Tag Archives: Australia

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

Design Tour: Bass Coast Farmhouse In Australia

Video Leave a comment

The Local Project (June 9, 2023) – Positioned on a piece of land with rich history, Bass Coast Farmhouse by Wardle overlooks an expansive coastline that reaches out to Bass Strait. Inside the ultimate farm house, where an internal courtyard is hidden, the home offers its owners thoughtful connections to their natural surrounds.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Intro to the Ultimate Farm House 00:37 – The Original Idea 00:57 – The Second Primary Strategy 01:03 – Revegetation of Indigenous Planting 01:36 – A Walkthrough of the Farm House 02:51 – The Two Living Zones 03:24 – The Integration of Primal Activities 04:00 – Illumination Throughout the Home 04:17 – The Materials Used 04:55 – Neutral Palettes and Other Aspects 06:13 – The Intimate Requirements of a Home

Throughout the reformation of the old farm, the architect has worked with a deep sensibility to rehabilitate the home, as well as the land on which it sits, by both re-using materials and employing new environmentally kind ones. When tasked with Bass Coast Farmhouse, Wardle began the process of rejuvenating the home by reducing its plan down to three simple elements – a steel roof, timber walls and a single chimney.

This idea naturally flowed into the the ide of designing the home to not only sit upon the land but to interact with it. Upon arrival, Bass Coast Farmhouse appears almost cartoon-like with its rectangular form and minimal materials. Surrounding the home is a rolling garden. Designed by Jo Henry Landscape Design, each plant has been finished with plastic containers that will nurture the growth of the indigenous plantings until they reach maturity. Furthermore, the home’s form has been designed to sway with the typography of the land.

Previously cleared as farmland, the entire 300 acres have also been reworked to encourage and inspire the growth of vegetation around the home and across the entire site. The single front door opens to welcome the owners and guests inside the ultimate farm house, where Wardle has placed a mud, boot and cloak room at the entrance of the home.

Art, Arts & Literature, Profiles, Reviews, Tributes, Videos

Art Tributes: Inside The Australian Artist John Olsen’s World (1928-2023)

Video Leave a comment

ABC News In-depth (May 29, 2023) – On Easter Saturday, 95-year-old artist John Olsen made the final touches to four paintings and feeling unwell, laid down his paintbrush for the last time. A stroke had finally felled the old master.

SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE

26 May – 17 June

As it will appear: Life Enlivened on the Sydney Opera House sails.

On the day of his state funeral, Australian Story revisits the Olsens, a family forged by their father’s passion and drive for painting. As John became a darling of the art world in the 60s and 70s, his obsessive focus on dedication to his work often cast a long shadow on those around him.

Months after his death, the Vivid festival of light will pay tribute to John Olsen, projecting his art onto the “greatest blank canvas on earth” — the sails of the Sydney Opera House. His children, Tim and Louise Olsen, will be there to marvel at his achievements and celebrate the life that has shaped them.

Subscribe: https://ab.co/3yqPOZ5

#AustralianStory #JohnOlsen #VividSydney

Cities, Reviews, Tourism, Tours, Travel

Travel Reviews: A Walking Guide To Paris In 2023

Leave a comment

The Age Newspaper (May 28, 2023) – A walking guide to Paris. Under Mayor Anne Hidalgo, the city is becoming a paradise for pedestrians, with cars increasingly shut out of the city centre. Of course, Paris has always been a city made for strolling, from the long quais lining the River Seine to the elegant Haussmann boulevards. Here are three of our favourite walks through Paris’s most memorable neighbourhoods.

The 2nd arrondissement: avenues and arcades

Enjoy the eye-catching architecture and one of Paris’s best food streets.

The 5th arrondissement: medieval streets and mint tea

Paris’s oldest district dates back to Roman times and has plenty of treasures tucked into its narrow winding streets.

The 8th arrondissement: barefaced chic

To see Paris as she appears in the movies – rows of grand townhouses decorated with wrought-iron balconies, impeccably dressed dowagers walking their poodles – this is the destination of your dreams.

