Return to Simplicity by Adam Kane Architects

RETURN TO SIMPLICITY

Adam Kane Architects have created a distinctive calm in an inner-city Melbourne home.

ARCHITECTURE | Adam Kane Architects LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE | Nathan Burket PHOTOGRAPHY | Timothy Kaye WORDS | Emma-Kate Wilson

Redesigning a Californian bungalow with a contemporary addition for a growing family, Adam Kane Architects set out to maintain as many features from the period home as possible, while ensuring their work remained sympathetic to the original character. Inspired by the insight he had through meeting with his clients in their existing home, Adam understood their clean, bright and tidy aesthetic with a simple minimal palette. “Everything was very ordered and had its place,” he says.

The kitchen features the Arrow pendant by Apparatus Studio in the kitchen – the same pendant Adam Kane Architects selected for their own studio. The pendant works with the Brodware Yokato tapware in aged iron finish.

The Missing Chairs by New Works and custom rendered dining table by Carlier & Co.

This insight informed his vision, beginning from the outside, with the extension’s concrete render exterior. Inside, a refined material palette transcends the entire home, with polished plaster connecting the ensuite and splashbacks, while a white concrete aggregate floor flows effortlessly through the stonecoloured walls and floating white staircase. The grooved painted joinery in the kitchen conceals the walk-in pantry, fridge and linen cupboard, while the powder room mirrors the joinery unit in the living area, creating a consistent dialogue between spaces.

The master suite, a guest bedroom, home office, and laundry now lie in the original home while in the new minimalist cube, with the children’s bedrooms and a new bathroom, complemented by a second living space now upstairs.

The tonal living space features the Tufty Two sofa by Patricia Urquiola and the high-pile Bosco rug by Tribe.

The open plan kitchen with a statement kitchen island bench in white marble alludes to the immersive serenity that fills the home. This area is framed by large, glazed openings that diffuse the boundary between inside and outside, with the living and dining space flowing effortlessly into the Nathan Burkett Landscape Architecture garden. The interior palette and landscape work together rather than compete; with the greenery lending vibrance to the pared-down spaces.

For Adam, the Brunswick House reflects his philosophy of letting the design do the talking; where a return to simplicity honours the home’s materiality and form.