Category Archives: Home Design

Architecture, Home Design, Homes, Profiles, Travel, Videos

Architectural Home Tour: A Converted Warehouse, Melbourne, Australia (4K)

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An architect’s own home can be a challenge to design, with no brief or boundaries to adhere to, leaving the architect’s skill set and true style exposed for all to see. This converted warehouse is an architect’s own home, designed by and for Rob Mills of Rob Mills Architecture and Interior Design.

Located in Armadale, a Melbourne suburb known for its character and village atmosphere, the house was created through a warehouse conversion, which gave the architect plenty of scope and space to design a piece of architecture that truly reflected his likes and wishes. Harnessing this space in the converted warehouse home, the house carries over three levels, with an apartment, sauna and garage at ground level, living in the middle, and bedrooms above.

The interior design uses a minimal palette of stone, timber, stucco, glass and metal, with brass playing a large part in the design, especially in the kitchen where it is used extensively and effectively. This glamour and drama are at the heart of the interior design of the converted warehouse. A spiral staircase adds a sculptural element to the house, while also providing an efficient method of travelling between floors.

The office, which has an English aesthetic with lush yet classic-style furniture, features timber shutters that close off to create a focused environment or open to let in plenty of natural daylight. Close connections to nature were important to the architect, Rob Mills of Rob Mills Architecture and Interior Design. A water feature trickles through the living space of the converted warehouse, providing a meditative element to the room. Materials were chosen for their non-toxicity, with stucco walls specified as a natural alternative to paint.

An architect’s own converted warehouse home, Armadale Residence features designer furniture throughout that is carefully chosen to subtly fit with the shine and glamour of the materials. Architecture and Interior Design by Rob Mills Architecture and Interior Design. Filmed and Edited by Cheer Squad Film Co. Production by The Local Project.

Architecture, Design, Home Design, Homes, Videos

Architecture & Design: ‘Ruum Model’ – Australia

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The Ruum model proudly represents a new pathway to architect designed living. Through considered partnerships with industry leading companies such as Chamberlain Architects and Fisher & Paykel, Ruum is making architectural designs accessible to more people.

Captured in a recently completed home designed by Chamberlain Architects, Ruum founder Elliot McLaren and Chamberlain director Glen Chamberlain explain what this new pathway to architect designed living represents, and how Ruum is able to maximise value for the home-owner. As Elliot explains, “having spent over 15 years in the residential building industry, I became acutely aware of a chasm in the marketplace where traditional project building will stop and one off bespoke architecture starts.”

In practice this has seen Ruum partnering with Chamberlain Architects on the first series of Ruum architect designed homes – five different configurations that can only be commissioned ten times per state before they are retired. Within this program, there exists the potential for customisation of each template to maximise the living and lifestyle benefits of Ruum’s offering. It allows home-owners a degree of customisation to their layout, whilst achieving efficiencies in the appointments and appliances throughout their home.

For Glen Chamberlain, this meant that “the attention to the plan” and choosing to partner with “companies that have a passion and commitment to design” were of utmost importance in elevating this new pathway to architect designed living. The decision to align Ruum with Fisher & Paykel was therefore a logical choice, with all Ruum homes enjoying integrated Fisher & Paykel kitchens that become extensions of the main living space. Elliot elaborates that “what is a common theme with all the partnerships that we have curated within the Ruum model is a common belief around quality” and this is nowhere more apparent than in the Ruum kitchens.

Demonstrating a new path for architect designed living, Ruum allows clients to create beautiful and architectural spaces without the rigours of the traditional model. Presented in Partnership with Ruum. Architecture by Chamberlain Architects. Kitchen Appliances by Fisher & Paykel. Filmed by Cheer Squad Film Co. Production by The Local Project.

Architecture, Home Design, Homes, Travel, Videos, Views

Aerial Views: The Conical Roofed ‘Trulli’ Cottages Of Alberobello, Italy (4K)

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Alberobello is a town in Italy’s Apulia region. It’s known for its trulli, whitewashed stone huts with conical roofs. The hilltop Rione Monti district has hundreds of them. The 18th-century Trullo Sovrano is a 2-level trulli. Furniture and tools at the Museo del Territorio Casa Pezzolla re-create life in the trulli as it was centuries ago. Southwest of town is the Casa Rossa, a WWII internment camp. 

Architecture, Home Design, Homes, Travel, Videos, Views

Views: ‘S&P House’, Temple View, New Zealand (Video)

