Projects
Architecture,Interiors
Lake Wendouree Residence
John Wardle Architects
30.10.14
From John Wardle Architects website:
This choreographed residence is an homage to the beautiful gardens of Ballarat.
It comprises a series of pavilions located within a landscape of varied garden types - formal, public, rambling, courtyard, and kitchen gardens. The differing gardens and landscaping provide a variety of outlooks from within the house, accentuated by changing light and seasonal coloration.
This house’s centre of gravity is the kitchen and generous central courtyard. The front pavilion is constructed of brick and overgrown with deciduous ivy which changes colour with the seasons. It reinterprets the tradition of the front hedge, so evident in the character of Ballarat.
As you sit in the dining room, the topography of the site has been altered so you sink into the site with grassed berms surrounding you. Our preoccupation with the landscape manifests itself again in the front window of the main living room which traces the outline of the lake and treeline in its frame to idealise the view.
A sitting room appears as a greenhouse with glass louvers making for a warmer interior.
This house grows with its landscape and garden surrounds.
Architecture/Interiors
Carlton Apartment
Jean-Paul Rollo Architects
10.01.14
From Jean-Paul Rollo Architects:
This modern apartment, for a writer and his wife, is located at the edge of the Melbourne CBD, on a streetscape of Victorian terraces, in close proximity of the Carlton Gardens.
It is a purposeful expression of ideas of how the couple wish to live in their later years. It is about an intensive investigation of space management, of reconstructed space and how you use it. It is an exercise in understated luxury.
The building is a three storey tilt-panel concrete box from the early 1990s. It comprises a street level commercial tenancy and two apartments. The apartment occupies the middle level and has access to a large rooftop terrace providing views over the city and the Carlton roofscape.
East facing windows and balconies look directly into the canopy of a large plane tree. An internal north facing court drags northern light and sunshine into the apartment.
A decision was made early to strip the existing apartment back to its bare concrete fabric and start over with a brand new reconstruction of the spaces to be inhabited. The discovery of large structural concrete beams meant that in the spaces between ceiling heights were raised to three metres, adding to the sense of space and intense clarity required by the owners.
The material palette is restricted and rich: travertine slabs left unfilled and ungrouted for floors throughout and wall surfaces in bathrooms; white carrara marble for benchtops and American oak joinery. The travertine floors and walls were placed precisely in a grid that defines the entire space.
A large freestanding joinery element of American oak "inserted" beneath the concrete beams is employed as the main generator of the plan. The result is a column-free space divided only by the timber box. The box contains, to one side, kitchen cabinetry and storage, then wraps along one side of a wide hallway and helps enclose a walk-in robe and an ensuite bathroom. The oak box "floats" 20mm over the floor, as does the white carrara kitchen bench, which extends into the apartment's courtyard and was constructed as if to appear to have been carved from a single block of marble.
The two bedrooms are separated by a screen wall of full height sliding panels to help enclose or open the spaces as required. A three metre tall pivot door also helps enclose the second bedroom. A large library, of walnut, and a 4.8 m marble-topped storage unit were specially designed for the apartment.
Architecture/Interiors
Press Club and Projects
March Studio
28.11.13
With George Calombaris’s favourite painting as its starting point, March Studio has created a stately golden space for the new Press Club.
Architecture/Interiors
Park House Hawthorn
Leeton Pointon Architects
13.06.13
The 2013 Australian Interior Design Awards were announced in Melbourne on 31 May. Congratulations to Leeton Pointon Architects and Alison Pye Interiors for taking both the Residential Design and Interior Design Excellence and Innovation categories.
