MEZZANINE #10

VOL. 10 | SIMPLE ISSUE

Connecting you to Australian design

#10

The spaces + specs ~

Materials survey ~

Profile ~

Amado house by Make Architects gives reference to its owner’s Japanese heritage

See several projects that cleverly use semitranslucent materials

We profile talented architect Luigi Rosselli and his diverse body of work

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Connecting you to Australian design

#10

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Contents 30 ~ Amado house by Make Architecture brings in Japanese influences along with some clever design solutions. Cover photo by Peter Bennetts.

Contents 10 –

30 –

54 –

74 –

Editorial & contributors Inspiration for the simple things

The spaces + specs: Amado house Melissa Rymer meets Mel Bright of Make Architects and learns how light has been carefully brought into a family home. All with a nod to her client’s Japanese heritage

Profile A diverse and talented architect, Luigi Rosselli’s work is brought into focus by Stephen Crafti

Timeless classic A Danish design company that has defined Scandinavian modernist furniture

12 –

Highlights See what’s the new and the latest, including a very desirable selection of books

36 – 21 –

Materials Sustainable, fast growing and being used in new ways – what’s not to love about bamboo?

The spaces + specs: Irwin house In Perth we look at an addition that stands proudly next to an original Heritage bungalow 40 –

24 –

Tips Bryon Smith of Urban Growers shares his tips for growing herbs at home

The spaces + specs: Rosebank house Renjie Teoh completely reconfigures his own (and his first) house, and doesn’t shy away from IKEA hacks

28 –

Meet a maker It’s been 10 years in the making, but Jason Bird of Luxxbox has never stopped making furniture

46 –

The tour Perched on a steeply sloped house, Ivanhoe house is surrounded by nature with elegant, luxurious details

77 – 60 –

Advice Meet a bunch of young Perth-based architects who are making it as easy to meet an architect, as it is to book a restaurant 64 –

Materials survey Opaque, semi-translucent and clear, polycarbonate and similar materials continue to be used in some unexpected ways

Guide to design Your guide to all the products and services for a lovely space 82 –

Top five with Alexandra Buchanan We ask a creative to share their top five things with MEZZANINE

68 –

Residential survey Heirlooms and art, a home is something built over time.

Sara Kirby looks at several homes where a designer has included a client’s sentimental pieces

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Editorial Advisory Board

PUBLISHER

EDITORIAL

PUBLISHING

Joanne Davies

Editor Aleesha Callahan

Chairman Nicholas Dower

joanne.davies@niche.com.au

Adam Goodrum Furniture designer, Sydney

JamFactory Gallery + studio, Adelaide

adamgoodrum.com

jamfactory.com.au

Amber Road, Interior design & landscape architecture, Sydney

Kennedy Nolan Architects, Melbourne

aleesha.callahan@niche.com.au ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

Assistant editor Sara Kirby

Lachlan Oakley

sara.kirby@niche.com.au

lachlan.oakley@niche.com.au

Sub editor Madeleine Swain PRODUCTION

Production coordinator Rebecca Pulcini

ADVERTISING

rebecca.pulcini@niche.com.au

Business development managers Luka Damjanovic

Design Hannah Lawless hannah@hannahlawless.com

Digital pre-press Karl Dyer

Commercial director Joanne Davies Financial controller Sonia Jurista

Andrew Maynard Architects, Melbourne

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Call 1800 804 160, email

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Danielle Nichols

Arent&Pyke Interior designers, Sydney

Chris Connell Designer + architect, Melbourne

Tel +61 3 9948 4918

Mim design Interior designers, Melbourne mimdesign.com.au

Own World Furniture retailer, Sydney + Melbourne ownworld.com.au

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Design Office Architects, Melbourne designoffice.com.au

Peter Salhani Writer, Sydney Penny Craswell Writer, Sydney thedesignwriter.com.au

Gorman/Birrell Communications, Sydney

Social & online Always online? Us too.

Hit us up on Instagram @mezzanine_mag And see all the design-related content at australiandesignreview.com/mezzanine

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Architecture and Design Division MEZZANINE is a publication of Niche Media Pty Ltd ABN 13 064 613 529 St Kilda Road Towers, 1 Queens Road, Melbourne VIC 3004 Tel 03 9948 4900 Fax 03 9948 4999 All rights reserved.

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Editorial

Contributors

Aleesha Callahan

When setting out to source projects and inspiration for this issue I had a clear idea in my mind, even though I couldn’t quite reduce it down to a single word. I wanted to share work that evoked a feeling and had a certain quality of space. As a working title I went with ‘the simple things’. I thought of things like abundant natural light, clever design solutions, charm, homeliness, nature, serenity, character, authenticity. Often, it’s these intangible qualities that are the hardest to get right.

You would be hard pressed finding an architect or designer who doesn’t understand the value of natural light and how to manipulate it – and the work we’ve highlighted in this issue cements that notion. From Make Architecture’s Amado house (p30) covered by Melissa Rymer, through to the sculptural way Luigi Rosselli crafts light in his projects (p54), as detailed

by Stephen Crafti. We also look at three projects that break the mould with the use of transparent or semitransparent roofs and walls in the Materials Survey (p64), providing an innovative way to let the light in.

Another simple but critical element that cropped up was the harmonious effect of nature, and this issue’s The Tour project is an exemplary example – Ivanhoe house by Auhaus Architecture (p46).

Susannah Hardy chats with the architects about how it uses the site and surrounding bush in its design.

Plus, Byron Smith of Urban Growers give us tips for growing edible gardens, even in tiny places (p24).

Some of our other stories consider ‘the simple things’ in a more obscure way. From a selection of homes that utilise heirlooms (p68) to a one-bedroom regency style apartment in Sydney that has been rejigged to great effect (p40).

I hope you enjoy this issue and can glean inspiration from its pages, it doesn’t matter how big or small, some of the best results just need a simple idea.

Derek Swalwell Derek Swalwell is one of Australia’s leading lifestyle and advertising photographers with an extensive portfolio spanning an array of projects. He is known for his use of natural light in his architectural, portraiture and interior work. Swalwell’s photography has been featured in many prominent titles such as Elle Decor, Belle, Inside Out, Vogue Living, Blueprint Asia, Singapore Architect, Dwell and others. Shooting a great mix of architecture, interior design and advertising in Australia, and regularly Singapore, makes each day a different type of shoot. derekswalwell.com

Susannah Hardy Susannah Hardy is a freelance writer, specialising in property and interior design. For over eight years, she has regularly contributed to interior magazines – Country Home Ideas, Modern Home and Home Ideas (Express Media Group) – and while she has also written on a wide range of topics for such publications as Sydney Morning Herald, Peppermint, Sprout, Practical Parenting, grow and Child magazine, Hardy loves nothing more than writing on innovative architects and designers and the exciting spaces they create.

Stephen Crafti Stephen Crafti started writing on architecture and design in the early 1990s after purchasing a modernist 1950s home designed by Montgomery King and Trengove. After 40 books and numerous stories for newspapers and magazines, Crafti still delights in interviewing some of Australia’s most talented creatives from a broad design spectrum. When he’s not writing, he enjoys taking people on architecture and design tours both in Melbourne where he resides and in Europe with cultural tour company, Australians Studying Abroad.

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Highlights The geometry of sound Danish technology brand Bang & Olufsen has launched a honeycomb-patterned speaker system called the BeoSound Shape. The wall-mounted system puts technology, design and sound centre stage, while also allowing plenty of room for customisation. Øivind Alexander Slaatto, the designer behind the product, explains that inspiration came from a trip to Norway while looking at the structure of snowflakes.

The resolution is an expandable and interchangeable hexagon shape. “The endless possibilities of configurations make it quite similar to LEGO,” says Slaatto.

It seems the Danes really do know a thing or two about reconfigurable design.

The BeoSound Shape is available in Australia from September. bang-olufsen.com |

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Highlights

Elliat Rich takes out Australian Furniture Design Award The biannual Australian Furniture Design Award

by JamFactory and Stylecraft has rolled around for the second time. Elliat Rich, an Alice Springs-based designer, was announced as the winner with her sculptural vanity design titled Place.

Inspired by Rich’s movements across the interior of Australia, Place was applauded by the esteemed jury for an original design aesthetic that evokes a sense of feminine ritual. They jury also noted that her piece was poetic, strong, innovative and brave.

In addition to $20,000 in prize money, Rich will undertake a residency in JamFactory’s Furniture Studio to develop new work to a specific brief for commercial production and distribution through Stylecraft showrooms across Australia and Singapore. elliatrich.com | jamfactory.com.au | stylecraft.com.au

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MEZZANINE Live and in stereo To help launch our previous issue, the themes from its pages were brought to life at our inaugural MEZZANINE Live event. A dark, cold and windy night didn’t damper the evening as more than 100 people came out to catch a panel talk hosted by MEZZANINE’s editor Aleesha Callahan with cover star Nick James of Architecture Architecture along with Iva Foschia of IF Architecture. Guests enjoyed canapés and drinks while lounging on furniture, launched for the first time in Australia at Meizai’s large and luxurious showroom in Melbourne. Stay tuned for future events!

