Lexicon Half’ Windows: Alspec aluminium frames in Dulux Powdercoat Electro ‘Black Ace,’ ‘Medium Bronze,’ ‘Flat White’; Shade Factor external blinds; Ozshade internal roller blinds Doors: Alspec aluminium doors in Dulux Powdercoat Electro ‘Black Ace,’ ‘Medium Bronze,’ ‘Flat White’; timber internal doors in Dulux ‘Lexicon Half’; Lockwood hardware; Pittella hardware Flooring: Tongue n Groove European oak and Bistre Piccolo engineered timber floorboards Lighting: Atom strip lighting; Tudo and Co pendants Kitchen: Blanco Silgranit sink in ‘Rock Grey’; Fisher and Paykel cooktops and oven; Qasair rangehood; Miele dishwasher; Tasmanian oak veneer cupboard
PLATFORM HOUSE
Design 1 y 6 m Build 1 y 6 m
doors; Maximum Marmi splashback in ‘Michelangelo’; Corian benchtop in ‘Glacier Ice’; Polytec pantry door in ‘Polar White’; James Hardie Hardieflex kickboard Bathroom: Phoenix Vivid tapware and Radii towel rails; Stormtech linear drains; Studio Bagno basins; Rogerseller basin (powder room); custom vanity shelf and towel rail in Dulux ‘Monument’ Heating and cooling: Amuheat under-tile floor heating (bathrooms); Nobo panel heaters External elements: Blackbutt decking in Woca exterior oil (first floor); Mafi Kebony decking in ‘Character’ (ground floor); Corian barbecue benchtop in ‘Glacier Ice’; Carter Holt Harvey Shadowclad plywood seating in Haymes Paint Simply Woodcare Uvex finish Other: Custom sliding screen with Hillaldam track, perforations by Locker Group, fabrication and powdercoating by Marcus Engineering and installation by Everest Construction; furniture from Cult, Anibou and Curious Grace
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The angle of the bench seat echoes the forty-five-degree cut of the site, ensuring that the upper levelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s triangular form is no mere gimmick.
04 The bright, north-facing deck offers connection to the public sphere and curated views of the leafy surrounds. Photograph: Noel Mclaughlin.
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ALTERATION + ADDITION
05 Cypress timber cladding has been charred to a midnight black using the Japanese technique of shou sugi ban.
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Architect Studio Plus Three + 61 2 8283 2730 studioplusthree.com info@studioplusthree.com
PLATFORM HOUSE
Ground floor 1:400
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Project team: Julin Ang, Simon Rochowski, Joseph Byrne Builder: Everest Construction Engineer: Cantilever Consulting Engineers Landscaping: Kiwi Green Gardens Planning: PCN Consulting Quantity surveyor: Donald Bayley Geotechnical engineer: Don Katauskas
Architect: Clare Cousins Architects / Photography: Tess Kelly
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Cammeray House by Luigi Rosselli Architects
Imbued with a classical sensibility tempered by moments of inventive wit, Luigi Rosselli Architects’ meticulously crafted first house – designed for the family of INXS’s Kirk Pengilly – represents the best of postmodern architecture.
REVISITED
Words by Peter Tonkin Photography by Justin Alexander
All architects learn primarily through doing – experimenting first in the mind and on paper, then on site, each decision informed by the outcomes of the last one. Thus the “first house” stands as a milestone in the work of any practice. While sometimes clumsy or naive, it always contains the germ of later work. Few, however, signal so powerfully the mature trajectory of an architect as does Luigi Rosselli’s Cammeray house, completed in 1991. And few are so germane to the development of the practice’s work that they are selected as its logo – the initial design sketch of the facade now headlines the Luigi Rosselli Architects branding, in vivid red. Rosselli had been working with Romaldo Giurgola on the 1988 Canberra Parliament House, the occasionally lush interiors and formal classicism of which remain unequalled in Australia, and was developing his own practice with smaller residential projects, when he was commissioned for two concurrent but separate projects by two members of the band INXS. Andrew Farriss developed a new house on the water at Cottage Point, and Kirk Pengilly, with his partner and baby daughter, engaged Rosselli to create a family home in Sydney’s Cammeray. The house is, imperceptibly, an alteration, not a new build. It was purchased as a 1940s duplex, described on Rosselli’s website as “austere and predictable.” Twin superimposed dwellings comprised symmetrical ranges of foursquare rooms either side of a central hall and stairway. The core of the building, with its spread of useful rooms on either side, was retained but is completely enveloped front, back and above by new accommodation. On the street, a pair of symmetrical garages frame the new facade to form an entry court, giving much-needed privacy to the house.