Read more

#TravelGuides#France #Paris

Home Design, Homes, Tours, Videos, Views

California Architecture: Venice Beach House Tour

Video Leave a comment

The Local Project (May 26, 2023) – A fusion of an Australian and Californian sensibility, Venice Beach House is a calm house that captures the spirit of its owner and a resonating sense of place.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the Calm House 00:29 – The Location of the Home 00:48 – The Californian Bungalow 01:03 – The Brief 01:22 – A Visual Palette Cleanser 01:47 – A Walkthrough of the Home 02:36 – The Material Palette 02:50 – Aspects of the Surrounding Borrowed Landscape 03:31 – The Material Palette Continued 04:03 – Following the Sun 04:28 – Favourite Aspects of the Home

Tribe Studio Architects and Arabella McIntosh bring a distinct, globally inspired approach in crafting the Los Angeles home of Armadillo co-founder Jodie Fried. Whilst an embracing of the natural elements and the similarities in climate that bind both Los Angeles and Australian design, Venice Beach House is founded on the creation of a series of spaces that capture the travelled spirit of its owner.

As the occasional home to Jodie Fried and her family, the resulting calm house speaks to a combined methodology, drawing upon the renowned Californian outdoor lifestyle and familiar elements found home in Australia. Located among an assortment of established bungalow-style homes, the surrounding context plays a key role in shaping the proposed form, scale and proportion of the home whilst referencing a key Australian influence.

Built by Tatum Constructions, Venice Beach House is, at its heart, a calm house. Expressing an openness between inside and out, the home invites connection with the surrounding landscape and ensures a natural spillover of function into the outdoor spaces. The established fig tree in the front garden inspired and directed the planning to optimise natural shading and orientation to create key connections with the natural elements.

Home Design, Homes, Tours, Videos, Views

Design: A Tour Of Arthur House In Melbourne

Video Leave a comment

The Local Project (May 21, 2023) -Located in the northern suburbs of Melbourne and a short distance from the Yarra River, Arthur by Oscar Sainsbury Architects (OSA) is an architects own house that extends upon the ideas of family living and connection to nature.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the Architects Own House 00:31 – Designing for Yourself 00:59 – The Initial Design Ideas 01:13 – Encouraging Usage of the Garden 01:33 – A Focus on the Garden 01:56 – The Original Double Brick House 02:12 – The Central Part of the House 02:58 – Challenges Designing with Heritage Homes 03:39 – The Materials Used 04:35 – Favourite Aspects of the Home

As the owner, architect and builder, OSA dances across the separate realms with ease in order to deliver a home that allows the family to grow in place. Following a desire to open up an architects own house to the outside, OSA uses contemporary methods of design, allowing for the family to easily manoeuvre about.

With the house tour of an architects own house beginning at the double-bricked façade, OSA has additionally maintained three of the original bedrooms, with two facing the street and one opening up to the rear decking. Designed to be the central part of the house, the kitchen is laid out to encourage flow and connection from the private quarters and into the public living spaces. Known to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, the owner and architect has incorporated functionality by allowing it to serve its purpose as well as be easy to live and entertain in.

Home Design, Homes, Sustainability, Tours, Videos, Views

Architecture: Double Bay House III, Sydney, Australia

Video Leave a comment

The Local Project (May 21, 2023) – Double Bay House III is a pragmatic and peaceful house tailored to suit family living. In transforming the traditional family home into an inspired modern form, the residence simultaneously embraces both connectivity and separation within.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the Peaceful House 00:37 – The View and the Location 01:20 – A Brief for a Young Family 01:56 – Focusing on the Curves 02:22 – The Site and its Surrounds 02:56 – A Minimalistic Programme 03:11 – Playing with the Natural Light 04:05 – A Crossover of the Architecture and Interior Design 04:29 – The Feature Fireplace 06:05 – A Walkthrough of the Home 07:58 – Favourite Aspects of the Home

TKD Architects creates a deeply considered, highly functional and sophisticated dwelling. Located in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, Double Bay House III benefits from its purposeful site located at the southeast corner of the block. Designing the home in this way celebrates its front garden and privately welcomes an abundance of natural light. Sitting across from a park and being surrounded by trees, the new form’s intention was to respect the surrounding landscape and make the most of the natural elements on site, creating a functional, peaceful home for a young family.

The home’s materiality is defined by a sense of harmony and calm, enriched by smooth lines and an ever-present play of light. The external curvature of the peaceful house extends to the rounded stone that dominates the interior, relaying a sense of peace. Natural light is welcomed through form, cut-outs, skylights and a positioning of glass elements to ensure the right amount of light enters the home at the right time. On the western side of the peaceful house, there are screens that open and close and the perforations of those elements are graded.