Staple goods Locally made and built to last a lifetime, the Staple Collection is the first furniture range designed by Melbourne furniture designer/maker Luc Fauvrelle (Lucious Handmade) together with James Taylor (Hamilton Taylor Made).

Looking to buck the trend of imported, mass-produced furniture destined for landfill, Fauvrelle and Taylor create quality pieces, one at a time.

The designs are completed using sustainably sourced hardwoods that are crafted by hand. Each piece is individually numbered and dated before it leaves the workshop. The result is honest furniture that is for keeps, designed and made in Melbourne. lucioushandmade.com |

@lucioushandmade | @hamiltontaylormade

VIVID’s overarching winner: Narvis

A shelf for all occasions

Thomas Hewitt has been awarded the Designer of the Year Award, as well as the Award for Concept Design for his Narvis light at VIVID 2017.

Originally designed as a task light, the handcrafted Narvis can be used as a floor or pendant light. It combines the old with the sleek and contemporary, while paying homage to ancient boat building techniques through steam bending, planing and finishing. It also features full dimming capabilities, which are available at a touch via the subtle brass button on its spine.

Melbourne-based product design studio Pen creates unique products through a collaborative process. By working with a range of architects, designers and thinkers, the studio takes an idea from concept all the way to a global market – and it has just released a new collaborative product.

The Wingnut by Stefan Bagnoli is a modular shelving unit comprising anodised aluminium in a combination of glass, plywood or timber finishes. The unit can be configured depending on space and built to any height, making it customisable for basically all spaces.

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Highlights

Quality on tap Few tapware manufacturers can claim that their founder began as a jeweller. Or that they make their bespoke products by drilling into brass bars that have been forged in their own foundry, with the shavings being recycled to create a completely sustainable manufacturing process.

Further, few can claim that their foundry is located in Melbourne, with every step of the manufacturing process performed by Australian workers.

Sussex, however, can. The brand also celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, a celebration of two decades of locally-made, long-lasting and customisable tapware. sussextaps.com.au |

@sussextaps

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Highlights

On the bookshelf

Fender Katsalidis Architects’ monograph For the diehard architecture fans out there, the recently released Fender Katsalidis: Working Architecture monograph brings together images and plans presented across 338 pages. The book has taken the iconic Australian firm 20 years to bring to life and features 30 built projects, and one still under construction (Australia 108). The weighty tome shows the diversity of work that the practice has done over the years, including the Museum of New and Old Art in Hobart.

The foreword and introductory essays may be a bit dense for those outside of the architectural academia world, but the pages and pages of full-bleed and rich imagery make for delightful flipping. $79, available through Uro Publications.

A lifetime of projects

by Barber and Osgerby, now in a book Hot off the press, having launched at this year’s London Design Festival, is a new book showcasing the work of acclaimed British designers, Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby. The book takes you on a visual journey through the pair’s work, from extensive furniture made in collaboration over the years through to the London Olympic Torch design.

The book is split up into three parts – folded structures, frameworks and volumes – each showcasing the materials and processes the designers have applied for different pieces of work.

Barber Osgerby, Projects gives readers an intimate look behind the veil of two very creative professionals. $125, published by Phaidon.

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The art of architectural imagery Taking an artistic approach to documenting architecture, the newly released double book 3+2: Durbach Block Jaggers showcases the work of the studio in a completely new light. Unconstrained by the traditional principles of architectural photography, 3+2 beautifully lays out unexpected snapshots. The first book of the two, titled 3, features the photography of Andrew Cowen. The photographer collaborated with the architects and visited three projects, all situated on Sydney’s coast. While in 2, Julia Charles explores two projects in central Sydney.

The two photographers and their respective styles are contrasted in the two books, while contrasting the work of Durbach Block Jaggers from the city to the coast. It is a truly elegant and artistic creation. $180, available through Uro Publications.

M E Z Z A N I N E

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Bamboozled There is a material out there that is versatile and resilient, and it can be replenished and harvested more sustainably than any other timber – bamboo.

MEZZANINE looks at the history of the material and how technology is shaping a new era for the sustainable product.

Words ~ Aleesha Callahan

Above ~ The Fractal product by Plyboo in situ.

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Materials

Bamboo

Bamboo is ancient. It goes back so far, in fact, that there are records of it being used in China for paper and building materials around 7000 years ago. But by far its greatest feature is its incredible growth rate and strength, making it a highly sustainable building option. But, in spite of an illustrious history and indisputable benefits, it’s only more recently that it has been building momentum in Australia.

A unique structure Bamboo, rather unexpectedly, falls into the grasses plant family. As such, it has a hollow interior stalk comprising airtight capsules, giving it a lot of strength. Couple that with a rhizome-root structure and the result is an incredibly fast-growing nature.

Bamboo’s unique composition means it has a higher compressive strength than many other building materials, including traditional timber, bricks and concrete. It also has a high threshold of tensile strength, which is why it has been used as scaffolding across many Asian countries.

Built-in sustainability One of the most beautiful things about bamboo is the fact that it is inherently sustainable. The way it grows means it does not require fertilisers, pesticides or irrigation. It grows so rapidly and without the need for replanting that it naturally regenerates in approximate five-year cycles.

Mark McCarthy, president of the Bamboo Society of Australia, adds that, “Bamboo is considered to

be sustainable due to its ability to produce new culms or poles each year and when they reach four to seven years old they can be harvested without affecting the rest of the clump, unlike a tree that is killed for its wood.”

Additionally, Bamboo can be planted on eroded land, including slopes and it will give stability to the land. This is particularly important in communities that are surrounded by land that is no longer productive. Planting and growing bamboo can feed into the local economy while providing a useful material that continually replenishes.

But if purely sustainable measures are what you’re looking for, there are other considerations to take on board – namely where it comes from and how it’s harvested. As with any material, these are the kinds of questions to ask to ensure you’re going with the best solution.

New technology While bamboo can be used in a multitude of applications in the home, from flooring to timber alternatives, it is also a growing area of innovation.

One company, which has only recently made its products available in Australia through Stack Panel, is the US-based Plyboo. Creating unique panelling systems with acoustic properties, Plyboo embraces the inherent sustainability of bamboo, bringing it into the 21st century. When describing the carved, acoustic wall coverings, Angus Stocks, founder of Plyboo, explains, “The product is made by laminating a 19-millimetre

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strip by a six-millimetre strip front to back to create a real core panel. The real core panel is a void-less panel, which allows us to actually carve the panel out.

We then apply a line of pigments that finishes it with a 99 percent UV rating. They are acoustical in form, but they are beautiful and incredibly resilient in function.

These panels can actually be bent to create acoustical ceilings and walls.”

Even though these decorative additions have created an almost completely new product, Stocks explains, “It is done with the idea that bamboo itself has these wonderful properties and one of them is that it refracts tremendous amounts of light. A lot of woods take light and kind of suck it in and it goes dead.

Bamboo is very lively and it actually kicks light out.”

In addition to the wallcovering, Plyboo has also developed floors that can withstand heavy wear, aptly titled Stiletto, and a customisable wallcovering system called Fractal. M stackpanel.com.au | bamboo.org.au

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Opposite ~ A close-up of Fractal, a product that uses bamboo panelling to allow customisable wall features. Above top ~ The Fractal product by Plyboo in situ. Above bottom ~ A bamboo forest.

M E Z Z A N I N E

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Tips

Edible Gardens

Words ~ Byron Smith, director of Urban Growers

How does your urban garden grow?

MZ: Many Australians now live in apartments. Which plants work best for balcony planter boxes? BS: I always start with the herbs people like to use in cooking. Then try leafy greens, as these can be used for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Are there any other ways someone could bring edible plants into the home? For example, herbs on the kitchen counter? I think edible plants only flourish when outdoors in the sun, rain and fresh air. Small insect pests will soon find them indoors and you just don’t have the bigger beneficial insects inside to control them. An organic edible garden needs outdoor biodiversity.

ing helps plants to care for each other – one example is how strongly scented plants like lavender mask the scent of other herbs from pests. Also nasturtiums are planted in gardens as sacrificial plants for hungry aphids. Not to mention they have beautiful foliage and flowers.

What’s the hardiest thing to have a go at for those who are ‘black thumbed’ or no good with plants? Just buy a good gardening book and do your research before piling up the trolley at the nursery. Know what you’re buying and why. Is it in season? Is it better planted from seed or seedling? What do I use in my cooking the most and would love to grow?

What’s the best kind of soil and conditions for edible plants? The best soil is made up over time by adding compost and worm farm castings/liquid, and using organic gardening practices. Always buy premium Australian standard potting mix for all your pots. If it’s a healthy soil, it should be full of worms and other invertebrates and this soil biology will build up over time.