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01 An original sketch of Cammeray House. 02 The facade is evocative of Francesco Borromini’s small church in Rome, the San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane.
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CAMMERAY HOUSE
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The clientâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fascination with the swinging curves of 1950s American cars and with the shape of his trademark Fender guitars inspired Rosselli in his transformation of the duplex.
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CAMMERAY HOUSE
To the north, facing the garden and a view over Middle Harbour, a new double-height living room forms a second facade. A music studio was added as a third level partly within the pre-existing hip roof, with new curved dormers front and back to cap the symmetrical composition of each facade. The northern window opens to a balcony capturing a lovely Sydney panorama of bushland and water. The client’s fascination with the swinging curves of 1950s American cars and with the shape of his trademark Fender guitars inspired Rosselli in his transformation of the duplex. The rock god swagger and panache of INXS permeate the new work, ofsetting the austerity of the original building and appearing in the plan shapes and a number of internal design elements, most noticeably in the two subtly difering facades, front and back. The obvious echoes of Francesco Borromini in these new facades were pointed out by Davina Jackson in her 1991 Vogue Living review of the house, but this is definitively rejected by Rosselli. Perhaps the inspiration was so thoroughly digested that it was completely unconscious, but the contrapuntal concave and convex curves forming a Palladian three-part composition, and the defining horizontal string courses and projecting eaves making a cornice, even the overall proportion of a tall two-storey pavilion, all recall so powerfully Borromini’s small church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane in Rome of 1638 that the relationship cannot be overlooked. Rosselli also rejects any
03 The house’s finishes and fittings exhibit a lavish attention to detail and a consistent and unifying materiality.
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04 A “rangehood” was inventively created from a simple window fan and an elegant wired glass awning.
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05 The delicate linearity of the finely detailed steel windows has become a trademark of Rosselli’s practice.
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lineage from Paolo Portoghesi, whose 1959 Casa Baldi in Rome is much more overtly Borromini-esque and whose work followed an increasingly classical path, in contrast to Rosselli, who retained the unifying and calm spirit of classicism but interprets it with an inventive modernism and an expert celebration of material. Perhaps a more valid inspiration came directly from the client, as expressed by the German philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe – “architecture is frozen music.” Throughout the house, finishes and fittings exhibit a lavish attention to detail and a consistent and unifying materiality. Surfaces have been embellished with chequerboard veneers and sheathed in copper; stone and timber floors have insets of delicate mosaic; bright glass tilework enlivens the bathrooms. In many places there is a kind of wit that recalls the domestic work of Edwin Lutyens: peepholes display small artworks in a diagonal sequence from room to room; grilles and fixing bolts are lovingly detailed as decorative objects. Rosselli collaborated with lighting pioneer Peter Ellis of Neoz to create a suite of light fittings – all still functioning. This richness is ofset by a
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CAMMERAY HOUSE
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soft background of wax-finished, ochre-tinted plaster walls running throughout the house and reflecting the generous daylight, and by the delicate linearity of Rosselli’s trademark finely detailed steel windows. Inventive details such as the doors masquerading as panelling to resolve the entry and the “rangehood” created from a simple window fan and an elegant wired glass awning remain relevant today. The enduring quality of the house is a testament to the craftsmanship of its creators. Rosselli enthusiastically names all of the artisans who created individual elements and still calls on the builder, Domenico Alvaro from Alvaro Bros Builders. It also confirms the benefits of durable, wellresolved and functional interior spaces that can evolve to suit the needs of diferent occupants with minimal alteration. The Pengilly family moved on a few years afterwards and the house was sold to the current owner, who has lovingly preserved all of its detail, only enclosing the upper-level openings to the living room below to provide acoustic separation for her children’s bedrooms. As well as all of the original timber joinery and the kitchen and fantasy main bathroom, both with deep green marble benchtops, a few of the originally crafted pieces of furniture remain. Most significant is the lovely four-poster bed made to Rosselli’s design in ash. The Cammeray house represents the best of postmodern architecture. This movement has been subject to much well-deserved criticism for its concentration on surface and image and a reliance on in-jokes in preference to genuine spatial quality, but Rosselli avoided these traps and has created what his website describes as a “voluptuous, sensuous and meticulously detailed” home that its owners continue to cherish. Significantly, its qualities are such that the house has, over thirty years, avoided “modernization.” There are far too many examples of meticulous craftsmanship and high-style design that have fallen to fashion, their exemplary interiors and exteriors obliterated for the sake of half-baked updating. To preserve these works requires commitment and love, ensuring that key works of our best architects remain for our future heritage.
