Category Archives: Home Design

Architecture, Home Design, Homes, Tours, Videos, Views

Architecture: A Modern Home In Pacific Palisades

Video Leave a comment

The Local Project (September 26, 2023) – On the hills of Pacific Palisades, in Los Angeles, is Palisades Residence by Abramson Architects, a breathtaking modern home with sweeping views of the canyon backdrop. As the house tour begins from street level, the house opens onto a one-storey main level before descending to the second floor.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the Breathtaking Modern Home 00:59 – The Riviera Neighbourhood 01:12 – The Layout of the House 01:35 – A Walkthrough of the Home 04:03 – Designing For A Dynamic Climate 04:53 – A Simple Material Palette 05:09 – A Collaborative Process

Journeying further, the main level opens to reveal the living space with dropped ceilings that at first obscure the top of the canyon. However, as the house tour moves further into the living area, the interior design opens up with the ceiling, lifting to gift the occupants breathtaking views of the canyon. From the entry way, the architects have designed a tall space with concrete walls and split skylights, which have been designed specifically to allow light to reflect and bounce into the breathtaking modern home.

The upper level contains the primary suite, which has its own his and hers bathrooms and dressing rooms. Additionally, this level contains the kitchen, dining room, living room and the covered outdoor space that leads to the outdoor entertaining areas. From here, the house tour leads down to the second level where additional living spaces are placed – these three secondary suites complement the interior design of the breathtaking modern home.

Architecture, Home Design, Homes, Tours, Videos, Views

Architecture: A Concrete Home Tour In Melbourne

Video Leave a comment
A

The Local Project (September 26, 2023) – Narrow sites and smaller residences tend to provide architects with an opportunity – one that inspires creativity and innovation. This is true of Concrete Curtain, an architect’s own home in inner-city Melbourne, where FGR Architects evocatively draws on materiality and natural light, imbuing the architecture of the family home with a sense of elegance and spaciousness.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the Architect’s Own Home 01:29 – Designed for a Growing Family 01:39 – A Walkthrough of the Home 03:13 – Playful Additions 03:49 – The Use of Stone Throughout the Home 05:27 – The Calming Materials 05:46 – Proud Moments

Upon entering the architect’s own home, one is met with a garage that is flanked by an ensuite, study and laundry. The house tour then leads into the central foyer area – a core part of the dwelling that allows light to enter from the east and west. The lower part of the residence contains the kitchen, living and dining area that then naturally flows out towards the al fresco dining area.

The spiral staircase leads to the second level, which is split into two segments. On the northern side is the master suite, and on the southern end is the childrens’ bedrooms. This floor also features a playful, blue carpet, which adds vibrancy to the upstairs level. Perhaps the most prominent feature of the architect’s own home is the concrete curtain, which reveals FGR Architects’s intention to illuminate areas with natural light.

Wanting to create a sense of space, the architect leveraged the idea of a sheer curtain to allow for both privacy and openness. As such, the concrete ‘cylinders’ are spaced out in a way that emulates the fold of a curtain. The result is a remarkable feature with a gentle, pleated style that softens the residence and lets light pass through seamlessly. The interior design and materiality of the architect’s own home is vital to its overall effect.

Architecture, Home Design, Homes, Tours, Videos, Views

Australia Design: Winter Creek House In Victoria

Video Leave a comment

The Local Project (September 22, 2023) – In a nuanced response to landscape, Winter Creek is a modern house in a hidden forest – a seamless reflection of the expansive farm in which the home resides.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the Modern House 00:52 – The Location of the Home 01:11 – The Design Approach 01:44 – Rewarding Aspects of the Design 02:00 – History of the Land 02:25 – Format of the Home 02:45 – A Clean and Modern Design 03:28 – Creating A Mood with Materials 03:50 – The Laminex Process 04:08 – Favourite Aspects

SOS Architects draws on modernist design principles combined with subdued interiors by Studio Tom to create a dwelling that is clean, modern and considered so that it doesn’t compete with the site but, instead, harmonises with it. Located in Trentham, Victoria, Winter Creek is a single-storey, contemporary home that nestles into the site. SOS Architects deeply considered the placement of the house to ensure it both complemented and responded to the site.

The architectural approach used for the modern house in a hidden forest was grounded in a contemporary, sleek design. The form of Winter Creek consists of two distinct volumes – a floating roof that connects to the landscape, which encompasses the main living zones, and the ‘flat box’ section that is more private and introspective, housing the bedrooms and bathrooms. A key feature of the design is also the transparency of the dwelling. At many intersections, one can see through the house, further connecting the home to the landscape.