Anything else people may not realise about growing an edible garden? It’s rewarding to have homegrown food available throughout the seasons for your cooking. Once you get the basics sorted, you’ll be able to expand your repertoire and grow, cook and share all sorts of tasty produce in any size space. M

Is it better to go for perennials, seasonal varieties or a mix of both? Annual veg, flowers and herbs benefit from being mixed in with perennial herbs such as rosemary, thyme, oregano and even larger plants like chilli, lemongrass and citrus. Companion plant-

urbangrowers.com.au |

Byron Smith founded Urban Growers to bring the benefits of edible gardening back to the urban lifestyle. @urbangrowers

Above left ~ Portrait by Matt Rabbidge.

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Meet a maker

Jason Bird

Ten years in the making Photography ~ Andrew Porfyri

MZ: You set up Luxxbox 10 years ago now; how has the company grown and changed over that time?

JB: We set it up very much as a big design studio.

It was just me initially, designing a few different products here and there, but mostly just for myself.

We had a small showroom in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane. That’s where it started, humble beginnings.

Over the last couple years we’ve built a decentsized factory at Eagle Farm near the airport. We have our own production, so we do upholstery, woodworking and lighting products, we have an assembly line for all our lighting products.

How have you seen manufacturing change in Australia in the last 10 years? Many say Australia doesn’t have a manufacturing industry, but you’ve almost created it. We were kind of forced to create it. We were outsourcing various components of things. We’ve always been about making product locally, so now we’re committed to manufacturing in Australia. It’s interesting that for years people were going to China, and they still do, but the prices in China are going up and the quality requirements are going up too.

Have you seen an increasing demand for Australianmade product? I think it’s a confidence thing. I’ve noticed it really change in the last five years. And some of it was on the back of the whole greenwash requirement from carbon footprints and things like that, but that seems to be less of a driver in the marketplace now. The reality is, yes, when we started the business Australian specifiers were only confident in European-designed product or American midcentury product. And then it shifted over the course of the last five years. Now I think there’s a confidence in Australian products.

How do you develop a new product? Do you do a lot of material experimentation, research and testing?

How do you go from an idea to a final product? We

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“Now I think there’s a confidence in Australian products.”

start from a couple of different angles. One might be purely driven by my desire to do something or we could get a lot of market feedback around a certain feature or product. So I’ll start testing ideas and do some CAD models. We’re lucky now we can do our own prototyping.

Some of the products are quite easy to prototype and produce from an initial concept development.

We’ll work through it very quickly, build it, test it and put it in the market. Sometimes it’s something that takes a couple years. We’ve got a lot of rapid prototyping around the plastic componentry and a lot of testing on some of the other parts.

What’s your background? I studied industrial design – I did an applied science degree, and then I did a graduate diploma in industrial design, so I’ve always worked in product design or product development. In the early part of my career I worked with manufacturers as an in-house designer and product developer. I ran R&D departments and things like that. I lived and worked in the US a couple of times as a product designer, working mostly in lighting.

My background is very much in architectural exterior lighting and various architectural lighting systems, so I have probably a bit more of a flair to systemise products.

– Jason Bird, founder Luxxbox

We’ve been doing a lot of decorative stuff and decorative lighting, which tends to be the thing that gets the most focus in Australia.

Do you have a driving philosophy or a clear path that you intend to follow for the next 10 years?

Growth is certainly pegged on international markets at the moment. We like finding a niche and developing a tool around it. You may have seen our acoustic lighting range. We’ve probably got the most comprehensive range of acoustic pendants in the world at the moment and we’re backing that up with a lot of engineering and testing. M luxxbox.com |

@luxxbox_design_studio Top left ~ Jason Bird, Founder of Luxxbox.

Far left and below ~ The brisband based studio.

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The spaces + specs

Amado house House

A house of light Words ~ Melissa Rymer Photography ~ Peter Bennetts

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Below ~ Translucent sheeting wraps the pavilion space, muting the light and changing from day to night.

The overall feeling is one of a softened light source.

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The spaces + specs

Amado house Below ~ The engawa, much like a wrapping veranda, is a threshold between inside and outside.

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Building details —— Engineer B Meyer Consulting Builder Weiss Builders Building surveyor Fotia Group

The Amado house was designed by multi award-winning Melbourne firm Make Architecture for a culturally blended family returning to Australia after many years living in Japan. Given that the clients are half Japanese, half Australian, part of the brief was to find an architectural language that reflected and celebrated these cultural differences. Melissa Bright, principal architect, describes the aesthetic for the new building as “shed meets Japanese house”.

Located close to the CBD in Melbourne’s northwest, Essendon has transformed dramatically over the past 20 years into a gentrified suburb, but with a wide range of house styles and building types.

Originally belonging to the client’s grandmother, the house had significant sentimental appeal. The existing dwelling was a timber-framed, weatherboard-clad and tin-roofed Victorian home with some charming interior fretwork, pressed metal detailing, and a hipped and gable articulated roof form typical of the period.

The aim was to integrate the history and character of the original building with an addition that was spacious, light and adaptable to the lifestyle of this family. Remarkably, the Amado house was designed and built in 14 months, an impressive feat, in part due to the fact that there were no town planning permits necessary, and no Heritage overlay.

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One of the key driving ideas for the design was to create a space that embraced the site, but was also a buffer from the harsher elements of living in suburban Melbourne. The junction between the old and the new is quite intentionally distinct with the geometry and scale of the new pavilion creating a clear visual break from the existing house. It has also been cleverly offset towards one side boundary to allow the sun and garden to penetrate the internal spaces.

The brief was to refurbish the existing house and build on a generous backyard pavilion, which incorporated a large open living space, kitchen and study, and to refurbish the existing bathroom to include a deep Japanese sitting bath (furo) and an adjoining space for soapy washing and rinsing. The brief also included the creation of a new Japanese style entry to the existing building to incorporate the traditional ritual of genkan or shoe removal, including a step up to the timber floor.

Amado is a Japanese word for sliding screens, which have been traditionally used in Japanese houses to protect the internal shoji screens – made from delicate rice paper – from the weather. Make Architecture has substituted the traditional rice paper for the ubiquitous fly wire as a pragmatic solution to the insects and climactic challenges of the Australian environment. In this spacious and airy pavilion, the sliding amado screens form the outer skin of the building, providing a transition space that blurs the definition of interior and exterior. It also of-

See other projects th use translu at on page 64.cent materials

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The spaces + specs

Amado house

nsen Discover other Carl Ha . & Søn chairs on page 74

Below ~ The renovation has a simple, but effective material palette.

fers options for either sitting in or strolling around the perimeter. The space brings great flexibility in the variety of ways that opening glass and opening screens can work together to adapt to the unfolding weather that is a key feature of living in Melbourne.

Another of the key elements of this project is the way Make Architecture has integrated the idea of the traditional engawa – a verandah or a wooden strip of flooring immediately before windows and storm shutters inside traditional Japanese rooms.

In the Amado house, the engawa is a main feature of the design, functioning both as a verandah that wraps around the perimeter of the pavilion, but also including an outdoor area that sits within the building envelope while being open to the elements.

The innovative use of translucent roof sheeting wraps around the perimeter of the exterior, creating a gentle, mediated quality of light within the pavilion. During the daytime, this material, in addition to the perforated cladding, creates the illusion of an external solid mass and an internal translucency. This structural duality elegantly reverses itself at night-time. The overall feeling is one of a softened light source. This is atypical for the Australian obsession with maximising north light, which can often feel quite harsh and intense.

The building has been designed to the highest standards in sustainable materials and with the inherent flexibility of the screens and verandahs. It also has a natural ventilation system that can be adjusted to all climates.

The Amado house is a superb example of Make Architecture’s sensitive and considered integration of the client’s personal and cultural values, yet also incorporating the equally important practical and financial considerations. Make has created an oasis of shelter and tranquility, supporting the requirements for a space that is contemplative, private and flexible. The brief required spaces to sit quietly sipping tea and gazing into the garden, or entertaining, plus places to house and appreciate treasured objects. It could be argued that the integration of all of these features and details have helped to ease what could have been a difficult transition from life in Japan into Australia with its own unique cultural backdrop. M makearchitecture.com.au |

@make_arch

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Qasair rangehood Bosch cooktop Combination laminate and paint cabinetry Tongue and Groove floors, Freado Neff oven D900 SH light fittings by Brightgreen from ECC Lighting Bianco Carrara bench top and splashback from Signorino stone

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The spaces + specs

Irwin house The new extension creates ample living space for the family.

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A boxful of space

Not wantin ng to say go oodbye to a cherished bungalow, the clients of MSG Architecture decided to build a new w add-o on, prov vid ding plenty of extra space e.

Photography ~ John Madden

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Specs • • •

•

Cladding–painted timber Floor–sealed float concrete Walls and ceiling– plasterboard Stairs–plywood

Left ~ The new white box sits boldly next to the existing Heritage bungalow.

