Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung and Bunurong people.
Victoria
The steep sloping site backs onto the reserve.
The house has been designed with three fronts around a layered landscape that provides private access and generous public views beyond.
A front garden that folds into the street, unfenced allowing conversation to be had between street and the home, street and garden.Â
Secure but engaged with the landscape, a series of courtyards and vistas were organised within the floor plan providing a connection to landscape and cross ventilation.
A double height corridor allows for the solar panels to be contained within the parapet and highlight windows to the south. The sloping roof falling away defines an interior.
The ‘open plan’ is divided by waist height edges. The lower section of walls lined with veneer panelling, joinery and brick work providing a robust finish for living. The white carved ceiling dances around the pragmatics of the structure and roof line.
Award For Residential Architecture – Houses (new)
Designed for an art teacher from the architect’s school years, an old mentor, this house embodies a very specific architectural character.
Introverted at first glance, the house is also respectful of the street. Muted grey brickwork forms the background to a generous front garden. A cobbled arrival side court has stone in the same dappled tones. The singular material palette integrates beautifully with existing Eucalypts and a new Australian landscape.
Courtyards and rooms hang off an organising spine of circulation. An exhilarating sequence of entry spaces plays with compression and release before suddenly opening out toward a tranquil bush reserve.
Careful attention is given to solo habitation. Mostly self-contained across a single level, there are also lower bedrooms for grandchildren that feel close by whilst retaining a comfortable separation.
A lynchpin of the house, the transparent kitchen room offers views to both street and bushland. Glimpses of activity to the passerby provide a comfortable social connection to the neighbourhood.
Quietly monumental in form, the house gives way to a finely tuned interior experience in a home that innately reflects the individual needs of its owner.
Award For Residential Architecture - Houses (new)
Designed for an art teacher from the architect’s school years, an old mentor, this house embodies a very specific architectural character.
Introverted at first glance, the house is also respectful of the street. Muted grey brickwork forms the background to a generous front garden. A cobbled arrival side court has stone in the same dappled tones. The singular material palette integrates beautifully with existing Eucalypts and a new Australian landscape.
Courtyards and rooms hang off an organising spine of circulation. An exhilarating sequence of entry spaces plays with compression and release before suddenly opening out toward a tranquil bush reserve.
Careful attention is given to solo habitation. Mostly self-contained across a single level, there are also lower bedrooms for grandchildren that feel close by whilst retaining a comfortable separation.
A lynchpin of the house, the transparent kitchen room offers views to both street and bushland. Glimpses of activity to the passerby provide a comfortable social connection to the neighbourhood.
Quietly monumental in form, the house gives way to a finely tuned interior experience in a home that innately reflects the individual needs of its owner.
When viewed from the street, the house is simple and elegant. The courtyard, glimpsed from outside, gives a cool lushness to the entry and master bedroom. On entry, the corridor ceiling soars and the panorama of the treed reserve is glimpsed, then revealed. The living area is generous, with ceiling heights that both soar and encompass. The expanse of trees is serene and surprisingly revealed through clerestory windows, along with the sky. Windows throughout create play of light and shade and delightful circulation of air. Downstairs the view of the garden is intimate and peaceful. The house is a joy.Â
Alessandro Castiglioni, Graduate of Architecture
Amy Muir, Director
Sally-Anne Ciantar, Architecture Student
Toby McElwaine, Graduate of Architecture
Zoe Stokes, Senior Designer
Clive Steele Partners, Structural Engineer
BSGM, Building Surveryor
Tilmax Pty Ltd Building Solutions, ESD Consultant
Earth Core Landscapes + Plenty of Green, Landscape Consultant