The approach was to seamlessly integrate all elements of the interiors, architecture, furnishings, decoration and landscape into Park House. The setting was carefully considered in the design of the interior, which sits quietly with the architecture, materials and landscape of the project. Organic shapes, curved soft-plastered walls, appropriate textures and finishes, practicality and sustainability are inherent to the house, and are complemented by the artworks. The palette and detailing are restrained, and were chosen with respect to materiality. Subtle nuances differentiate each space and its use, from the more robust and relaxed approach in the kids’ living space through to more refined selections in the “good room.” Seamless transitions throughout the various interior spaces, as well as between the internal and external spaces, are always maintained. Skylights have been used to wash walls with light from above. Furniture, curtains, rugs, lighting, artwork and decorative items were selected for each space with a focus on softness in form and finish, and comfort and integrity in design. Items such as the front-door handles, glass display cabinet and tapware were custom made for the project. The aim was to create a comfortable, inviting and liveable family home.
Source: Artichoke – May 2013 (Issue – Awards Special)
Architecture/Interiors
Toorak Extension
Michael Jan Studio/MBA Design Group
29.05.13
Our client required an extension to an existing 80′s house. We were required to retain the bedroom wing, the pear lined pedestrian entry point, drive in forecourt and the outline of the building to this forecourt which included a double garage entry.
The design is bespoke to the lifestyle and needs of our client.
Architecture/Interiors
Paddington Terrace
BENNETT AND TRIMBLE
15.05.13
A major internal renovation to the ground floor of a terrace house in the heritage conservation area of Paddington. The internal area of the ground floor is expanded and rationalised with the introduction of a glazed roof over the existing courtyard. A continuous timber joinery element forms a multipurpose storage element to the living, dining and kitchen areas and a screening device to the entry hall. A new polished concrete slab reflects light from the new glazed void to increase interior lighting levels and forms a platform within the terrace on which the new elements are arranged.
Architecture/Interiors
Spring St Grocer
Kristin Green Architecture
07.03.13
The Spring Street Grocer complex is a worthy finalist in the 2013 eat-drink-design awards. Enjoyment of the delicious food and drink on offer is enhanced by the bold design features which are apparent in every aspect of this of establishment. Kristin Green of KGA has given consideration to every surface, space and curvaceous shelf. Colours as bright as the organic veggies on offer pop against stone and timber fixtures. Downstairs in the cheese room, the integration of motifs continues. The more than passing reference to the Greek heritage of the owners is a whimsical and quirky delight.
Architecture/Interiors
House Boone Murray
Tribe Studio
12.11.12
This 1920s bungalow in North Randwick has been updated to suit a young family. A 70s renovation has been carefully removed from the original house, and a new brick addition has been added. The existing house is highly decorative to the street: it is rendered and modelled with some complex corbelling and fretwork. In contrast, the sides of the house are completely utilitarian face brickwork. This face brickwork treatment has been extended into a rear-yard addition housing the living spaces of the house and connecting with the garden. Framed by irregular openings, the garden views develop a new decorative language for the rear elevation.
Architecture/Interiors
Apartment Gregory
Tribe Studio
10.10.12
This apartment has been redesigned to address its incredible view north over Bronte Beach. The plan has been fully reconfigured to create a two bedroom, two bathroom flat with a generous living space and study. The materials palette takes its cues from the beach setting with a concrete floor and oak joinery.
Architecture/Interiors
GUCCI Sydney
10.07.12
While Gucci is certainly not the most ostentatious of luxury brands, it's not afraid to flaunt its glamour either. The new Gucci flagship store in Sydney boasts a burnished gold facade totally in keeping with the brand's reputation for refined bling. Elegant, but hardly retiring, on the damp night of this shoot the store literally seemed to be leaking luxury into the street.
Architecture/Interiors
House 20
Jolson
28.06.11
Concrete buttresses extrude from sloping ground. These rhythmic elements form a continuous datum upon which the first floor rests; concrete blades in an east-west orientation, which cantilever and stagger beyond the precipice of the bronze wall below. This craning assemblage hovers over an organic knoll of delicately curling asparagus fern, and shelters the entry below.
The house is a sculptural object. The brutal exterior surfaces of the forms jostling concrete blades penetrate the interior, diffusing the interior/exterior threshold and creating a series of individual rooms. The interior unfolds as it is engaged with, rooms fold into each other and are defined by layers not walls.