Irwin house

With two young children and a much loved bungalow, the clients of Michael Gay at MSG Architecture decided they didn’t want to move from their Fremantle home. Rather, by utilising some of the driveway, they now have all the space they need through a modern extension.

When explaining the approach to the design, Gay says, “By moving the living area out of the bungalow it was possible to create a generous kitchen and dining area for family and guests. The parents’ bedroom and en suite were then placed atop the new living area within a neat two-storey addition.”

Not shying away from a bold extension, the new white box sits in stark contrast to the Heritage brick bungalow. It was important, however, that the two were integrated carefully for internal flow. “The last step was to connect the ‘box’ to the bungalow in a sensitive way through an existing opening,” says Gay. Elaborating on the design, he explains, “The Heritage restrictions in the area are very tight and our philosophy was to focus on creating something contrasting that highlights those differences. Building a new two-storey box is easier than attempting to remodel and integrate into the existing [building], making it more economical.”

Although Gay worked across the design of the white box, his clients were heavily involved in the process, even undertaking the construction

administration and a lot of the purchasing with the builder, Eco Fusion Buildings.

Gay says, “It was pretty straightforward, but there were a couple of considerations for an existing sewer that was on-site, which required piles. We also took into account a busy road on the north-east side, so put in double-glazing to reduce noise [for those] in the bedroom.”

It’s been about three years since the project was finished, giving the garden some time to grow.

This period also meant that Gay was able to touch base with his clients and find out how the extra space has impacted their lives. “For such a small amount of additional space they are truly happy with the outcome. They commented how much it has changed the way they use and enjoy their house.

Having their own space upstairs and a bright open living area downstairs gives them the ‘expansive’ feeling that was missing in the original tight and dark bungalow,” says Gay. Another unexpected joy from the new addition is the extra space in the transition corridor between the old and new house. Gay explains, “It has become a foyer/utility space where a lot of activity and loitering occurs. It’s nice to know it worked out as we deliberately made this space generous to accommodate activity.” M msgarchitecture.com.au |

@msgarchitecture

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The Heritage restrictions in the area are very tight and our philosophy was to focus on creating something contrasting that highlights those differences.

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29/08/17 10:45 AM

The spaces + specs

Rosebank renovation

Australian Regency meets Japanese Zen

Photography ~ Ryan Linnegar

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Below ~ IKEA hacks helped bring the kitchen together.

Bringing in influences of Japanese Zen, homeowner and architect Renjie Teoh rejigged this 1920s Regency-style Heritage apartment into an uberfunctional space, all on a shoestring budget.

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The spaces + specs

Rosebank renovation

Proving that a clever floor plan and sensitive approach can result in a comfortable and thoughtful home, Teoh’s apartment in Sydney’s Rosebank also brings in plenty of personality, but not without a few hiccups along the way.

“I bought the apartment with encouragement and financial support from my parents. They were worried that I’d never be able to save up for a place, so by helping me out I could concentrate on my career,” says Teoh of how he secured the property.

Despite the assistance from his family, Teoh worked around the clock, outside of maintaining a full-time job, to get the renovation done. “At the time of purchase, I was a graduate architect working for Cracknell & Lonergan Architects. The design time

It does have a lightness and downto-earth charm.

actually ran in tandem with the construction time as I was keen to minimise my rental expenses and wanted construction to go ahead as soon as was practicable after settlement. It meant I often had to rush out plans and detail drawings in time for the contractor the next morning. It was an incredibly stressful period for me!”

As with many building projects, budget was a challenge. “Fortunately, I wasn’t IKEA shy and quickly resorted to using IKEA hacks for certain joinery elements, like the kitchen cabinetry. But even though it has resulted in a space that isn’t as ‘architecturally polished’ as I would have liked, it does have a lightness and down-to-earth charm,” explains Teoh.

A major element of the design was pushing into the

Right ~ The master bedroom with new fullheight built-in wardrobe and custom Shoji screens.

Opposite ~ Original cornice details show the building’s age.

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New floor plan

bathroom and bedroom by two metres in order to make the kitchen/living larger. The relocation of the bathroom also meant a secondary hallway could be created to conceal a wardrobe, laundry and storage, while providing an access point to the bathroom.

This rearrangement of the floor plan eliminates the common bugbear of needing to direct guests through the master bedroom to use the bathroom.

When speaking of the design aesthetic, Teoh says that he wanted to bring in “a lot of warmth and texture in materials, sensitively overlaying them onto the existing 1970s-restored Georgian-style bones”.

Part of the desired Zen aesthetic comes out in the custom-made Japanese shoji screen doors, which were handmade by Peter Crompton of Shoji Studio in Sydney. The screens provide a finishing touch to Teoh’s ambition for clean and simple lines.

The building has been privy to a long and colourful history – from its 1920s origins, through to a postwar, inner-city slum, followed by a boutique hotel in the 70s and reverting back to an apartment in the 1990s – this bespoke and charming onebedroom home proves that good things can come in small packages… or small spaces rather. M @rjarchitect

rjarchitect.space |

Existing floor plan

Project breakdown —— Size_ 63 square metres Budget_ $120,000 (it ran $10,000 over due to the first contractor becoming insolvent) Timeline_ 14 months

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Rosebank renovation

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White penny round floor tiles Hideaway and undercounter wall-concealed cistern with AXA Uno toilet pan from Reece Timber detailing Laufen Mimo compact hand basin from Reece Nikles Stahl square twin waterrail shower from Reece

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®

MODERN AUSTRALIAN LUXURY FURNITURE SINCE 1976

I N D O O R /O U T D O O R F U R N I T U R E , R U G S , F I R E , L I G H T I N G A N D ACC E SS O R I E S OUR NEW SHOWROOM IS NOW OPEN! NO. 3. 1037-1047 Bourke Street. Entry via George Street, Waterloo, NSW, 2017 PH: 9666 5972

W W W. H A R B O U R O U T D O O R . C O M

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The tour

Ivanhoe residence

A challenging site in a magnificent setting – all in a day’s work for innovative architecture design studio, Auhaus.

Words ~ Susannah Hardy Photography ~ Derek Swalwell Styling ~ Nina Provan

The building hugs the slope, creating a curved entrance.

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Ivanhoe residence

“You feel like you’re in a tree house. The clients were really excited by that.”

Above ~ The surrounding trees feel like they’re a part of the living room.

Opposite ~ Nature can also be seen from the master bedroom.

– Kate Fitzpatrick, director at Auhaus Architecture

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Architects Kate Fitzpatrick and Ben Stibbard share a passion for creating unique spaces – and, after working for another practice on multi-residential buildings, they felt the time had come to refocus on one-off single residential projects. “We just thought that’s where our hearts lay,” says Fitzpatrick. “In terms of getting really customised design solutions, close relationships with the client and having a result that’s more about creating beautiful engaging spaces and not worrying so much about the bottom line.”

The result was Auhaus, an architecture design studio with a name for creating amazing and truly original homes, each inspired by its site and surrounding landscape as well as the clients’ lifestyle. And while Fitzpatrick and Stibbard’s ideas are surprising, even challenging, homeowners continue to jump onboard. “We have a lot of really great clients and they trust us to do what we do,” says Stibbard.

The magnificent home the studio created in Melbourne’s leafy Ivanhoe in 2016 was no exception.

The 1250-square metre site was extraordinary, with a forest, creek and extremely steep gradient – all of which excited Fitzpatrick and Stibbard no end. And while the owners loved the natural environment, they had no preconceived vision. “They were very openminded about what the design might actually be,” says Fitzpatrick. “They wanted something that just engaged very closely with the site itself.”

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As with all their designs, Fitzpatrick and Stibbard allowed natural pieces of the land to inform the layout. Although it was one of the steeper blocks the pair had encountered, they seized the opportunity to cantilever the home into the forest canopy, capturing a fantastical treetop feel. “You feel like you’re in a tree house,” says Fitzpatrick. “The clients were really excited by that.”

The layout is equally unexpected, with two wings arching around a manicured forecourt. “To enable us to get lots of northern sun into a lot more of the home, without actually looking into the neighbour to the north, we split it apart,” says Stibbard. While the garage is at street level, entry is a few metres down, across the courtyard area, through the centre of the arch. The kitchen/dining area runs along one leg of the arch, with large sliding doors opening to the courtyard, while the main living zone swings out to the back, featuring three-and-half-metre ceilings, expansive glass and a wild forest view. The master suite is off the living zone, separated by a study, while the remaining three bedrooms are situated in the opposite leg. Varying levels and ceiling heights offer a dynamic and liveable family home with interesting nooks and breakout areas – a built-in daybed in the dining area and playroom near the lounge, sunken and cleverly separated by timber slats. “We wanted to create a connection back to the living area and have

M E Z Z A N I N E

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The tour

Ivanhoe residence

Below ~ The dining room looks out to the bushy surroundings.