Home Design, Homes, Sustainability, Tours, Videos, Views

Australia Architecture: A Tour Of Montfort House

Video Leave a comment

The Local Project (May 16, 2023) – Drawn to the coastline of Montfort Beach, Chris McKimm, Founding Director of InForm and home owner, wanted to infuse this surf lovers dream house with an abundance of natural light, sweeping views and open spaces.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to The Ultimate Surf Lovers Dream House 00:39 – The Beachside Location 00:57 – The History of InForm 01:26 – The Unknown Surf Break of Montfort Beach 02:03 – A Desire for a Home that Blended with the Environment 02:24 – Hitting the Brief 03:02 – The Design of the House and a Walkthrough 03:58 – Create Spaces Safe from the Wind 04:13 – Designing the Garden for Privacy 04:40 – Overcoming the Neighbourhood Challenges 05:22 – A Reflective Material Palette 06:02 – The Most Enjoyable Space in the Home

Positioned on top of a sand dune 600 metres from the ocean, Montfort House is one of seven homes built on the site. Due to a deep knowledge of the terrain and the overall development, Chris delivered a difficult brief to the architects, where he requested a dream home that blends into its environment. Within the brief, there was a necessary request of harnessing the views to the south and allowing the surf lovers dream house to embrace the winter sun that came from that direction.

With a need for the home to be designed with Chris and his family in mind, the architects had to keep in mind that they would predominantly live on site, while their children and grandchildren would regularly visit. To cater to this need, Montfort House has been deliberately zoned to cater to the different aspects of living in a surf lovers dream house. As one begins the house tour, the design starts with stairs that lead up to the front door, which has been complemented with a deliberately large window to the side that offers a glimpse to the southern views.

Landscape, Travel, Views

Australia Aerial Views: The Glass House Mountains

Leave a comment

Oz Straya Panoramas (Australia) (May 14, 2023) – The Glass House Mountains are a cluster of thirteen hills that rise abruptly from the coastal plain on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia.

The highest hill is Mount Beerwah at 556 metres above sea level, but the most identifiable of all the hills is Mount Tibrogargan which from certain angles bears a resemblance to a face staring east towards the ocean. The Glass House Mountains are located near Beerburrum State Forest and Steve Irwin Way.

From Brisbane, the mountains can be reached by following the Bruce Highway north and taking the Glass House Mountains tourist drive turn-off onto Steve Irwin Way. The trip is about one hour from Brisbane. The volcanic peaks of the Glass House Mountains rise dramatically from the surrounding Sunshine Coast landscape.

They were formed by intrusive plugs, remnants of volcanic activity that occurred 26-27 million years ago. Molten rock filled small vents or intruded as bodies beneath the surface and solidified into land rocks. Millions of years of erosion have removed the surrounding exteriors of volcanic cores and softer sandstone rock.

Home Design, Homes, Sustainability, Tours, Videos, Views

Architecture: A Tour Of Berson House, Australia

Video Leave a comment

The Local Project (May 14, 2023) – Berson House is a builders house that challenges the traditional narrative of a home in terms of structure, materiality and purpose.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the Builders House 00:36 – Doing Something Different 01:03 – The Brief and the Unusual Site 01:26 – A Walkthrough and the Layout of the Home 02:30 – Maximising the Space 02:57 – The 20m Lap Pool 03:22 – The Adult Retreat 03:50 – Tongue and Groove Interior Materials 04:17 – Materials Used Within the Home 04:54 – Proud Aspects and Moments

Drawing on the impactful nature of unique and unusual interior spaces, Monster Ideas Architects turns an existing pre-1945 house into a bold, multi-functional home. Solidifying its strong approach from the outset, Berson House’s façade stands out in Norman Park with its geometric and demanding street presence. Craig Webster from Monster Ideas Architects overcomes initial barriers with ingenuity, tasked with a steep, challenging site in an uninhabitable state. While the new development was limited to two levels, this was overcome by moving the form up the slope of the site to create a large-scale, five-storey structure.

As the builders house, the design aspires to do something different and daring. Along with three children’s bedrooms, each with its own ensuite, a wine cellar and an isolated retreat for the parents, each level hosts a range of distinct features, including a two-storey climbing wall, an indoor soccer field and a 20-metre lap pool. The pool is thoughtfully integrated with the lower floors and has been punctuated with beautiful large windows so you can see the pool from the street, the kid’s bedrooms and the wine cellar.

Landscape, Travel, Videos, Views

Travel: An Aerial Tour Of Victoria, Australia (2023)

Video Leave a comment
STREAMSTAR

STREAMSTAR VIDEOS (May 10, 2023) – Victoria is a state in southeast Australia. It encompasses mountains, national parks, wineries and surfing beaches. Melbourne, the state capital, has a warren of 19th-century ‘laneways’, and a central arts precinct. The Great Ocean Road follows the coast west to Port Campbell National Park, where the Twelve Apostles are limestone stacks on the edge of the ocean.