Tag Archives: Australia

Architecture, Home Design, Homes, Tours, Videos

Design: ‘Border Street’ Tour, Byron Bay, Australia

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The Local Project (April 26, 2024): Nestled on the beach in one of Australia’s most serene coastal enclaves, Border Street is an expensive home and eloquent response to the pristine Byron Bay environment where it resides. Artfully conceived by Workroom, the residence shuts out the rest of the world in its contemplation of place, form and materials.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to Byron Bay’s Most Expensive Home 01:00 – A Unique Location 01:35 – A Walkthrough of the Home 02:23 – Framing the Surrounding Landscape 03:01 – The Opportunities and Constraints of the Site 04:16 – The Material Palette 05:22 – Workroom’s Design Approach

“I like the sense of calm that you feel when you walk into the house; it’s not busy, it’s not loud, it’s not contrived either – it’s very relaxed,” says John Bornas, architect and creative director at Workroom. Perched on a dune hugging a rainforest that falls straight onto Belongil Beach in Byron Bay, the expensive home taps into Byron Bay’s breezy state of slumber without neglecting a sense of refinement. From the street, the house is concealed by a series of screens. “The idea was to try and create a sense of wonder; you don’t really know what’s going on behind that screen,” notes John.

Walking through the front gate, there is a substantial walk to the front door, allowing one to really experience the landscape the home is set in, rather than “just simply walking through a front door,” says John. One then enters the main living and dining areas, which are bounded by the pavilions that open up to the dune and the rainforest. As with many expensive homes, designing it was not without challenges.

Architecture, Home Design, Homes, Tours, Videos

Design: Brahminy House Tour, Byron Bay, Australia

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The Local Project (April 23, 2024): Deeply connected to place, Brahminy House by Harley Graham Architects is located in Wategos Beach, Byron Bay, Australia. Tucked back into the land, the beachside house creates a feeling of connectedness to its surrounds while also offering the owners a home filled with tranquility.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the Waterfront House 01:05 – Designing with Intention 01:21 – A Walkthrough of the House 02:53 – Framing the Landscape 03:21 – A Robust and Sturdy Material Palette 04:30 – Proud Moments

Looking at the external form, the architect thought of creating a house as a sculpture within the landscape and wanted to be sure that every curve, material and element was intentional. Following the house tour, a casual entry is revealed. Placed under a concrete form with plants cascading out of it, the entry also holds an outdoor shower made from local basalt stone. Used for washing the surfboard or oneself after a swim, the casual entrance sets the tone for the home’s laid-back character. As the house tour continues up the Italian terracotta tiled stairs and through to the side entry and pool, the beach house reveals its sculptural forms, curves and charm.

Additionally, due to being built into the hill and jungle, the beach house is complemented by greenery that cascades over the shapes of the exterior architecture. Once inside, the communal spaces such as the kitchen, living and dining areas encourage the owners to pursue a deeper connection not just to the landscape but to each other. For open-plan spaces, Harley Graham Architects tries to differentiate the areas by introducing varying floor or roof heights. As such, Brahminy House’s living area has been given a pop-up ceiling that infuses a different atmosphere to the other areas.

Arts, Culture, History, Magazines, Previews, Reviews, Travel

Arts/History: Smithsonian Magazine – April/May 2024

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Smithsonian April-May 2024 (Digital)

Smithsonian Magazine (April 4, 2024) – The latest issue features ‘Australia’s Underwater Wonderland’ – For divers off the Sunshine Coast, tiny creatures with big personalities put on a spectacular show…

Slugs in Paradise

Psychedelic hedgehogs, purple pineapples, living strawberries—welcome to the magical world of nudibranchs

BY HELEN SULLIVAN

Las Vegas Bets on the Future

As the Southwest dries, can a city notorious for excess find a way to survive with less and less water?

Greek Revival

Modern Athens savors its connections to antiquity—while reappraising its past

BY TONY PERROTTET


Architecture, Home Design, Homes, Tours, Videos

Design Tours: A Courtyard Home, Victoria, Australia

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The Local Project (March 26, 2024) – Located in Box Hill, Victoria, Naples Street House is a tiny brick home. One of the owners is a keen dancer and consequently, the home sets the scene for a harmonious performance with rooms and outward connections to the landscape.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the Tiny Brick Home 00:32 – The Location and The Brief 01:29 – A Walkthrough of the Home 02:52 – Creating A Sanctuary 03:45 – The Conceptualisation Process 04:10 – A Focus on the Kitchen 05:17 – The Material Palette 05:59 – Exciting Aspects

The house tour illustrates how this tiny brick home occupies a small footprint on its site, embracing an intimate relationship with the landscape. In a suburb where interwar-era houses are slowly disappearing, the home, which sits alongside narrow townhouses, provides the street with an unconventional visual intervention – an outcome driven by the clients’ aspirations. For architect Kim Bridgland, director of Edition Office, this tiny brick home offers sanctuary. “The house is located within a dense suburban street and is designed to focus inwards, around an inner courtyard garden room,” he explains.