Opposite ~ The interior has pops of colour and clever storage integrated.

a little spot,” says Fitzpatrick, “It’s lower down, you get the views into it, but you don’t see any toys or mess.” A fabulous timber deck extends the living zone outdoors and, as the land falls away at this point, another living space is situated below.

Every corner has been beautifully realised in true modernist style, with materials chosen as a response to land and light rather than current trends. “We’re definitely very influenced by modernist architecture,” says Fitzpatrick. “I think we’re still rustic, not totally – there’s a level of refinement – but we definitely value character with complete cleanness of space.”

The clients favoured a natural material palette so Fitzpatrick and Stibbard used beautiful hardwood timber to great advantage, cleverly blending tones of emerald and black to reflect the surrounding landscape and bring the outside in. “The black focuses your view towards the outdoor areas and we bring the green back in to reflect the leafiness of the landscape as well,” says Fitzpatrick. “It just feels quite immersive, the experience of being in the house.”

Every element plays a vital role, down to the brass handles and wall lights, specifically fabricated by Auhaus. “We like digging down to the details,” says Fitzpatrick. “I guess that’s a modernist approach, to design in as much as you possibly can.” Every fitting and surface works in harmony, creating a natural flow of space and a finish that is uniquely stylish yet a natural complement to the bushy surrounds.

The kitchen features a striking combination of black cabinetry with marble and brass surfaces – a curved motif on the island waterfall edge reflecting the shape of the building’s overall form. And, as the clients love to entertain, a quirky bar area was installed opposite in the same stylish materials. “There was no room to put in any kind of butler’s pantry, so we thought we’d do it all out in the open,” says Fitzpatrick. “They love entertaining, so it just made sense.”

The property has been enormously successful, shortlisted for both the 2017 Victorian Architecture Awards and the 2017 House Awards. More importantly, Stibbard and Fitzpatrick have created a truly original space that reflects its beautiful surrounds while offering a chic yet comfortable lifestyle – and the owners are absolutely thrilled. “They love living in it,” says Stibbard. “They’re really happy.” M auhaus.com.au |

@auhaus

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The tour

Ivanhoe residence

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Profile

Luigi Rosselli

Luigi Rosselli – a softer approach Words ~ Stephen Crafti

Simple design elements can have a memorable impact on a house, whether it’s a renovation or new home. Overscaled windows, subtle curves in a staircase or the way light enters a building can change the way one experiences a space. One of Australia’s leading architects, Luigi Rosselli imbues in his work these features and considerably more. And while each project has it’s own ‘voice’, the ‘script’, with its meticulous ‘notes’, has only one director.

Rosselli sees designing a new house or renovating an existing one as not dissimilar to directing a movie.

Instead of directing actors, Rosselli is overseeing other players, whether it’s the client, local council, engineers or neighbours. “As with a director, you need to understand the ‘script’, or in my case all the facets of working with a site. You are continually anticipating what each role will deliver,” says Rosselli, who also focuses on detail, as much as the broader brushstroke, with each project.

Italian-born Rosselli started his career in the late 1980s, initially designing a couple of seminal homes for musicians in the rock band INXS. The Cottage Point house, designed for musician Andrew Farriss, included a rehearsal space for the band to practise.

Rosselli’s clients also include other creatives, such as a movie director, who purchased what was previously the ‘ugliest’ and probably the smallest house in

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Opposite ~ A large circular cutout brings light onto the balcony at the Point Piper house. Photo by Justin Alexander.

Above ~ Luigi Rosselli, portrait by Yi Gu.

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Profile

Luigi Rosselli Luigi Rosselli

Rosselli sees designing a new house or renovating an existing one as not dissimilar to directing a movie.

Above ~ The Point Piper house blends old and new.

Photo by Justin Alexander.

Opposite ~ Old world charm comes to life in the Woollahra house. Photo by Justin Alexander.

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a leafy Woollahra street. While other architects who inspected the modest 120-square metre site suggested demolishing the existing 1950s home, Rosselli appreciated the ‘bones’. “The house wasn’t well planned and it wasn’t suitable for a family. But I could see the potential of transforming the place into a home with four bedrooms and a study. There was that potential. You just need to be more efficient with space,” says Rosselli, who nestled the 800-millimetre wide guest powder room below the staircase.

While Rosselli’s client is used to adjusting the camera lens, Rosselli is more than capable of combining both the illusion and space itself into a composition. Approached like a Rubik’s cube, the program for the Woollahra house looked into a courtyard space with an overscaled window and Juliet-style balcony. “I could have simply created a traditional window or door looking onto the courtyard.

But where would be the drama in doing that?” says Rosselli. Likewise the Persian-style balustrade appears to be brass, but in reality it is made from aluminium and painted in a metallic brass tone to create a sense of luxury. In contrast, the Iceberg marble used for the

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kitchen’s island bench and spashback is the real thing, evoking floating icebergs seen from a plane crossing the Antarctica. “There should be the grand gestures, such as the oversized window that makes this or any project memorable,” says Rosselli.

Recycling is integral to Rosselli’s approach, whether it’s a bland 1950s home in Woollahra or what was formerly a substantial 1930s harbourside home in Sydney’s Point Piper. In the case of the Point Piper house, originally designed by an assistant working in the practice of Walter Burley Griffin, over 60 percent of the building was recycled. “The setbacks of the original house provided one good reason to retain the foundations. But there was also some beautiful detailing, such as the curvaceous staircase,” says Rosselli. Mindful of the balconies being too narrow for today’s standards, however, Rosselli borrowed some of the internal spaces to increase the size of these terraces.

The Point Piper house, which spans four levels, includes a roof terrace and a boatshed adjacent to the water. As with a film director who needs to make slight changes to the script, Rosselli sees the need to

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Profile

Luigi Rosselli

occasionally change things even after construction has commenced. In the case of the Point Piper house, he noticed how dark the terrace would be that leads from the main bedroom on the top level. “The soffit needed a round hole cut into it to increase the light,” says Rosselli, who sees the role of an architect as knowing when to act quickly so that things are set ‘into concrete’. Although the house is loosely tied to the original 1930s building, Rosselli equally sees references to Italian architect Carlo Scarpa and others, such as Frank Lloyd Wright.

The porthole-style opening on the top terrace of the Point Piper house also makes an appearance on a considerably larger scale for a housing development in the Pilbara, Western Australia. Designed on a cattle station, this project is referred to by Rosselli as the Great Wall. Measuring 230 metres in length and made from rammed earth quarried on the property, the wall is partially buried to deal with the 50-degree Celsius heat experienced in the region.

Rosselli included 12 individual hotel-style rooms in this development for those mustering the cattle, together with a chapel at the core. “I could see the Pantheon in Rome,” says Rosselli, pointing out the highlight windows framing the golden domed chapel.

Although the rooms are modest in size, finish and detail is everything to Rosselli, who selected leather furniture as comfortable to sit on as any found in a luxurious hotel. Bathtubs were also included, mindful of the need for a good soak at the end of hard day of mustering.

Whether it’s a modest sized family home in Woollahra, a luxurious harbourside home in Point Piper or accommodation that’s thousands of kilometres from a large city, responding to a site and what is inherited is pivotal to Rosselli’s artistic directions. “I find pleasure working on small-scale projects, old buildings or creating new homes,” says Rosselli, who says that architects often get accused of creating sterile minimalist ‘boxes’. “I would like to think of myself at the more humanist end of contemporary architecture. There’s the detail in the many curves and there’s a certain warmth and softness in my approach.

You need to see the people living in these spaces, as much as the spaces themselves,” he adds. M luigirosselli.com |

@luigirosselliarchitects

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Above ~ The Great Wall of WA was inspired by the Pantheon. Photo by Edward Birch.

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Advice

Meet Brief

Meeting of the minds 60

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Below ~ Back row L-R: Kate Fitzgerald, Jono Harris, Ben Mountford, Justin Carrier, Sally Weerts and David Barr. Front row L-R: Nic Brunsdon, Ben Braham, Sean Gorman, David Weir, Phil Stejskal and Simone Robeson. (Carly Barrett not pictured).

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Advice

Meet Brief

and skills, which, in the grand scheme of things, is an affordable approach to dip your toe in the water.

We’ve curated a group of architects who we know do good work, are good operators and can accommodate the smaller jobs that a large practice just wouldn’t have the time to do.

Taking the plunge and appointing an architect is not something to be taken lightly. And if you’ve got some simple queries to work out before you would even consider it, there’s not much out there in the way of straightforward, professional advice. In hopes of shaking up the process, a group of talented young architects in Perth are making it easier for people to get advice from an architect through their start-up – Meet Brief.

David Weir, a member of Meet Brief, explains what it is and how it all works.

Above ~ Meet Brief team members visiting site for a design consultation.

Photo by Michelle Kar.