The interior design approach was very much an extension of the architectural design, with Studio Tom collaborating with SOS Architects to create a modern house in a hidden forest that feels seamless and cohesive. The palette is subdued, dominated by charcoal, neutral and grey tones, and furnishings are minimalist and refined. These choices mean the interior continues the theme of blending into the misty, grey, wintery scenes typical of the landscape beyond. Continuing the seamless aesthetic that defines this modern house in a hidden forest, the AbsoluteMatte range from Laminex was used throughout the interior.

Architecture, Home Design, Homes, Tours, Videos, Views

Brazilian Design: M House In Avalon Beach, Sydney

Video Leave a comment

The Local Project (September 19, 2023) – An inspired super house leveraging its unique site nestled between the calm waters of Pittwater, the surf beach of Avalon and bushland in Clareville on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, M House envelopes the landscape in its very structure in an alluring and profound way.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the Brazilian Inspired Super House 00:56 – Behind the Modernist Idea of Form Follows Function 01:26 – The Beachside Location 01:47 – Brazilian Modernist Inspiration 02:14 – A Walkthrough of the Home 04:24 – An Emphasis on Privacy 05:11 – The Rich Green Landscaping 05:30 – Connecting the Masculine and Feminine Materials

Rama Architects creates a home that viscerally connects inhabitants to the surrounding landscape while maintaining a sense of privacy and tranquillity. Grounded in the idea that form follows function, this inspired super house is functional first, then focuses on layout and flow. As such, Rama Architects responded to the client’s brief to create a Brazilian modernist-style home. This style is based on creating a sense of transparency and connection to surrounding waterways while maintaining a feeling of sanctuary.

With a tangible indoor-outdoor connection, there is an immediate sense of tranquillity as the plantings engulf the architecture of the home’s structure. Upon entering the inspired super house, one is greeted with a courtyard that welcomes filtered light through the above tree canopy. The home is delineated by floor-to-ceiling glass doors and leans heavily into subtropical design principles and Brazilian modernist philosophies surrounding the prioritisation of natural light and ventilation. Plants cascade down from the rooftop and are visible from every room, once again reiterating an appreciation of the beachside locale.

Similarly, the main living area releases with ease to the water and western horizon beyond, while a sunken lounge is incorporated to align with the Brazilian modernist typology of the inspired super house and ensures no couches or furniture distract from the view. The M House is grounded in a connection between masculine and feminine materials, which creates a juxtaposition of feeling safe but also vulnerable within the home. For example, privacy is created through the dominant brutal front façade and greenery engulfing the building.

#SuperHouse #Architect #TheLocalProject

Architecture, Home Design, Homes, Tours, Videos, Views

Architecture: An Off-Grid Super House In California

Video Leave a comment

The Local Project (September 15, 2023) – Remote and wild, Off-Grid Residence is an off-grid super house that serves to elevate the ecology of the verdant California ranch it inhabits. Anacapa Architecture honours the home’s ruralness by bringing the sensitively designed dwelling into equilibrium with the landscape, embracing the elements and creating an intimate connection between the inhabitants and the land.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the Off-Grid Super House 01:06 – A Narrow Ridge Location 01:18 – On Approach to the House 01:44 – The Rooftop Gardens 02:17 – A Walkthrough the Off-Grid Home 02:30 – The Design and Building Constraints 03:38 – A Completely Off-Grid House 04:28 – The Interior Material Palette 04:53 – Immersion in the Environment

Perched atop a knoll situated inside a historic working cattle ranch on the central California coastline, the off-grid super house is the work of Santa Barbara-based studio Anacapa Architecture and co-designer Willson Design. The site is vast and has sweeping vistas of the ocean and rolling hills, and the home sits along a steep ridge, which divides the twin volumes of the garage and the sleeping quarters.

Due to building constraints associated with the historical site, the dwelling is fairly simple, with all living areas contained in one main structure with a basic cooking facility and just one bedroom and one bathroom. There are two gardens atop both roof structures of the off-grid super house that include a mix of local grasses and succulents that are consistent with the greenery of the hillsides beyond.

#SuperHouse #Architect #HouseTour

Architecture, Home Design, Homes, Tours, Videos, Views

Architecture: Boonburrh House In Noosa, Australia

Video Leave a comment

The Local Project (September 12, 2023) – Located in Noosa, Australia is a beach house designed by Frank Macchia, Principal at Macchia Design Studio. Boarded by lush greenery on the eastern side and a magnificent ocean bay on the northern, Boonburrh House does not dominate the site but instead respects all that was there before it.