The courtyard house typology stemmed from the brief for a multigenerational home. Exploring the type of design, decor and floor plan suitable for such occupancy led the team to a design that separates the home’s spaces in a way that allows them to remain visually connected through an inner garden room yet hidden from public sight, as depicted in the house tour. An axial hallway connects sightlines from the front entry to the rear garden and splits the living areas from the bedrooms and bathrooms while leading to a north-facing living, kitchen and dining space. Further into the dwelling is the central garden room and a secluded lounge with fully glazed walls that open to the landscape.

Architecture, Home Design, Homes, Tours, Videos

Design Tour: Carwoola Residence In Queensland

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The Local Project (March 24, 2024) – Located in Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast, Carwoola Residence by Reitsma is a super house surrounded by white beaches and deep water access. Delivering a brief to Reitsma, who were in partnership with Clipsal, the clients listed their essential needs for their super house, which included maximum privacy as well as a place to celebrate their interests of boating and automobiles.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction To The Super House 00:25 – The Waterfront Location 00:36 – Client’s intention 00:53 – Walkthrough Of The Super House 01:47 – Electrical Design With Clipsal 02:16 – Designed For Comfort 02:53 – Exploring The Upper Level 03:41 – Features Of The Saturn Zen Range 04:18 – The Moon Circle 04:36 – A Car Enthusiast’s Basement 05:01 – Materials And Highlights Of The Project

As such, the super house has been built and designed with the intention to allow the owners to store multiple cars, entertain and have access to the rear canal system. The angled shroud of the facade adds a depth to the characteristics of the exterior design and architecture. Upon entry, the house tour leads under a concrete portal, which is used to compress the space before opening up into an expansive void that gives views up to the sky. From here, the oversized pivot front door blurs where the inside and outside of the super house meet. Further inside, the house tour reveals another full-height void that tapers to a frameless window that looks out onto the pool and Mooloolaba wharf.

The interior design brings the essence of water right to the front door and immediately ignites the desire to explore what lies beyond. The privacy walls running north and south of the home are used as a buffer to shield the neighbours’ views and give the owners utmost privacy. However, these walls end at the rear of the home where they then open up to the views of the Mooloolaba wharf. In the outdoor living area, the architect has created a cascading effect where the entertaining areas waterfall towards the wharf to create a beach-like element to the super house. This is also done to create more viewing opportunities from inside.

Architecture, Home Design, Homes, Tours, Videos

Architecture: Cliffside House In New South Wales

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The Local Project (February 16, 2024) – Cliffside by Thomas Hamel & Associates is an interior designers own home located on the South Coast of NSW, with an enchanting character and scenic setting that captures immediate attention.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to An Interior Designers Own Home 00:41 – A Magical Site 01:35 – The Evolution of the Style and Mood 02:13 – Robust Materials and Textures 03:53 – Blending the Old and New 04:33 – A New Passion for Gardening 04:52 – Favourite Aspects

Nestled amid boulders, Cliffside emerges as a dream home that caters to every need. Located an hour south of Sydney within the Royal National Park, the home boasts a layout that closely aligns with the owners’ preferences, yet it lacked a personalised touch to truly make it their own. To address this during the design process, Thomas Hamel of Thomas Hamel & Associates – who is also the client – focused on fulfilling his and his partner’s needs and desires for a residence that would serve as their forever home.

As seen in the house tour of an interior designers own home, the style and mood of the interior have evolved organically, shaped by the owners’ cherished collections of treasures and souvenirs. Drawing inspiration from the boulders and the coastal location of the beach house, Thomas Hamel & Associates curated a palette for the interior of Cliffside that harmonised with its environment. This led to the incorporation of cohesive materials throughout the home, such as custom-designed wallpaper from Los Angeles, imparting a natural plaster texture. Complementing this, the furnishings exhibit a similar sense of harmony, featuring rough-hewn timbers reminiscent of forest elements turned into sculptural pieces.

Architecture, Home Design, Homes, Tours, Videos

Architecture: A Cliffside Home Tour In Sydney

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The Local Project (February 9, 2024) – Grounded in simplicity, GB House’s proximity to Sydney’s Gordons Bay and the nearby precipitous cliffs means the surrounding nature is celebrated as an interior design feature.

00:00 – Introduction to the Cliffside Home 00:55 – An Exciting and Historical Brief 02:13 – The Layout and Walkthrough of the Home 04:28 – Key Materials and Special Aspects 05:21 – Incorporating the Rich Natural World 06:53 – Favourite Aspects

Inside a cliffside home, Renato D’Ettorre Architects creates a minimalist beach house with a strong sensorial and emotional experience through materials and spatial composition. The initial brief focused on bringing this bay inside the architecture of the home and creating an open family home with almost no walls, so you could glimpse the water and cliff faces at every turn. “It is the outside that we wanted to create the magic, not what we’re doing inside – the inside is a frame almost, to frame the view,” says Renato D’Ettorre, lead architect for GB House.