The idea In a nutshell, it’s a portal to get to the people that can help you with a building project. As a group we often meet people who would like to engage the services of an architect because they see what we do as being valuable. They want to have a well-designed house, or maybe they’ve got a tricky site and know that an architect would be useful. But the standard practice of engaging an architect is quite limited, as usually you sign up to large chunks of services all at once. For example, a sketch design or development approval or even the whole shebang from finding a building site to the contract with the builder. So that’s quite a big commitment in many respects – financially, time wise and psychologically.

So the point of Meet Brief is to give people access to architects and their skills in bite-size pieces. Not every project requires the full service of an architect, and Meet Brief means that you don’t have to commit to anything, but you get access to our knowledge

How it works So the way that Meet Brief works is that you get an hour with an architect and everything that goes down on paper in that meeting – every comment, every bit of discussion – is valuable information and design for you to take away.

The website works like any other online booking form. All the firms are represented by one member, so the director or sole practitioner of that firm. It’s presented by name, so you can see the person you’ll meet with. You get to see a bit of their work and read a profile that has been written by them.

From there you just need to find the architect you want, pick a time and book it in like you would with a doctor or a hairdresser. If you’re not sure whom you should be engaging, then you can just make an enquiry and one of the guys will suggest the best fit.

It’s also not something that just any architect can join; we’ve curated it. We think these people do great work and, most importantly, they all want to help people, no matter the size of the project.

Types of queries We’ve had a mix of things come through so far; it’s not limited in that way. We had someone who had just bought a house and they want to make it work better. They’ve got dreams of renovating, but aren’t sure how. So instead of dreaming up something based on Pinterest, they came and got real concrete answers, based on our knowledge of planning codes and planning policies. Things like ‘how big’, ‘how much’, ‘how tall’ they could build on the property.

One guy wanted to turn his garage shed in the backyard into an office and a studio We also met with someone who had engaged a builder and wasn’t happy with the design, so the architect in that case helped them redesign it in a cost-effective way. M Meet Brief is currently only operating in Perth, but there are plans to extend to other parts of Australia.

Stay tuned! meetbrief.com.au | @meetbrief

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Quiet Powerful Beautiful

Manufactured in Australia by Condari Pty Ltd 1300 360 563 sales@qasair.com.au www.qasair.com.au

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Survey

Materials

Let the light in Words ~ Aleesha Callahan

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Thin, transparent walls don’t have to be a bad thing. In fact, they can be quite the opposite when what you’re looking for is a connection to the outside and the light that comes with it. These three projects have used transparency to great effect.

Walls, especially exterior walls, are both a mental and physical barrier between inside and outside. They demarcate the world around us and protect us from the harsh and unruly elements, offering respite and shelter. Sometimes, however, these thick boundaries between inside and outside can also block out an element that influences our well-being, which is of course, light.

In response to this, there are many projects cropping up that consider how translucent or semitranslucent materials can be employed to diminish the barrier between inside and outside. This approach is not limited to the sunny shores of Australia. French architecture practice Lacaton & Vassal has long been a proponent of building with clear sheeting materials, having specified it from private residences to social housing work.

Vitamin D for mental health The home and office of Andrew Maynard has recently been transformed from a typically dark and pokey Victorian terrace into a living experiment. Taking a chance on his home, Maynard has designed a space that is flooded with light, even in the dead of winter, from a Thermoclick ceiling.

“My-house is an experiment that I live in. It is a home that I dare not impose on my clients. It breaks many important rules, often not in a good way. Myhouse lets in sunlight where a house should not. Issues of privacy and personal comfort are often challenged in My-house. It is for these reasons that my family and I also love it,” says Maynard.

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Opposite ~ Silhouettes can be seen using the stairwell in the Studio Garage. Photo

by Wei Wei. Above ~ The home and office brings in bright colours and natural light, aiding mental health.

Photo by Tess Kelly.

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Survey

Materials

His endeavour to be able to wear sunglasses inside stemmed from a desire to improve mental health and well-being. Vitamin D and exposure to the sun are all part and parcel, so by opening up the roof plane with a semi-transparent Thermoclick material, daylight is no longer a problem.

Not only has this been a huge change for the architect’s family, but also the employees of Austin Maynard Architects, who use the space throughout the day.

It was a risky approach, but sometimes stepping outside of your comfort zone can pay off.

A tent in the bush The Garden house by Baracco+Wright is a holiday home conceived of as ‘just a little more than a tent’.

Minimalist and meeting the client’s needs, which is the architects’ themselves, the Garden house does away with unnecessary frills. The transparent polycarbonate covers the exterior, creating a glorified shed.

A driving motivation for the architects on this project was getting back to nature. “It offers the user a close connection with its landscape and seasonal conditions, a high level of natural amenity, perhaps even satisfying an innate biophilia,” says Wright. This

project is so pared back, in fact, that indigenous vegetation has started growing inside the space.

For anyone who often feels worn down by the pace of city life, the Garden house is an antidote and the transparent walls only add to the immersive qualities of the holiday home.

Making a lantern Taking a slightly different approach, Krisna Cheung Architects used a semi-opaque material on a non-structural ‘dummy’ wall to create a play between inside and outside. The new studio space in inner city Melbourne is used as a home office, which has become a growing need for many people who work from home.

The transition between outside and inside, and old and new, is negated by this façade. “The stairwell was placed between the false wall and the actual wall of the studio, and stairwell lights, which are controllable from the main house, create a soft, backlit lantern effect at night,” says Ray Cheung of the design. M maynardarchitects.com | baraccowright.com |

@maynardarchitect

@baraccowrightarchitects

krisnacheungarchitects.com.au |

@krisnacheungstudio

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See another project with translucent materials – .

Amado house on page 30 Opposite ~ The new sloping roof joins up with the old on Austin Maynard Architects’ My-house. Photo by Tess Kelly.

Above ~ This holiday house hides nothing from its surrounds with clear polycarbonate walls.

Photo by Louise Wright.

The different materials —— Corrugated polycarbonate – the basic stuff can come with some UV protective qualities Ampelite Lexan Thermoclick – 40mm thick, flush panels that click together Ampelite Wonderglas in opal with a trimdek profile

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Residential

Something old & something new When fitting out a new home, or renovating or restyling an existing home, often the mind is occupied by thoughts of ‘what should we buy?’ New furniture, new building materials, new accessories? But embracing and reusing existing furniture alongside new purchases can result in something beautiful, and often more meaningful than the alternative. It’s just like the saying goes, ‘something old, something new, something borrowed...’

Words ~ Sara Kirby

Above ~ At Nido Southbank, a number of tables that the client previously owned were kept and worked into the new home. Photo by Jonathon Griggs.

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Southbank residence by Nido Studio “I think reusing existing materials and furniture brings a bit of soul and comfort to a home,” says Dana Goldberg, principal at Nido Studio. “It brings memory to the space... A bit of nostalgia, almost.”

Goldberg always encourages her clients to incorporate existing items – furniture, paintings, accessories – into their new design, and the Southbank residence was no exception.

Goldberg had worked with her clients on their previous apartment, which included a number of custom-designed pieces. But they had outgrown the space and were moving into a 500-square metre penthouse apartment.

“The clients were happy to get rid of everything, and I would have been heartbroken about that,” she says.

Since she worked on the previous fitout, Goldberg knew what could work and what wouldn’t. “I measured

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Residential

Right ~ An amber light is cast down the stairwell as the sun shines through Di Costa’s nonna’s door. Photo by Peter Bennetts.

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everything, I took an inventory and drew it in 3D to show them how it would look,” she says. “They were convinced by that.”

As the space was quite round, it was difficult to make everything fit, so some new pieces did need to be bought. However, items such as a dining table and coffee table, lamps, paintings, side tables and armchairs were reused.

By using existing furniture and materials, Goldberg estimates that she was able to save the clients around $20,000 – cash that can be saved or used elsewhere.

Of course, not all furniture is worth keeping, and then again, some is worth keeping but can pose a challenge. “In a couple of other projects, to restore the existing furniture was more expensive than buying new furniture,” Goldberg explains. “But sometimes it’s worth it, because it was in the family for years or it had a meaning to it.”

Casa31_4 room house by Iredale Pedersen Hook In 2009, Adrian Iredale of Iredale Pedersen Hook and Caroline Di Costa of Caroline Di Costa Architects bought a 1935 Californian bungalow in Perth. Since buying the property, the couple have had two children and have been renovating the home, piece by piece, to suit their growing family.

While the renovations occurred over various stages, each step maintained the same ethos – preserving the history of the house and its occupants, and minimising waste.

“We opened up a Pandora’s box of possibilities that often resulted in the upcycling of items, materials and objects that were then represented as ‘objects of intrigue’,” says Iredale.

These ‘objects of intrigue’ include steel lintels that were repurposed as art pieces in the garden, and

roof cowls that were installed on the front fence for people passing by to touch.

“Also, the original fireplace was retained and the back chimney now features in the upper-level space, including a hand painted ‘I love Linda’... We purchased the house from Linda,” Iredale says.

An impressive amount of materials was also saved and used in more orthodox ways, such as roofing timber from the old carport that was turned into decks and gates, and the original terrazzo flooring in the bathroom, which was rediscovered when the tiles that covered it were removed.

