Innehållsförteckning för Issue 141 August 2021 från Houses

There can be no doubt that architect Antony Martin has an affinity for mid-century modern architecture. His practice, MRTN Architects, won the John and Phyllis Murphy Award for residential alterations and additions at the Victorian Architecture Awards in 2020 for Frankston Mid Century Modern, a sympathetic renovation to a 1960s home in Melbourne’s bayside region. Antony doesn’t claim to be a scholar of history, however; as he puts it, he simply has “a good memory for images.” It so happens that his astute eye has memorized many modernist precedents that he draws on when “building a brief” with clients, the first step in any new project for MRTN Architects. The clients of this new house in Mount Eliza – the neighbouring suburb to Frankston – were keen to acknowledge the…

Three House by John Ellway is a deceptively simple new house, the genius of which lies in the rigour of the planning decisions and in the detail resolutions. Set on a flood-prone gully in Brisbane’s Paddington, the house is broken into three elevated sleeping platforms connected by a series of verandah-like living zones. This efficiently planned house belies the bounds of its physical dimensions by borrowing light and space, and by firmly connecting its internal spaces to the surrounding neighbourhood context. Living spaces have been raised above street level in response to the site conditions and to maintain privacy. The three pavilions are shaded by pyramid roofs with deep overhangs, a requirement of strict character guidelines. Although this classic roof form is contextual to suburban Brisbane, it also demonstrates the…

Peter Clarke’s affiliation with the built form and appreciation for design has gained him a reputation as one of Australia’s leading architectural photographers. Working in the industry for more than 25 years, Peter has collaborated with some of Australia’s most progressive designers to photograph landmark projects and natural and built landscapes. Peter’s work successfully combines his passion for photography, architecture and design, drawing these influences together to create a cohesive vision of the finished form. His collaborative approach and strong vision have seen his unique graphic style applied to a wide range of industries, including architecture, construction, mining and aviation. Like many photographers, Peter is always looking for the next shot, which has led him to develop a series of limited edition architectural landscape prints. These prints have found their…

Annerley House is a joyful addition to a Brisbane cottage, a transformation that demonstrates the effectiveness of thoughtful architecture at any scale within our suburbs. Zuzana and Nicholas has shunned the single-room, open-plan rear addition in favour of making a delightful series of indoor and outdoor rooms. This whole-of-site approach acknowledges the traditional planning arrangement of the cottage and establishes a contemporary response to the garden, within limited means. The garden’s presence within the home is heightened via varied threshold conditions – a generous concrete window seat, a finely crafted bay window and multiple “lookouts” from the library eyrie – allowing connectivity and framed views between the different rooms of the house and the garden. As part of the transformation, traditional elements, material choices and construction techniques are reinvented, resulting…

SRG House by Fox Johnston comes with an impressive architectural pedigree. The locally significant 1970s semi in Balmain is one of a pair formerly owned by eminent architect Sir Roy Grounds and his son Marr, an architect, lecturer and sculptor. Marr commissioned architect Stuart Whitelaw to design the two houses, and this semi was used by Roy as his Sydney pied-à-terre. As may be expected, the bones were excellent and the Balmain views were stunning. However, time had intervened and the original treehouse concept had been altered. Fox Johnston prioritized retention of the existing structure and connection to the landscape, with the original zigzag plan established around major trees. The architect’s work with landscape designer Dangar Barin Smith re-establishes the important bushland setting. Clever interventions addressed deterioration and contemporary living…

Other Architects, led by directors Grace Mortlock and David Neustein, is recognized as a joint winner of this award for the practice’s tenacious pursuit of ideas in architecture, via built and unbuilt works, that seek to shift our relationship to housing. The term “speculative housing” has become synonymous with profit generation. But, as an emerging practice, Other Architects’ speculative focus is rather on generating propositions, advancing discussion and building a culture around contemporary models of housing through lectures and exhibitions – returning a focus to the inhabitants as we embrace increasingly dense living as a normative model in Australia. An equally impressive emerging portfolio of built work demonstrates a skilful hand, which collects the practice’s foundational research and makes spatial experiences that are intelligent, uplifting and delightful. Other Architects describes…