Video timeline: 00:11 – Introduction to the Stunning Beach House 00:40 – A Magical Beachside Location 01:07 – Respecting the Original Site 01:39 – Keeping the Home Discreet 02:05 – A Focus on The Landscaping 02:23 – Influences for the Design Process 03:11 – The Living Pavilion 04:05 – The Minimalistic Material Palette 04:48 – Proud Moments of the Design Process 05:20 – 2024 Dulux Colour Forecast

However, as the beach house sat on a public block – with a busy street out front – there was a need for the designer to make the family home private, secure, nurturing and comfortable, all while being open and connected to its surrounds. As such, Frank Macchia has used a range of interior design techniques that help to keep the home discreet from passers-by. One contributing idea for discreetness was to layer the beach house within the site while the second idea was a minimisation of the material palette.

As the beach house tour reveals, the landscape of the home has played a critical role for two reasons – one being that the designer wanted to establish a connection to the magic of the garden and the second to create a sense of privacy. Alongside these elements, there were many interior design influences for the family home that were discovered while the owners were on vacation in Sri Lanka. After staying at some of Geoffrey Bawa’s homes, the owners wanted to create a pull-apart home that would reveal a series of pavilions connected by open courtyards, link ways and verandas that are either partially opened or closed.

Complemented by Noosa’s perfect climate, Boonburrh House is further supplemented with open architecture that allows the owners to turn the extra courtyards and link ways into extra rooms. Exemplifying this is the living room pavilion, which has large glass sliding doors that disappear and open the space up to immediately connect to the garden. However, the home’s true appeal is the interplay of dark and light of the interior design where the main part of the residence is given access to both eastern and northern light.

Architecture, Home Design, Homes, Tours, Videos, Views

Architecture Tour: Ridge Residence In Los Angeles

Video Leave a comment

The Local Project (September 8, 2023) – Ridge Residence by Hsu McCullough is an architect’s own home. Conceived as an experimental, pavilion-style form in Los Angeles’s Sherman Oaks neighbourhood and designed by owners and architects Peggy Hsu and Chris McCullough, the experimental, Japanese-inspired house embraces its topography and provides a feeling of solitude in California.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the Experimental Japanese-Inspired Home 00:54 – The Private Location 01:14 – External Materials 01:36 – An Original 1960’s Home 01:52 – The Functional and Balanced Design of the Kitchen 02:50 – The Internal Material Palette 03:48 – Integrating Japanese Wet Rooms 04:06 – Showcasing Collections 04:41 – Working with Dark and Brawny Materiality

Peggy and Chris – an avid collector – were drawn to the site’s potential for an experimental, Japanese-inspired architecture. Peggy says, “the area is less densely populated on the hillside and most properties have deep backyards. Ours frames an uninterrupted view of Fossil Ridge Park – it can never be developed and there are no homes, just a natural landscape featuring hillside oak trees and unique wildlife.” The interior design of this Japanese-inspired house features a textural materiality, and plants blur the boundaries between inside and out. Inside, texture, art and materiality converge in a layered interior.

An architect’s own home can often lead to experimental and deeply personal design outcomes – a sentiment that rings true in this house. The kitchen sits beneath a picture window that captures western sun and provides sightlines to the street. Given its proximity to the living room, its aesthetic relationship to the rest of the home was an important experimental consideration. As such, Peggy and Chris looked to Fisher & Paykel for appliances, tapping into the company’s integration capabilities and refined aesthetic to match their experimental vision.

Architecture, Home Design, Homes, Tours, Videos, Views

Landscape Design: Tour Of Boulder House In Sydney

Video Leave a comment

The Local Project (September 5, 2023) – In Sydney’s Watsons Bay area, Creative Director at Wyer & Co. Anthony Wyer designs the landscape architects own family home.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the Landscape Architects Family Home 00:45 – A Coastal Location 01:11 – A Walkthrough of the House 01:59 – The Fundamental Features 02:43 – Behind the Interior Design of the Home 03:30 – Weathering All Seasons and All Conditions 04:20 – The Plant Palette 05:00 – A Mediterranean Inspired Design

“When designing a garden, I believe it comes down to balance – balance of hard surfaces, soft surfaces, understanding the natural environment and the plant palette,” says Anthony of his approach to the house, which sits on a corner allotment.

On arrival, one is immediately met with a beautiful mature olive that overhangs the entrance, setting the scene for a home that clearly interacts with its garden and foliage. The interior design of the landscape architects own family home was designed with the help of interior designers Marco Meneguzzi and Tamsin Johnson, who saw the vision for the interior spaces align with the vision for the garden. It is the garden of the landscape architects own family home that is most impressive.