Perhaps the most sentimental piece that was reused within the home, however, is a set of amber glass doors, which came from Di Costa’s nonna’s house.

Now within the casa house, one of the doors connects the lounge/dining space with the garden, while the other sits on a sliding track at the top of the stair and casts amber light down the stairwell.

“They were intended to be used as memory trigger points, a reminder of Nonna, who has since passed away,” Iredale says. “Nonna remains with us not just in memory, but also as a physical presence through the amber light. Not a day goes by that I don’t react when walking up the stairs... It always overwhelms.”

“We’ve opened our house on both Open House Day and Sustainable House Day since completion,” Iredale explains. “During these, we’ve met two of the former owners who have pulled me aside at the end of the tour and excitedly revealed themselves as previous owners and relived their time in the house through what they can still see.

“We have curated our lives with the lives of others; it is not autobiographical but the biography of past and present occupants. We expect this will evolve with time (as it currently is) and will hopefully continue to evolve after us.”

Perhaps the most special piece that was reused within the casa house, however, is a set of amber glass doors which came from Di Costa’s nonna’s house.

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Residential

Lorne Beach house by Zen Architects Now empty nesters and with a lifetime of large trophy homes behind them, the clients at Lorne Beach house realised they needed a change.

“Our family home was an old Victorian in the suburbs, which suited our needs until our kids left home,” they explain. “The house was way too big for two people and we were over the upkeep and maintenance costs. We downsized 17 years ago and built a house on the Mornington Peninsula, but realised after a few years we were having the same issues that we had with the last house – it was too big, had high maintenance costs and was just not comfortable.”

It was then that the couple decided on the sea change they needed: a humble home they could retire into that didn’t envelop the entire block. They purchased a small two-bedroom beach shack and enlisted Zen Architects to help spruce it up – using the things that they had accumulated over the years.

“The clients felt they had spent many years following their friends and fashion into bigger homes that were not comfortable, or weren’t a good fit of who they were and what they really needed,” says Ric Zen of Zen Architects.

The couple owned a number of antique pieces, which came from a previous house and were retained and incorporated into the new home. “An old Swedish dresser is in the main bedroom and a very old Swedish chest of drawers and hanging cupboard are downstairs,” say the couple.

A dining table was constructed, years prior, from old oak floorboards and now resides as quite the centrepiece in the kitchen. “The dining chairs and Poulsen light came from a shop that sells pre-loved Danish furniture,” add the clients.

Meanwhile, in the basement is a piano that has been passed down through generations, and in the lounge are sofas and chairs that were migrated from the old house and reupholstered to match the new.

“The reason for keeping these pieces would be sentimental, as well as financial and, also, we couldn’t bear the thought of it all finishing up in landfill,” say the clients.

After decades of ‘keeping up with the Joneses’, the couple realised that bigger does not always fulfil all your requirements and brand spankin’ new is not always better. Sometimes all you need is a humble, practical place to live and the ability to reupholster some chairs.

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Below ~ enimpore, sim rae maio ipsapicipis siti res et ut aut venem sitibus voluptius esciam arum q

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Classics

Timeless

Carl Hansen & Søn: the Danish artisans With an illustrious 109-year history, Carl Hansen & Søn is the definition of classic Danish furniture. Boasting an archive of pieces designed by Hans J Wegner (among others) the company has continued to produce under the motto of ‘passionate craftsmanship’, with pieces from the 1950s still in production.

1950

Wishbone chair by Hans J Wegner One of the first four chairs to be designed by Wegner as part of his collaboration with Carl Hansen & Søn – the Wishbone chair has been in continuous production since it was first produced in 1950.

Iconic and enduring in its style, the chair perfectly encapsulates timeless design.

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1956

Elbow chair by Hans J Wegner A stackable chair, the Elbow chair is the result of Wegner’s experimentation in moulded veneer. With clean simple lines, the chair was originally designed in 1956, but didn’t make it into production until 2005.

1957

Dining chair by Hans J Wegner Details are paramount to Carl Hansen & Søn pieces and the classic CH33 dining chair lets them shine brightly.

The connection between the timber seat back and the frame becomes a point of interest on the timber versions of the chair, the circular connections highlighting quality craftsmanship.

1963

Shell chair by Hans J Wegner The curving, three-legged Shell chair makes a statement.

First designed in 1963 and reintroduced in 1998, it has earned a place as a design classic. Part statement and a showcase of innovations in hardwood laminate timber, it’s at home in a lounge or a waiting room.

2013

Dream chair by Tadao Ando The Dream chair is an homage to Wegner by acclaimed Japanese architect Tadao Ando. A master of minimalist detail and deft function, the Dream chair is sculptural in its execution.

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Guide to design

Check out the beautiful work of Giffin Design on page 79.

Guide to design

Introducing Kamuy - a collection comprising of tables, chairs and lounges

by Naoto Fukasawa for Conde House. The Kamuy collection was guided by the spirit of local craftsmanship and Japanese precision. Combining the wood crafting tradition and technology of Conde House and Naoto Fukasawa’s unique aesthetics – the result is simple and high-quality designs that naturally and unobtrusively harmonise with any type of environment. “No individuality is the mark of Kamuy. It is a design that is at home anywhere in the world,” says Naoto Fukasawa.

283, Swan Street, Richmond, Vic 3121 T: 03 9912 7250 E: info@apato.com.au

apato.com.au

Basel Letterbox Arko Furniture designs and manufactures contemporary furniture and accessories for outdoor corporate and residential spaces.

Whether it’s bringing the outdoors in with our vertical gardens, or taking the indoors out with our range of tables and stools, Arko’s furniture is designed for the most beautiful of spaces, and made to withstand the full force of our Australian climate.

Flexible, adaptable and beautiful, so you can enjoy our furniture wherever you decide.

8/122 Maribyrnong Road, Moonee Ponds Vic 3039 Tel: 0417 562 250 Email: info@arkofurniture.com.au

arkofurniture.com.au

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Guide to design

A stellar new collection of furniture to Australia provides domestic and hospitality specifiers with new directions in both outdoor and indoor furniture by Varaschin, Italy. New ways of working with materials plus distinctive designs provide a softer, unique aesthetic in this wide collection, being at once organic, reflective and contemporary. From our trade showrooms in Melbourne and Dubai, Casualife has supplied projects worldwide for over 30 years. Choose catalogued furnishings, or let us build bespoke designs.

The depth of our outdoor furniture and specialist umbrella collections is unique in the market. Whether your design calls for quirky, directional or classic pieces, or particular outdoor challenges, our collections from Europe, USA and beyond will bring new creativity to your residential or hospitality project.

casualife.com.au

Tel: 613 9077 1515 email: furniture@casualife.com.au

Cult is proud to introduce NAU, a contemporary Australian design brand offering furniture and lighting by a collective of Australia’s most spirited designers, including Adam Cornish, Adam Goodrum, Gavin Harris and Jack Flanagan. New by necessity, Australia’s design culture stems from a place of isolation; our influences are unique compared to the rest of the world, and we have no design ancestry with which to adhere.

Offering designs suitable for residential and commercial spaces, from elegant lounge furniture to modular shelving with endless possibility, the NAU collection is reductive in form, honest in materiality and timeless in style.

Tel: 1300 768 626 info@cultdesign.com.au

cultdesign.com.au

Designed for breakout areas, lobbies, commercial and retail spaces, Jink is a highly flexible modular lounge range.

Contact Catapult to customize your own.

Tel: +612 8001 6646 Email: info@catapultdesign.net.au Instagram: @catapultdesignau Facebook: CatapultDesign

catapultdesign.net.au

Ever-evolving, Curious Grace is an Australian owned furniture company, specifically employing industry professionals, whose purpose is to facilitate residential and commercial project fitouts. Curious Grace utilises a range of original-design commercial and hospitality-grade furniture products developed by local and international designers and manufacturers.

Our focus is on making your project as simple as possible, with complete furniture specification management and on-time furniture delivery.

Clifton Hill Tel: +613 9481 3488 Yarraville Tel: +613 9687 6878 Mosman Tel: +612 9960 6499 trade@curiousgrace.com.au

curiousgrace.com.au

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Guide to design

SALON CHAIR BY TRUE NORTH DESIGNS

The Salon chair designed by Asger Soelberg has clear references to the golden age of Danish design. Classic woodworking skills meet state-ofthe-art machining to produce a supremely comfortable, elegant chair that displays the best joinery and upholstery work Denmark has to offer.

Danish Red brings the finest original Danish and Scandinavian furniture past and present to Australia. But more than that we bring the spirit of Danish modern – beauty, innovation, functionality and sustainability. Our furniture brands support uncompromising craftsmanship, people and the environment. Just as importantly, with the right care, our furniture is made to last generations.