NEW HOUSE OVER 200 M2 NEW HOUSE UNDER 200 M² HOUSE ALTERATION AND ADDITION OVER 200 M² HOUSE ALTERATION AND ADDITION UNDER 200 M² APARTMENT OR UNIT GARDEN OR LANDSCAPE HOUSE IN A HERITAGE CONTEXT SUSTAINABILITY EMERGING ARCHITECTURE PRACTICE REGISTRATIONS FOR THE 2022 HOUSES AWARDS WILL OPEN IN JANUARY 2022. HOUSESAWARDS.COM.AU…

For director Albert Mo and the team at Architects EAT, Carpenter’s Square House marks the third time the architecture practice has designed a house for this client. One might wonder what was wrong with the first two; is this a case of “third-time lucky”? The truth is that the owners of this understated gem in Melbourne’s suburb of Caulfield are, in Albert’s words, “addicted to the process.” Though the familiarity between architect and client might have streamlined some aspects of the design process – as Albert puts it, “everything is easier once the client takes that initial leap of faith” – there were still plenty of challenges. This is perhaps best evidenced by Architects EAT’s response to the brief. Having initially requested a two-storey addition and a large, lockup garage,…

Three House reposes easily in its treed, undulating inner-Brisbane suburban setting. It is without pomp or grandeur, yet beneath the surface lies a compelling logic. The 197-square-metre house is potentially three homes: a primary house, a studio and a granny flat or teenager’s retreat. In its even striding over the site, the house establishes diverse outdoor spaces – using space to both separate and focus internal activities – while at the same time allowing passage for surface water flow down the site’s central landform, a gentle gully. The house responds to the visual character code of the neighbourhood, which controls roof shape and verandah positions and dictates the use of lightweight timber detailing. A series of pyramid-roofed pavilions is rhythmically patterned without fuss, able to open and close to site…

A frequently overlooked and neglected apartment typology in many Australian cities, the 1960s brick walk-up flat is celebrated in this joyous and elegant project. The design, a collaboration between architect Murray Barker and artist Esther Stewart, has done just enough to give the existing apartment a new life as a contemporary home. Without pastiche, the new work references the nostalgia of the 1960s with a palette of muted colours, figured stone and graphic terrazzo. Original elements of the apartment, such as the pastel-coloured bathroom fixtures and the dairy hatch, are retained and celebrated. With a modest budget, significant improvements have been made to functionality and liveability. The reconfigured kitchen has been designed as an extra-compact living space and includes a new, cleverly integrated skylight within the pitched roof space. Acute…

The Hat Factory by Welsh and Major has a colourful past. The building, most recently partially derelict after fire and its use as a notorious squat, is an important feature that anchors locally listed Hollis Park in Newtown. The brief to create a pair of flexible, contemporary residences could have erased history but instead has enriched it. The private residences acknowledge existing social attachment to the place and add a readable new layer. This public gesture is made more generous in the absence of a heritage listing or any requirement for the built fabric to be retained. The retention of deteriorated fabric as a platform for new development required creative design, careful engineering and skilled building. From the street, the upper-floor additions appear to effortlessly complement the old. The rudimentary…

In 1961 José Antonio Coderch wrote of architects: “Let them work with a rope tied to one leg, to stop them from staying too far from the earth where they have their roots, and the people they know best, and let them stand on a solid base of dedication, goodwill and integrity.” It is this commitment to building the “living tradition” – which Coderch also suggests might still be within our reach – that sees Curious Practice, led by directors Warren Haasnoot and Greg Lee, recognized as a joint winner of this award. The practice aspires to produce work that has the highest regard for the community in which it is made, resulting in unassuming yet delightful homes; homes that offer neighbourliness and connectivity to our streets and public places.…