“The entry sequence is one of my favourite parts of the house,” says Renato. The path is deliberately placed to the south to make the entry elongated so that one is encouraged to slow down. “It is a sensorial experience – you can see the end of the pathway, the horizon, but before you get there, you have to navigate this pathway where you have a watercourse and perforated red terracotta breeze blocks on either side of you, before arriving at the front door,” says Renato. The perforations brighten inside a cliffside home with patterns of light, moderate the summer sunlight and enable airflow. In this way, lighting works in harmony alongside the materiality of the dream home.

Architecture, Home Design, Homes, Tours, Videos

Australian Architecture: ‘Lee House’ Tour In Sydney

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The Local Project (January 19, 2024) – A beautiful dance of soft curves and geometric lines, Lee House is a study in balance and restraint where the architect redesigns a 200 year old home. Angelo Candalepas, director of Candalepas Associates and the architect of Lee House, assumes a very conceptual approach to architecture – evident in the house he has crafted.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the 200 Year Old Home 01:02 – The Original Concept 02:13 – Seeking Perfection Through Form 03:00 – Behind The Material Palette 04:30 – The Relationship Between Builder and Architect 05:26 – Experiencing the Intimacy of the Home 06:50 – Favourite Aspects

“What we have tried to do is seek aspects of perfection in form that enable us to encourage something in the human condition which isn’t able to be seen, but is perhaps only able to be felt,” reflects Angelo. Here, the architect redesigns a 200 year old home in Sydney’s Watsons Bay. The front façade appears as a humble, one-storey traditional cottage that sits in contrast to the two-storey, modern, geometric façade at the rear. The way the architect redesigns a 200 year old home was a step away from the client’s original brief – removing the existing cottage and creating a large home.

After many discussions, the client developed a modesty about their brief. “It meant we could work with an incredibly quiet house… something that is purely an interior design,” says Angelo. The architect redesigns a 200 year old home with a material palette that is simultaneously robust, raw and refined. Timber flooring and ceilings make the space feel spacious yet cosy and is also used in the kitchen for joinery, the dining table and the base of the island bench. This is complemented by the heavy use of concrete for walls, stairs and detailing, softened by round curves. Styling is dominated by minimalist furniture and neutral tones.

Architecture, Home Design, Homes, Tours, Videos

Australia Design: Tiny House Tour In Fitzroy

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The Local Project (December 29, 2023) – Fitzroy Laneway House is an architects own tiny house grounded in foresight and malleability – attributes that an architect brings when designing their own home.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the Architects Own Tiny House 01:32 – A Family Centred Brief 02:01 – A Walkthrough and the Layout of the House 03:18 – Integrating the Landscape and Exterior 03:50 – A Robust and Grounded Material Palette 04:54 – The Connected Design Approach

Andrew Child of Andrew Child Architecture creates a family home designed with both the present and the future in mind that eloquently responds to its inner-city Melbourne location. Andrew was immediately drawn to the original home, which is one of five Victorian terrace homes in a historically rich street in Fitzroy – a vibrant locale with lots of old buildings mixed in with new pieces of architecture. The brief for an architects own tiny house was to create a residence that would accommodate Andrew and his family into the future and be open to change.

“I also wanted something quite informal, that felt relaxed. We want to have fun here,” says Andrew. Fitzroy Laneway House is founded on the notion of connection to the site and the surrounding area. “I wanted the house to feel like a sanctuary, but I still wanted it to feel like we are connected to Fitzroy,” notes Andrew. As such, large windows offer views of the garden, neighbouring buildings and across rooftops. “If things change, like trees knocked down, we have installed shading blinds, timber screens, metal screen curtains, drapes and hanging planters, which all help with managing privacy while still making us feel connected to the locale,” says Andrew.

Architecture, Home Design, Homes, Tours, Videos

Architecture: Peninsula House, Victoria, Australia

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The Local Project (December 26, 2023) – Nestled into the landscape of Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula and overlooking the ocean, Peninsula House by Carr is a hidden coastal home that inspires a sense of awe and immersion, all thanks to the encompassing landscape.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the Hidden Coastal Home 01:34 – A Two Part Brief 02:28 – Experiencing The Layout of the Home 03:20 – An Expanding Floor Plan 04:12 – The Simplified Yet Rural Material Palette 05:39 – Seasonal Changes Influencing Feelings

Peninsula House has a dual purpose: to serve as a space for showcasing the client’s art collection and to become a home that would be both cosy for two occupants and able to welcome visiting guests and family with ease. Considering the placement of the hidden coastal home, with the site exposed to the challenging weather patterns of the Bass Strait, the architecture and intimate interior design were significantly influenced by the prevailing climate conditions. “We wanted to create cosy spaces that feel protected so inhabitants could retreat,” says Lucy Cuthbertson, Associate at Carr and project architect for Peninsula House.

To shield itself from powerful winds, the house nestles into the landscape, strategically incorporating outdoor spaces positioned to receive protection from the elements. Access to the hidden coastal home is through an undulating carriageway, guiding visitors to a picturesque courtyard. Continuing through a long hallway, one encounters a glass wall that frames breathtaking views of the natural surrounds. Peninsula House features a central spine that serves as an art gallery and a formal axis for the house. The public entry is through the art gallery, and this dual access is important for maintaining privacy and facilitating movement.