Anthony takes cues from both local and Mediterranean architecture and sensibilities to create an immersive outdoor retreat. One of the main features was the boulder in the rear garden – an impressive natural element central to the whole design. Other key features include a cabana structure covered in greenery, with its own planted roof, a fireplace, an open pergola that is waterproofed and a pool.

Whilst there is an expression of style, at the core of the garden is pragmatism and comfort, ensuring the outdoors can be enjoyed without needing to withstand the elements. The front, multi-tiered garden of the landscape architects own family home is elevated, faces the street and acts as an extension of the interior entertaining space. A plant palette of mature trees is used to create vibrancy and scale, which is combined with hedging and underplanting to imbue the home with softness.

Architecture, Home Design, Homes, Tours, Videos, Views

Australia Design: A Hidden Garden House In Fitzroy

Video Leave a comment

The Local Project (September 1, 2023) – Removed from the busyness of Fitzroy, an inner-urban suburb of Melbourne where the home resides, stepping into Sunday makes one feel as though they are entering a hidden garden house. Architecture partners with Brickworks to create a sanctuary that offers a range of intimate, social and comforting spaces under the one roof.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Intro to the Hidden Garden House 00:57 – The Inner-Melbourne Location 01:18 – A Specific and Well Written Brief 01:45 – A Walkthrough of the Home 02:32 – Integrating A Colour Pop 03:10 – An Indoor Jungle 03:39 – Utilising A Robust Material Palette 04:22 – The Brickworks Collaboration 05:40 – An Exciting Future

The client put forth interesting architectural reference points for the renovation. An extension creates the main communal, outdoor and private realms, and two east-west bands further divide each of these realms into two zones. The kitchen and dining are the heart of the home, with a sunken lounge that comes off the kitchen space. Expressed beams, clerestory glazing and concrete pavers connect the communal outdoor areas, which also sees the courtyard act as its own room.

Perhaps the most powerful design concept of the renovation is this assimilation of the courtyard, which further elevates the home as a hidden garden house. Designing a central courtyard not only offers a great sense of connectedness to the landscape but also maximises ventilation and natural light in the living and bedroom areas. As a way of navigating the small size of the site, key themes the architect leverages are that of separation and connection to ensure there are comfortable places to gather and retreat.

Breeze-block walls establish the various zones of the house and allow for an abundance of light, air and outward views. Similarly, accessing the bedroom requires walking across the open-air courtyard – a deliberate retreat from the house. The interior design of Sunday is defined by a robust materiality, muted palettes, clear geometries and spaces sculpted by light. Natural textures dominate, with minimal surface treatments allowing the house to develop its own patina with time that continues throughout internal and external areas of the home. Bold yellow also features throughout the hidden garden house, which is inspired by the client’s love of Luis Barragán’s colours.

Architecture, Home Design, Homes, Tours, Videos, Views

Design: California ‘Desert Modernism’ In Australia

Video Leave a comment

The Local Project (August 29, 2023) – Just outside of Adelaide is Richmond House, a family home designed by studio gram that offers the owners a robust, relaxed and character-rich home to raise a family.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Intro the Californian Inspired Family Home 00:50 – The Location of the Home 01:08 – A Desert Modernism Brief 01:36 – Connection to the Landscape 02:09 – A Walkthrough of the Home 03:18 – Behind the Collaborative Process 03:52 – The Material Palette 04:30 – Unique Aspects of the Home 04:53 – A Robust, Relaxed, Character Filled Home

After spending some time travelling around California, the clients delivered a detailed brief for a home renovation that was inspired by the architecture and interior design of desert modernism. Additionally, the brief requested a family home designed to suit a growing family and allow them access to an abundance of natural light. As the clients were a winemaker and photographer, the brief also requested a connection to landscape and the garden beyond.

The house tour begins in the original part of the house, where a considered renovation to the interior design has taken place; the bedrooms, master ensuite and main bathroom are now located here. Moving throughout, the original portion seamlessly connects to the new extensions through carefully designed openings. In the new extension of the home, the house tour reveals a simple open plan living space with a wealth of natural light. Cutting the family house in four quadrants, the family home designed by studio gram employs one quadrant as the kitchen, another for the dining space and the third for a living area.

The fourth quadrant is removed and, in its place, a courtyard garden is included to enhance the connection to nature. As a collaboration between studio gram, the client and the landscape designer, the garden and home unfold as one and give the owners a home that seamlessly connects all aspects. Additionally, discussions of midcentury Palm Springs and desert modernism played a major role in the renovation as well as the architecture and interior design of the home.