In preparing to write about the houses of Officer Woods – a practice I admire as an architect and whose directors I know well – I have opted to view the work as a client’s architectural advisor, as if I was assisting someone who wished to commission a house of this kind. My study of a collection of five houses, which spans much of this Fremantle studio’s fourteen years of practice, reveals consistent themes and design responses, and illuminates Jennie Officer and Trent Woods’s specific approach to architecture. First impressions matter and so I will start with an observation that these houses appear unmotivated by fashion. There is a distinct absence of all the seductive motifs proliferated on social media platforms about architecture, all of which are attempts at a…

Located on a sloping remote landscape, Federal House is both hard and soft. The existential experience of inhabiting this ancient landscape is acknowledged through the confidence of the building as a discrete object, announcing “I am here.” However, the quiet and elegant form is the first mediation between inside antd outside: the apparent solidity of the object is deconstructed by fine-grain timber battens. The interior experience of this house might have been a neatly contained but detached experience of one’s surroundings. Instead, the interior establishes a layered connection to place and between overlapping activities. This is achieved using a deep verandah-like space that converts the hallway into a covered outdoor room, a type used similarly in colonial homestead buildings and, more acutely, in Asian architectures as layered and sheltering threshold…

This Brisbane home has a civic presence that contributes to its park-side locale. The new additions translate the form and scale of the original weatherboard cottage with a robust materiality that is fitting of both the heritage of one of the owners and the migrant history of the neighbourhood. The arrangement of private and shared parts of the house is planned with exceptional clarity. Generous living spaces, designed to accommodate extended multi-generational family gatherings, continue into delightful walled gardens. Considered apertures in the brick and concrete boundary walls provide privacy yet also allow engagement with, and passive surveillance of, the street. An elegantly detailed metal gate offers access to and from the adjacent park. The beautifully articulated design response inverts what might otherwise have been a defensive approach to an…

Garden is everything in this home by Studio Bright, where as much design attention has been given to external spaces as it has to internal spaces. Set on an inner-urban site in Melbourne’s north, this home is punctured by a series of eight yards, each with a different mood and function, some hardscaped and others softscaped. Working closely with landscape design studio Peachy Green, the architect has carefully choreographed the way each of these courtyards is experienced from within the home. Connections are attuned to the nature of family life. Views to the pool area from the dining room enable child supervision without compromising a summer dinner party, while the sunken main living area connects to a flat and open space for kicking a ball or shooting some hoops. Quiet…

Night Sky by Peter Stutchbury Architecture is a modest home; unique, sustainable, biophilic and fit for purpose. It produces all its own energy, collects its own water, is made in large part out of recycled materials, connects to its local context and uses low-toxic finishes and fittings. Low-water gardens are planted with drought-tolerant indigenous species that support local biodiversity. Additionally, the house is fully accessible, designed to enable its occupant, who lives with a disability, to feel connected and at ease. The home celebrates the local economy. The majority of its materials are Australian-made, recycled and obtained from within a 120-kilometre radius, and 75 percent of trades were sourced through one contractor. This minimizes carbon emissions related to travel time while also supporting local businesses, many of them craftspeople and…

NEW HOUSE OVER 200 M² HOUSE ALTERATION AND ADDITION OVER 200 M² APARTMENT OR UNIT GARDEN OR LANDSCAPE HOUSE IN A HERITAGE CONTEXT SUSTAINABILITY EMERGING PRACTICE SEE MORE, VISIT HOUSESAWARDS. COM.AU/GALLERY…

Visiting my nan’s apartment in Northcliffe on the Gold Coast during the 1990s, I distinctly remember passing a particular house as I walked to the surf at sunrise. On numerous occasions, bodies were sprawled out on the verandah and lawn, fast asleep, a fallen keg a reminder of the night before. Here, life was lived outdoors in the public realm. Little did I know that this was the Cormie House (1948) by Hayes and Scott and that Northcliffe had been an epicentre of experimental coastal architecture by Geoffrey Pie, Karl Langer and Hayes and Scott. Edwin Hayes had a childhood connection to the Gold Coast, having attended the Southport School as a junior. Educated at Brisbane Central Technical College, he completed his articles with E. M. Ford of Chambers and…