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Around 15 minutes south-west of Hamilton CBD lies the rural suburb of Temple View, established in the 1950s and home to the Taitua Arboretum—a 20-hectare garden comprising woodlands, lakes and open pasture. It was within this bucolic idyll that husband and wife, Noel and Kylie Jessop, found a hilly, 6500m2 block offering wide-ranging views back towards the city, on which to build their family home. “The position is spot on and the views are amazing,” says architectural designer, Noel. The couple bought the site in mid-2018 and spent the next year fine-tuning the design of their home. “There was no real rush to complete the project at that time and so we had the luxury of really working through ideas and discussing what we required as a family of six—as well as what the site would allow, given its topography. “Kylie said from day one that it needed to be light and bright with an open flow and easy access to the outdoors, especially from the ensuite. We had stayed at a resort where the ensuite led straight out onto the pool area and Kylie was keen to replicate that feel.” Noel says it also needed to have a high level of functionality with six people living in the house. There is a mix of individual spaces and communal spaces and an ever-present connection to the outdoors, even upstairs where the only interaction is via the view through the windows, there is still a sense of being in the landscape. “The secret to successfully fulfilling the functional, financial and aesthetic parameters of the project was to keep the form really simple; just one room wide and to do away with extraneous spaces such as corridors. “There is a simplicity to the home, in terms of its layout and construction, that gives it a sense of timelessness—it functions perfectly as a family home and will function perfectly, years from now, when it’s just Kylie and I living here.” Click here to see the full project: https://archipro.co.nz/project/s-and-…

Design, Home Design, Homes, Views

Home Design: The Art Of The ‘Minimal Kitchen’

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Whether it’s a wall of stainless steel cabinets or a row of plywood units, there is something particularly satisfying about a thoughtfully designed, minimal kitchen.

The trick to clutter-free surfaces is to make sure that behind the clean-lined exterior, there is plenty of space to stash away kitchen paraphernalia. Here, we’re sharing our favourite example of minimal kitchen designs – from a monochrome kitchen in north London to a barely-there arrangement of white units in the Cotswolds. 

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Architecture, Home Design, Homes, Videos, Views

Tours: Minimalist Modern Farmhouse – Hollywood Hills, California (Video)

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A private, minimalist & newly built Modern Farmhouse awaits in the Hollywood Hills behind grand gates & soaring palm trees, minutes from the iconic Sunset Plaza.

Sited on an approx. 1 acre promontory & meticulously designed by Standard Architecture, the estate welcomes you with 3 parallel gabled volumes centered by an astonishing 30 ft great room. The pitch of its ceiling guides the eye toward the rear wall where exquisite glazing reveals breathtaking, unobstructed vistas from Downtown to the Ocean.

Amenities abound, the home provides endless luxuries include Styline doors for indoor/outdoor living, home theater, sumptuous master w/dual closets, remote control shades, well-appointed guest suites, gym w/outdoor lounge & shower, home theater, Crestron system, Sonos Sound, ample driveway parking & dual garages. It’s all brought together by timeless travertine paving & simple landscaping that culminates in a 20×73 ft infinity pool, accentuating the feeling of being suspended in the sky.

Home Design, Homes, Travel, Videos, Views

Homes With Views: ‘A Cabin In Northern Maine’ (Video)

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The northern Maine hideaway rests on piers above the forest floor and employs broad windows to frame the homeowner’s most prized views of the site.

Stephen Peck and his husband, John Messer, walked their remote, ten-acre plot in Maine for nearly a decade before building their dream home. Yet it was all those walks—paths through the property’s dense forest and around massive boulders to the pond’s edge—that ultimately inspired the structure’s placement deep into the forest, where the site best captures their favorite perspectives of the place.

Books, Home Design, Homes, Reviews

Books: ‘Pre-Fab Living’ – A “Golden Age Of Housing”

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From net-zero houses to plug-and-play dwellings and converted shipping containers, each chapter explores the varied and exciting ways that architects and designers are using pre-fabricated technology to address today’s living and world challenges.

This survey of the world’s most innovative and successful examples of pre-fabricated homes explores the full range of possibilities, open to anyone seeking to find clever and up-to-date solutions for building their own home.

A reference section includes in-depth essays, which explore the latest manufacturing methods, trends and technologies, presenting a wide range of possibilities to suit every need, taste and desire.

Richly illustrated with photography and drawings, with projects selected by a long-time expert in pre-fab architecture, this fresh take on new solutions presents the factory-made house in a new light. Whether designing on a tight budget, crafting something self-sustaining or simply looking for new spatial ideas, this is an essential and future source of inspiration for architects, designers and home-builders.

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Home Design, Homes, Travel, Videos, Views

Homes With Views: ‘Kihei – Maui, Hawaii’ (Video)

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Introducing one of the most spectacular beachfront offerings anywhere in Hawaii: Orchid at Maui Beach Place. Perfectly located adjacent to Charley Young Beach, one of Maui’s most acclaimed beaches, this new, contemporary 3 bedroom and 3.5 bathroom luxury townhome is sure to satisfy the most discerning Buyer looking for perfection in the Pacific.

Waterfront, in the midst of Kihei, yet incredibly private, this property is ideal for those looking for a convenient getaway yet with a sense of seclusion. The first floor seamlessly transitions indoor/outdoor living with the living area and gourmet’s chef kitchen blending into the spacious lanai, heated pool and expansive lawn. Head to the second floor and enjoy sweeping, panoramic views from the 450+ square foot Master Bedroom. As an added bonus, the finished basement adds a plethora of options.

Top-of-the-line Thermador appliances, walnut cabinetry, Italian porcelain tile and more make this impeccably furnished townhome a rare turnkey opportunity. With one of the most storied beaches on Maui at its doorsteps, MPB’s Orchid is ready as the place to build the memories of a lifetime.