1181 High Street, Armadale Vic 3143 Tel: +613 9822 8869 Email: info@danishred.com.au

The Italian designed contemporary Exhibit Interiors collection provides craftsmanship and style. Specialising in FSC certified solid oak and walnut furniture, our comprehensive range of dining, bedroom and home décor pieces have been carefully selected to create the perfect look in your interior space.

Exhibit Interiors focuses on sourcing the very best in modern designs to achieve harmony and comfort in residential and commercial settings.

Contact us or visit one of our showrooms today where our stylists are ready to assist you in creating your dream space.

danishred.com.au Tel: +613 9827 9776 Email: contact@exhibitinteriors.com.au

Giffin Design offers a unique opportunity to source custom luminaires that are handmade in Melbourne and carefully tailored for individual clients’ personal needs and desires. From residential to large-scale commercial projects, designer Daniel Giffin creates resolved solutions that are intrinsic to their purpose.

exhibitinteriors.com.au

Idle Hands is a design and manufacture workshop based in Melbourne, specialising in metal fabrication. Founded in 2015 by Kieran Meegan and Rickie-Lee Robbie, Idle Hands began as a creative experiment for the pair who sought to combine Kieran’s steel fabrication skills, from years as a shipbuilder, with Rickie-Lee’s command of line as a printmaker. Their objects provide a thoughtful purpose – a clear function in the home.

A commitment to Australian manufacturing drives Idle Hands in all its work – a unique ability to design and manufacture means that products are fully customisable and can be created specific to your project.

Visit our website for more information.

giffindesign.com

Tel: +61 452 412 634 Email: daniel@giffindesign.com

0415 377 680 e: hello@idlehands.design

idlehands.design

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Guide to design

mondoluce contemporary lighting

Pen is a Melbourne-based design studio that creates authentic, innovative and architecturally inspired products through a unique collaborative process. Working with Australia’s most passionate designers, architects, thinkers and inventors, Pen evolves brilliant ideas and takes them from concept to the global market.

The most recent product, SWAY, is derived from the floor lamp’s distinctive ‘swaying’ motion when knocked or moved. This chargeable, cordless, mobile floor lamp is designed by renowned Australian industrial designer Nick Rennie and will be officially launched at Maison & Objet in Paris.

Made By Pen designers also include Jim Hannon-Tan, Helen Kontouris, MODO Architecture and Bagnoli Architects.

8 Hilton St, Clifton Hill Victoria Australia 3068 Mobile: +61 3 9077 9495 e: hello@madebypen.com

madebypen.com

ownworld exists to support the design community with inspiring and practical solutions to the challenges faced when creating functional, wellresolved, sustainable and beautiful spaces. Timeless appeal, application, technology and environmental sensibility are key considerations for inclusion in the ownworld portfolio. Aiming to keep work and life balanced, ownworld strives to satisfy ‘design minds’ through connection and experience beyond the limits of work.

SYDNEY SHOWROOM 5/50 Stanley Street, Darlinghurst NSW 2010 Tel: +612 9358 1155 MELBOURNE SHOWROOM ownworld.com.au

11 Stanley Street, Collingwood Vic 3066 Tel: +613 9416 4822

Mondoluce has been impacting spaces around the world for over 25 years. Bringing the latest designs from the Milan Fair, we act as the exclusive agent for some of the world’s most respected lighting manufacturers and designers, including Vistosi, Rotaliana, Axo Light, Nemo, Cangini & Tucci, David Trubridge and Seed Design.

Offering a diverse collection of decorative and technical pieces, we aim to provide the absolute best in contemporary lighting for projects of any size: from small home renovations to large-scale commercial projects.

Melbourne Tel: +613 9826 2232 Email: Melbourne@mondoluce.com

mondoluce.com

Sydney Tel: +612 9690 2667 Email: Sydney@mondoluce.com

Planex has been designing and manufacturing award-winning commercial storage since 1972. Committed to designed-in longevity with the ability to reuse, reconfigure and recycle, Planex’s steel lockers are suited to workplaces, universities and end-of-trip facilities. Steel lockers solve the problems associated with individual needs in communal work environments – they aid collaboration, drive productivity, maximise space and provide better flexibility than traditional lockers. Available in over 150 powder-coat colours and finishes. View by appointment Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

MELBOURNE HEAD OFFICE/MANUFACTURING 191 Princes Highway, Hallam, Vic 3803 SYDNEY SHOWROOM Studio 4, Level 2,18-20 Victoria Street, Erskineville, NSW 2043 ADELAIDE SHOWROOM 238 Grenfell Street, Adelaide, SA 5000 Tel: +613 8795 1100

planex.com.au

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Guide to design

S Ø K TA S

Seventy7 Projects is a Melbourne-based residential building company specialising in the construction of architecturally designed houses. It has worked with leading Melbourne architectural practices on renovation/ extension projects and new home constructions. Seventy7 Projects also works with architects and clients under a company developed D&C (Design and Construct) model to maximise architectural design while staying within the client’s defined budget.

IØN wall light

The Bell Street house in Hawthorn by Bagnoli Architects was built by Seventy7 Projects. Photography by Peter Bennetts.

Hand-blown glass lighting, designed and made by Oliver Höglund.

At Søktas Glass Studio, we believe in quality items that are well-designed, well-made and will stand the test of time. Our aim is to produce products that have value in their aesthetic beauty, necessity and function.

The organic design ensures that no two pieces are the same, giving you a unqiue piece for your space. Handmade with passion in New Zealand.

For further information, please visit our website.

8 Hilton St, Clifton Hill Victoria Australia 3068 Phone: 0421 605 961 Email: michael@seventy7projects.com.au

Contact: Ryan Roberts Mobile: 0423 909 055 Email: ryan@soktas.co

seventy7projects.com

As the pioneer of linear drainage for architectural applications, Stormtech has delivered superior quality and elegant solutions for residential and commercial drainage projects for the last 25 years. The product range includes Linear and Tile Insert drains, including the Marc Newson designer range, square floor wastes and Threshold drains.

Used in bathrooms, showers, thresholds, paved areas, driveways, pools and pool surrounds, Stormtech grates and drains are known for sleek design, innovation and practicality. Having won the Good Design Selection multiple times, Stormtech also offers Global GreenTag certification to help with GreenStar credits.

Stormtech Pty Ltd Tel: 1300 653 403 Email: info@stormtech.com.au

stormtech.com.au

soktas.co

Designed for the modern commercial environment and a broad target audience, the Cozy chair family provides extra comfort and advanced ergonomics. The open lumbar area and flexible back allow a user to sit in the most comfortable postition. The inner structure of the back cushion follows the body’s natural movement and maximises comfort. The Cozy chair family comprises varied and complementary seating configurations.

With the flexibility of upholstery finishes, as well as different arm and leg configurations, there is a Cozy chair that can be tailored to suit most needs. Cozy is a perfect addition to any commercial or domestic space.

Sydney | Melbourne | Adelaide | Canberra | Brisbane workspace.com.au/new-product-cozy-chair

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Top five

Alexandra Buchanan

Top 5 with Alexandra Buchanan 3.

Most inspirational space or place

Alexandra Buchanan is the founder and director of Alexandra Buchanan Architecture (ABA), a boutique architecture studio based in Brisbane, whose residential projects are dotted all along the eastern seaboard.

1

1.

Designer/architect/ artist who inspires your work There are so many, and it changes all of the time, but some firm favourites are Tom Kundig and Geoffrey Bawa – both have so much texture and honesty in their work and their architecture is a great reflection of the landscapes they inhabit.

I love the idea of buildings as a continuation of the landscape.

I also have a big thing for kinetic sculpture.

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2.

Favourite book or film

The Pierre by Tom Kundig (Olson Kundig). Photo by Dwight Eschliman / 3 Franz Josef Glacier. Photo by alexeys/123RF Stock Photo 1

I love films with beautiful cinematography and stories that take you on a journey from your chair. For that reason, I love Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist or, more recently, revisiting The Faraway Tree and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe with my kids.

One of the most profound experiences I’ve had was less architectural and more spatial, near the Franz Josef Glacier in the Westland Tai Poutini National Park in New Zealand. In hindsight it was at a pretty vulnerable time in my life, having recently moved to Australia and started a practice, but I was walking through meadow flowers at the base of Mount Cook and the space and sense of peace literally took my breath away and brought tears to my eyes.

4.

Favourite item in your own home I have a beautiful Sri Lankan planter’s chair that I love! My husband bought it for me for Christmas one year and it reminds me of sitting tucked up on a verandah in Arugam Bay (Sri Lanka) having afternoon tea and watching the monsoon rain.

5.

Something you can’t live without My camera. I’ve always loved photography; in a former life I loved to develop and print my own photos, but now I use it more as a notebook. It’s a fairly constant companion and I am always capturing something to remind me of an idea or just of things that make me happy. alexandrabuchanan.com @alexandrabuchananarchitecture

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31/08/17 10:44 AM

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5/09/17 1:54 PM

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C U R I O

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I T Y

8/08/17 4:57 PM