Architect Luigi Rosselli Architects
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06 A four-poster bed made to Rosselli’s design in ash is one of a number of pieces of original furniture that remain today. 07 Bright glass tilework enlivens the bathrooms, just as surfaces throughout are embellished with rich detail.
Project team: Luigi Rosselli, Ali Reda Builder: Alvaro Bros Builders Joiner: Tripoloni and Son Custom furniture: Linda Fineberg Custom lighting: Neoz
REVISITED
08 A central stair crafted from blackbutt timber complements the tones of the ochretinted plaster walls.
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Laneway Studio
An above-garage studio in the Sydney suburb of Redfern designed by McGregor Westlake Architecture offers an appealing model for the transformation of the utilitarian laneway.
GUEST STUDIO Words by Linda Cheng Photography by Brett Boardman
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In the laneways behind ubiquitous Victorian terraces of inner-suburban Sydney, small, self-contained apartments are sprouting up above garages like little gable- and dormershaped mushrooms. This is an outcome of a recent change to the New South Wales State Environmental Planning Policy (Affordable Rental Housing) 2009, which allows “secondary dwellings,” or granny flats, to be fast-tracked through the development assessment process. Architect Peter McGregor of McGregor Westlake Architecture has watched this “transformation of the lane” at the rear of his Redfern terrace with both interest and a critical eye. “The council is encouraging an attic roof form with a dormer window, but the convoluted roof form constrains internal amenity and the floor-to-ceiling glass on the lane creates privacy issues,” says Peter. For Laneway Studio, he challenged himself with a set of three principles: to be a good citizen and engage with the laneway; to be a good neighbour and minimize overshadowing and bulk; and to maximize the internal space, light, ventilation and privacy. To achieve this, Peter negotiated with the council to create a mansard roof form spanning the width of the block, thereby maximizing volume to the front and enabling a more minimal bedrock and bathroom volume to the rear. A mansard roof comprises two slopes on each side, commonly seen in the roofscapes of Paris. This form allows for deep window reveals, which provides the occupant with views out, while also protecting their privacy from
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the lane below. “You can walk around naked in here,” Peter says with a laugh. “You’re free to be private if you like.” Inside the studio, a living, dining and kitchen area serves as an interstitial zone between the public laneway and the private zone. A cosy bedroom nook and bathroom are hidden behind sliding panels. The entire space is lined in Australian hoop pine of three types: solid sections, veneer panels and plywood.“We wanted to use one material because the space is very small. A single material unifies the space and makes it simpler,” Peter says. There are subtle accents of colour – such as the yellow floor, the alternating pale blue and white overhead cupboards and the green bedroom storage units – which Peter says are inspired by Le Corbusier’s Cabanon, a holiday cabin on the French Riviera. In fact, Laneway Studio bears many other hallmarks of the modernist master’s seaside escape, particularly in the modular regularity of the studio’s proportions. With Laneway Studio, Peter wanted to challenge the council’s controls and create a better model for the above-garage studio type. In some ways, this represents a third layer of urban regeneration for the terrace-lined streets of the inner suburbs. First the development of the terraces, second the postwar additions to the rear and now the transformation of the lanes. “There will be thousands of these built,” Peter says. “That’s why we think of this as a case study.” mwarchitects.com.au
POSTSCRIPT
01 The design of Laneway Studio seeks to improve on the standard of other above-garage studios. 02 The studio is lined in Australian hoop pine of three types to give the interior a unified aesthetic. 03 Sliding panels conceal the bedroom and bathroom.
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