Indholdsfortegnelse for Issue 125 December 2018 i Houses

This is a story of how a visionary client saw potential where others saw obstacles. Pat and Sonia Gaffney – parents of three children, now adults – bought the vacant block next door to their home for a low price twenty years ago. A main sewer line diagonally bisects the site, and Pat laid out a formal garden for entertaining and playing. As their children grew older and the need for a large garden diminished, Pat began investigating ways to build a new home around the major constraint of the underground pipe. He approached Giles Hohnen – architect, artist and rammed earth pioneer – who was working on a renovation across the street. Together they produced a workable design and Pat built a model. Originally trained as a carpenter, he…

Creating architecture that poetically responds to people and place is not restricted to an older generation of Australian architects – it also permeates the work of many emerging practices. Melbourne-based Lovell Burton Architecture is one such practice that revels in the experiential qualities of a building, avoiding a focus on creating image-driven, Instagram-ready results. “We see architecture as an additive process, rather than reinventing the wheel every time. We are focused on a more sensory idea of what it is to dwell on this earth,” reflects codirector Joseph Lovell. Lovell Burton Architecture is both a professional and a personal partnership between Joseph and Stephanie Burton that began during their studies at Deakin University. After both graduating from the Master of Architecture program in 2008, they worked separately for a while.…

Like much of inner Melbourne, the suburb of Collingwood is undergoing significant transformation, with large swathes of the once-gritty suburb being replaced with medium-scale (and some not-so-medium-scale) residential development. Density is jumping and streets that were traditionally bustling through the day with the comings and goings of the light industry are now busy around the clock. While Collingwood may be known for its AFL team, commission housing and a higher than average number of pubs, its industrial character has made it ripe for new residential development and it is increasingly becoming recognized as the less-gentrified brother to its hipster neighbour Fitzroy. Peel by Milieu is a new residential development straddling the Collingwood and Fitzroy border, designed by DKO Architecture with interiors by Design Office. Occupying a prominent corner position at…

01 Maison Fringe bed linen in clay Aura has added bed linen in a clay colour to its Maison Fringe collection. Conceived as a reminder of the natural beauty of Australia, the clay bed linen is evocative of a vast, sunburnt land. The clay colour is available in king- and queen-size quilt covers and pillowcases. aurahome.com.au 02 Ilda Side Table Designed by Jean-Marie Massaud for Poliform, the Ilda Side Table was born out of a study of form and materials. Its peculiarly shaped bronze feet are forged in an artistic foundry and finished by hand. The tops come in marble or resin, meaning no two tables are the same. poliformaustralia.com.au 03 Black Dots and Black Stripes homewares Domo’s homewares collection includes the playful Black Dots fruit stand, as well as…

Tribe Studio was a two-person band subletting the (curiously spacious) broom cupboard of a graphic design business when we started designing House Shmukler. We froze in winter and in summer the furnace-level heat was enhanced by the output and whirr of other people’s airconditioning units. Nevertheless, we were optimistic and ambitious. House Shmukler is full of this optimism and architectural ambition and was an early hint at the concerns that were to become our practice’s work: conceptual rigour, the role of the single dwelling in the greater suburban context, inventive passive sustainability and the impulse to create unique portraits of our clients. Now, as I reflect on the life of the house as a project in our studio, I remember the dedicated and talented colleagues who have come and gone…

The Light Vault residence by Chamberlain Architects in the Melbourne beachside suburb of Brighton is an example of what can happen when an architect and a client are completely aligned in their aesthetic choices. Unusually for Chamberlain, this house is the result of a new build on a cleared site – many of its previous projects are adaptations and extensions of existing residences – and the lack of this constraint or “anchor” on the finished product has combined with a client’s strong preferences to make something distinctive and uncompromising. Declaring a love of concrete, the client said from the outset that they “wanted a bunker.” The house introduces a lofty physical volume onto a suburban street with little or no interaction between interior, facade and street. Privacy is baked in,…