The interior is dissected by a 3 story void; an empty vertical room within a room. The upper and lower floors are veiled by a knitted stainless steel mesh which allows textured shadow to dance within the interior.
The basement experience embraces dark tones, rich textures, and celebrates ambient natural light. There is a strong dialogue between surfaces and object; polished monolithic black stone, raw mild steel, black leather, knitted mesh, and ‘slick’ body of black water that embodies the indoor pool.
The first floor is the clients retreat with Master bedroom, dressing room and ensuite. The Study hovers above the landscape knoll and engages with the streets’ plane trees. The contrasting light and dark furniture pallet articulate ‘her’ study from ‘his’ amongst the blade walls.
The building faces north and draws in sunlight across its breadth. The void acts as a thermal chimney, drawing fresh air through and expelling above. At its base the pond has a cooling effect. The steel mesh veil reduces direct sunlight entry.
The design affronts the general fascination with mock architectural styles, or adorned boxes with inward looking spaces and a total lack of relationship with site and environment. It engages with the notion of grandness without drawing on imitation, decoration, porticos or columns. Anti-decorative, anti-column.
ARCHITECTURE/INTERIORS
Potts Point Apartment Sydney
Anthony Gill Architects
14.04.11
The project involved the redesign of an existing 38 sq m (400 sq feet)one bedroom apartment in a Harry Seidler Building in Potts Point. The aim was to create a space that would suit a couple with a young child. The existing joinery (not original) was demolished leaving only the masonry walls to the bathroom which remains untouched. A new joinery element was inserted to re-configure the space, addressing the issues of privacy, storage and a lack of living space inherent in an apartment of this size.
ARCHITECTURE/INTERIORS
Grace Darling House Melbourne
iredale pedersen hook
12.05.10
Conceived as a formal emulation of the hip roof of the existing heritage listed residence this substantial addition to a large home seeks to provide an alternative reading of its suburban context. Distinctive but complimentary materials: copper, recycled jarrah and calacatta marble, have been employed so that the addition both references and develops the life of the architecture. Concealed from the street, the new insertion transforms the nature of the historic domestic language into a dynamic and generous articulation of form and space, suitable for the life of its new family. All in it's a great set of alterations and additions to a Hawthorn mansion. The architects are iredale pedersen hook and the interior design is by Beatrix Rowe. Photographed for Vogue Living.
Architecture/Interiors
Cubby House Fitzroy
Edwards Moore
13.04.10
Edwards Moore's extension and renovation of an apartment overlooks Fitzroy's iconic public swimming pool. It's an absolute cracker! The French Bulldog's name is Jimmy.
Architecture/Interiors
Lyons studio
NMBW Architecture Studio
08.12.09
Lyons Architecture's new studio by NMBW is in an old department store in Melbourne's CBD. This masterful intervention leaves well enough alone while introducing fine detail and material concerns making for a dynamic and sustainable working environment for the whole Lyons crew.
Architecture/Interiors
Cardigan Street House
FMD
25.05.09
In this wonderful renovation of a labyrinthine Victorian terrace Architect Fiona Dunin has used mirrors and planes to transform the Victorian stair into a periscope where glimpses to rooms beyond reveal beautiful details and light-filled spaces. And while mirrors create prismatic intrigue - you try and photograph them! You can learn more about Fiona and FMD Architects here.
Architecture/Interiors
Fjäll Falls Creek
Hecker Phelan & Guthrie
10.09.08
Fjäll (pronounced "fe-yall") is Swedish for mountain. Designed by Salter Architects and interiors by Hecker Phelan & Guthrie, Fjäll is ski lodge that blends rustic traditions with a contemporary designer finish. I was mostly ably assisted by Lars who's quick with a coffee but cooked us overnight turning up the thermostat because he was cold - you'd think a Dane would know...
Architecture/Interiors
New Gold Mountain
Cassandra Complex
22.02.07
New Gold Mountain is a bar designed by the ever-intriguing Cassandra Complex that joyfully riffs on the opium den aesthetic of gold rush Melbourne.