Innehållsförteckning för Issue 140 June 2021 från Houses

A connection to landscape and light is fundamental to good design. Yet often, when it comes to imagining residential spaces, clients and architects find themselves caught in the antagonism of house and garden, a feeling that by expanding one they constrict the other. The houses in this issue, however, establish a successful dialogue between living spaces and garden, transforming the Australian fascination with an indoor-outdoor lifestyle into richly enjoyable experiences of living in the landscape. In Federal, Edition Office (page 48) has embedded a dramatic new house into the hillside that enfolds an intimate courtyard garden while also embracing an expansive view of the Northern Rivers hinterland. In Brisbane, Lineburg Wang’s Beck Street (cover, page 20) responds to a flood-prone site with a design that encourages landscape – and even…

Georgia Birks Tell us a bit about yourself and what the original house was like. Tamsin Cull Brisbane has been my home-town since I was at university. I went away for a few years for postgraduate study and work but otherwise I’ve lived in my home in Annerley since 2007 – I’ve always loved the house and the area. The original house was a very small cottage, which had been added to in the 1960s with a “handyman”-style extension. It had a tiny little window out to the garden from the kitchen. I knew that I wanted to change that, to make the transition into the garden as easy as possible. GB When did you decide to engage an architect? TC In 2018 I decided that I wanted to do…

There’s a rich visual complexity to the work of Jean-Baptiste Fastrez that instantly captures the imagination. The Paris-based designer’s portfolio spans product, furniture and spatial design and is eclectic, playful and curious, with a tendency toward sensual material choices that are nothing short of striking. He describes what he does as narrative design, and a sense of storytelling scaffolds each work from name to resulting form. “For me, creating something new and different is the most important thing,” says Jean-Baptiste. “I like to produce designs that ask more questions than they answer.” At the core of his practice is a desire to deliver unexpected outcomes. Case in point is his Zodiac mirror, which boasts a frame that resembles an inflated balloon. In reality, it’s made from ceramic, and the high-gloss…

Tahnee Sullivan Writer Tahnee is an architect and co-director of Brisbane-based practice Sullivan Skinner. She welcomes the critical reflection prompted by mentoring, involvement with architectural education and contributing to design publications. Christopher Frederick Jones Photographer Christopher Frederick Jones (CFJ) is an architectural photographer based in Brisbane. He collaborates with many of the leading architects in Australia and his photographs regularly feature in Australian publications. Tracey Woods Writer Tracey is an educator, innovator and writer who is happiest working across and between disciplines. Her focus is currently on employing exhibition and digital technologies to advance architecture, art and museum studies. Georgia Birks Writer Georgia is an associate editor at Architecture Media and previously an associate at Myers Ellyett Architects in Brisbane. She has written project reviews and been a guest panellist,…

There’s a certain symbiosis in the work of Melbourne-based practice Studio Martin – a seemingly effortless melding of architecture and interiors. This ease is due at least partly, you might surmise, to the fact that the practice’s founders, Lauren and Amanda Martin, are sisters. “We’ve always been very close; there’s a kind of unspoken synergy that we have,” says Lauren. While the Martin sisters have complementary specializations – Lauren as an architect, Amanda as an interior designer – their method weaves the two disciplines together from the outset. “We work together through the whole process,” Lauren continues. “It helps to create a harmony within the project, to balance the big overall gestures with the right level of detail.” Founded in 2018, the practice has built a reputation for creating thoughtfully…

There is a tangible sense of familiarity and memory woven into the design of Hillside House by Vokes and Peters. Given the significant number of residential alterations and additions undertaken by the architecture studio across Brisbane’s suburban landscape, this observation may at first seem unsurprising. However, in this house, that familiarity does not arise from the history of a pre-existing house, nor from the use of a building form or embellishment that is overtly deferential to traditional Queensland building character. Rather, it emerges from spatial sensibilities, from the relationship between the house, the landscape and the street, and from an overlay of narratives drawn from client, architect, site and city. Perched on the side of a prominent hill in the riverside suburb of Teneriffe, this new house is located on…

The South Drawn story began in 2016 under a different name, when designer Luke Mills established Lumil. Fast-forward five years and the Melbourne-based lighting studio underwent a complete rebrand after Luke’s brother Christian came on board. The studio’s values have remained the same, though, with collaboration, artisanal craftsmanship and rigorous experimentation at its heart. Add to that a generous dose of curiosity and the refinement of a luxe yet functional aesthetic and it’s no surprise that South Drawn’s portfolio of pendant and wall lights is so appealing. As the studio’s design director, Luke is inspired by nature, in particular its organic forms. He also has a strong interest in materials and this drives his approach, while steering the course of manufacture and eventual tangible outcome. “A lot of our explorations…

Anthony Gill established his Surry Hills-based practice in 2007. The catalyst came while he was working with Tim Allison Associates, in the form of a tempting commission from a clothing industry entrepreneur who’d bought adjoining terrace houses in Paddington. “That was a great opportunity, starting a practice with a project of this size, scope and ambition,” says Anthony. “The brief was to amalgamate two six-metre-wide Victorian terraces – one three storeys, one two storeys – into a single family home. Working with Tim taught me a lot – he’s a rigorous, very efficient planner who understands how to balance materials and richness in complex projects.” The architectural response in Paddington House (2010, see Houses 79) hinges around a strong spatial idea: carving a two-storey void through the centre of the…

From high-impact lighting objects to furniture pieces that celebrate the inherent beauty of stone, this collection offers plenty of inspiration for your home. Find more residential products: selector.com and productnews.com.au 01 Ellipse collection Rug company Armadillo has collaborated with design studio House of Grey to produce Ellipse. Displaying subtle geometric shapes and graded textures, the collection celebrates the organic forms, tones and textures of nature and offers a subtle sensory experience that counters our busy and overstimulated modern lives. armadillo-co.com 02 Haiku Driftwood Featuring weathered grey tones and an elegant, woodgrain-like texture, the Haiku Driftwood fan is the perfect complement to relaxed coastal style. The new addition to Big Ass Fans’ premium range of ceiling fans is available in indoor and outdoor models and can be controlled by a handheld remote…

01 Winning Homes: 75 Australian House Design Competitions by Tim Reeves (Halstead Press, 2020) The architectural design competitions that we think of as shaping modern Australia are usually large-scale and public – think of Walter Burley Griffin’s winning bid to plan Canberra or Jørn Utzon’s Opera House. But as this invaluable book shows, design competitions have also transformed the domestic sphere, with hundreds of house design competitions being held since 1827, when Eliza Darling won a competition run by her husband (the Governor of NSW) to design a new Government House in Sydney. Winning Homes includes 75 of the most significant of these competitions – most of them less nepotistic. There’s a competition for a model farmhouse organized by the Board of Agriculture of Victoria (1862), the Centenary Homes competition…

When we designed Armature for a Window, we wrote: “The house is like those sandstone escarpments on the water, what we imagine as the first of Sydney’s houses. The outside all rough and making evident the passing of wind, rain and time, whilst the inside is smooth and polished and offering sanctuary.” Armature for a Window was a “first house” for us in so many ways. It was the first house we owned together. It was the first house we designed together. It was the first house we built together. It was the first house we lived in together. And it was the first project of our practice. In this sense, it forged our understanding of stewardship, of architecture, of construction, of habitation, of practice, and more fundamentally, of our…