The spirit of playful invention and curiosity about the human condition are still palpable in the home that Robin Boyd designed for Grant and Mary Featherston in Ivanhoe, Melbourne (1967–69). This memorable dwelling comprises a series of connected platforms that hover within a singular, triple-height space and is topped with a translucent polycarbonate ceiling. Garden and nature are celebrated both internally and externally, imbuing the home with a subtle and calming atmosphere. What is not so widely published or well known is the granny flat that adjoins the Featherston House, which was built for Mary’s parents. As Mary explains, “These were two self-contained dwellings by the same architect, with two very different briefs. For the granny flat, [Robin Boyd] was really skilled in the way he met the needs of…

When I met Australian designer Marcel Sigel at his Highgate studio, which is perched high above London with expansive views, we appropriately started with discussion of his Perch stool collection (2014), designed for the Spanish company Capdell. When examining his Grille collection (2017) of outdoor/indoor furniture, designed for the Australian company Go Home, it seemed ironic that the communal garden beneath his apartment lacked a barbecue facility. Having initially studied finance and marketing in Perth before switching to design studies, Marcel had a headstart in understanding the economic imperatives of industry. His approach to designing for manufacture is pragmatic and grounded. He isn’t beholden to using novel materials for the sake of it, where proven materials exist, and new design twists are possible. He describes his laminated beechwood Perch collection…

When renovating, there is often a temptation to overdo things – to maximize the size of spaces or add more rooms than necessary. The owners of Nat’s House, a three-bedroom Federation villa in Cammeray, Sydney, were confident about what needed to be done and engaged Studio Prineas to improve the existing rear extension, which accommodated the kitchen, dining and family rooms, laundry and second bathroom. “Our clients were realistic about their budget. They prioritized high quality over extra space and multiple bathrooms,” says principal Eva-Marie Prineas. They also wanted to capture northern light, create a strong indoor–outdoor connection and be respectful to their neighbours. The east–west orientation and next-door house influenced the positioning and form of the addition. Locating it on the southern side of the property would overshadow the…

01 Spring collection of timber flooring Karndean Designflooring’s 2018 Spring Collection of flooring features fresh, on-trend colours and new light and neutral tones in the Gluedown range. Among the options are the new Urban Spotted Gum (pictured), Coastal Sawn Oak and Scandinavian Pine. karndean.com 02 Texline Comfort vinyl Gerflor’s Texline Comfort vinyl flooring, pictured in the Liboa pattern, is designed to create a sophisticated look in the bathroom or kitchen. It is impervious to moisture and settles into grout lines to absorb irregularities, meaning it can be laid straight over tiles and timber floors. gerflor.com.au 03 Venice terrazzo tile The Venice range of concrete terrazzo tiles from Concrete Collaborative features chunky stone aggregates that create a sense of natural movement and texture. Available in a wide range of colours and…

Perched at the peak of its elevated site in the western Brisbane suburb of Chapel Hill, this ample and elegant house was originally designed in 1959 by architect Vitaly Gzell for the owner’s parents. It occupies its large acreage block in an elongated arrangement, with distinct sleeping and living zones on a single level orientated to the north-east, separated by a central entry. An original feature was a wide L-shaped terrace wrapped around the living area, offering fantastic views over the property and toward the city. In the late 1960s, the house was extended to attach a sunroom and two additional bedrooms over two levels at the south-eastern end. The house remained unaltered for almost six decades until James Russell Architect’s commission to transform it for the next phase of…

Breathing new life into old structures must surely be one of the greatest rewards of architecture and interior design. It often requires radical intervention, mixed with a good dose of rigorous research and a carefully considered hand. CO-AP Architects has employed these techniques to resuscitate a grand, albeit forgotten, mansion in Sydney’s Bondi to create a twenty-first-century family home. The substantial two-storey 1880s Victorian villa “Scarba” was occupied by the Campbell family, who gave their name to the famous beachfront parade. Within the ornate Italianate pile was embedded an earlier four-room sandstone cottage from the 1850s that had been subsumed by the later work. The house was not to be the beachside residential idyll first imagined. Less than forty years after its construction, it was transformed into an institutional care…

Find more residential products: selector.com  and productnews.com.au 01 Valley modular sofa Incorporating soft rolling curves and bold geometric lines, the Valley sofa is low-lying and welcoming. Sitting atop turned American oak feet, the Valley sofa features high-resilience foam for support, topped with slow-release memory foam for additional comfort. jardan.com.au 02 Allegra bathroom collection Apaiser’s Allegra collection features a deep-soaking bath, sleek vanity and elegant basin. Marrying refined elegance and edgy urbanity, the collection imbues the bathroom with a timeless aesthetic, while also delivering optimum comfort. apaiser.com 03 Volume 11: Colour Conscience range Haymes Paint’s colour forecast, Volume 11: Colour Conscience, includes three palettes exploring the uplifting effect of colour: Comfort, Cohabitate and Contribute. Comfort (pictured) features teal greens and lighter powdered greens mixed with nude tones and deep…

The streets of Tarragindi in Brisbane bring focus to the shifting patterns of development in postwar suburbia. As modest cottages on generous blocks are removed or demolished to make way for subdivision, architecture is forced to resolve a new set of rules in the face of smaller sites, tighter restrictions and a dwindling sense of neighbourliness. Tarragindi Steel House, designed by Bligh Graham Architects and constructed by owner and structural engineer Stephen Paterdis with his father Phillip Paterdis, explores the conundrum of building a new house on a small lot and finding delight in shaping tall volumes, sculpting light and layering materials, all the while testing the limits of the Paterdis family’s steel fabrication business. In the absence of generous garden surrounds, Tarragindi Steel House seeks alternative ways to engage…

Like neighbouring Leichhardt, Haberfield has a strong Italian community whose residents have lived in the area for many years. It’s also got some of the best Italian eateries in Sydney’s inner west and happens to boast a large percentage of Victorian and Federation homes. Most of the seemingly perpetually sunny suburb is under a strict heritage order and it shows; the houses are in pristine condition, each situated on a generously sized block and surrounded by immaculately landscaped gardens. Certainly, for Sam Crawford Architects’ recent clients, part of the appeal in moving to Haberfield, after previously living in Balmain, was the abundance of space. “They wanted a home that would cater to their needs for a long period of time,” says the practice’s director Sam Crawford. “A place where their…

Australia has a fine tradition of contemporary ceramics made all the richer by artists such as Gwyn Hanssen Pigott, Kirsten Coelho and Gerry Wedd. The name Ulrica Trulsson may not yet be as familiar, but her work is no less potent. Since undertaking a two-year associateship with the Adelaide Jam Factory’s ceramics studio from 2012, she has been steadily building a portfolio of thrown ceramic vessels and objects that are nothing short of exquisite. Each piece is exacting in its pared-back beauty; a considered study in form and colour that’s unbelievably delicate in expression despite its rigorous resolve. For Sweden-born Ulrica, looking for curiosities in nature is a pastime that informs her work. Her love of the natural environment is especially evident in her colour palette, with glazes ranging from…

The Chimney House was one of Arque’s first commissions, designed by co-directors Emma Rees-Raaijmakers and Suzanne Green. The pair had been practising architecture for more than twenty years before joining forces. Emma’s experience included six years in Hong Kong and the Netherlands working on large-scale urban architecture, while Suzanne had extensive heritage experience and had been in practice for herself for many years, focused on interiors. The Chimney House is their largest residential project together as Arque, and technically Emma’s first individual house. It is almost a freestanding dwelling – the addition fills a gap in the streetscape that had likely existed for more than a century. The clients, Michelle and Patrick and their teenage son, had lived on the site for many years in the first of a long…