Tag Archives: Tours

Design: A Tour Of Arthur House In Melbourne

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.

Design Tour: Black House Farm, Alresford, England

The Modern House Films (May 22, 2023) – Surrounded by protected forests and picturesque fields within the South Downs National Park, close to the village and country estate of Hinton Ampner and the beautiful Georgian town of Alresford, lies Black House Farm.

Video timeline: 00:16 – Exterior 00:39 – Living area 00:54 – Bedroom 01:03 – Living room 01:24 – Dining room 01:39 – Hallway 01:49 – Kitchen

Built to a design by Robin Lee Architecture and shortlisted for a RIBA Regional Award, a meticulous renovation of a Grade II-listed 17th-century farmhouse has been met with the dramatic conversion of an adjacent 19th-century threshing barn and farmyard. The combination is a house of distinct refinement, linked by a contemporary structure of rare lateral scale and volume, set in almost 20 acres of private fields, wildflower meadows and working agricultural landscapes.

Architecture: Double Bay House III, Sydney, Australia

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.

California Architecture: Twin Gables House Tour

The Local Project (May 19, 2023) – Ryan Leidner Architecture thoughtfully renovates a bygone California house into a modern home that is intrinsically connected to its surrounding landscape by incorporating lush greenery into the interior spaces.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the California House 00:23 – Renovation of an Eichler Home 00:54 – A Walkthrough of the Home 01:11 – Magical Moments 01:32 – Light Play and Dynanism 01:53 – Feeling Enveloped in the Garden 02:37 – Leaning into the Indoor-Outdoor Connection 03:02 – Working on the Landscape 03:30 – Focusing on A Specific Level of Transparency 04:15 – Rewarding and Proud Moments

Imbued with a tangible sense of transparency, Twin Gable House proposes a more outward, open way of living. Located in Sunnyvale, a suburban neighbourhood 45 minutes south of San Francisco, Twin Gable House sits within a streetscape dominated by single-level, Eichler family homes. The renovation aspired to rejuvenate the midcentury modern-style California house by injecting high design into its somewhat simple, suburban façade.

While most Eichler homes boast flat ceilings, this house benefited from having a twin-gable shape that brings height and openness, undoubtedly setting the tone for the design and direction of the renovation. There is an immediate sense of the outdoors existing within the California house – upon entering through the front door into the atrium space, one is met with an interior garden. Rejecting the idea that homes are a place to be lived inwardly, the outdoor connection continues throughout the home.

Travel: A Guided Tour Of Castle Howard, England

House & Garden Films (May 19, 2023) – House & Garden presents Houses with History from Castle Howard, home to Netflix’s hit series ‘Bridgerton’.

Join interior designer Remy Renzullo as we tour Castle Howard, designed by Sir John Vanbrugh and home to the Carlisle branch of the Howard family for over 300 years. Remy takes us on a tour of the castle that is featured in popular TV shows — most notably as Clyvedon castle in Bridgerton — showing us private spaces usually unseen by the public, including the beautiful Temple of the Four Winds, as well as giving us his take on the spectacular 18th-century state rooms.

California Tours: Mission San Juan Capistrano (2023)

ERIC MINH SWENSON ART FILMS (May 18, 2023) – Mission San Juan Capistrano, historic landmark and museum, is the Birthplace of Orange County. It was founded more than two hundred years ago as the 7th of 21 missions statewide and features a chapel still standing where Saint Serra once celebrated Mass.

Today, it is a monument to California’s multi-cultural history, embracing its Native American, Spanish, Mexican and European heritage. Originally built as a self sufficient community by Spanish Padres and Native Americans, the Mission was a center for agriculture, industry, education and religion. Famous for the Annual Return of the Swallows, Mission San Juan Capistrano is the “Jewel of the California Missions” and welcomes over 300,000 visitors each year.

Australia Architecture: A Tour Of Montfort House

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.

Art: ‘Anselm Kiefer-Hortus Conclusus’ In Hong Kong

abstract painting with gold leaf
Anselm Kiefer, Danaë, 2014

Gagosian (May 15, 2023) – Gagosian Hong Kong is pleased to announce  Anselm Kiefer: hortus conclusus, an exhibition that surveys four decades of the artist’s landscape paintings. Capping a year of exhibitions across Europe and the United States, this is the first to feature his work in Hong Kong for more than ten years.

ANSELM KIEFER – Hortus Conclusus
May 17–August 5, 2023

Rubble is like a plant’s blossoms; it is the radiant highpoint of an incessant metabolism, the beginning of a rebirth.
—Anselm Kiefer

Anselm Kiefer: hortus conclusus, Hong Kong, May 17–August 5, 2023 | Gagosian

Kiefer’s thirteenth solo exhibition at Gagosian since 1998, hortus conclusus follows Questi scritti, quando verranno bruciati, daranno finalmente un po’ di luce (Andrea Emo) at Palazzo Ducale, Venice (2022–23) and Exodus, a bicoastal exhibition presented at the gallery in New York (2022) and at Gagosian at the Marciano Art Foundation, Los Angeles (2022–23).

This coming October, Lille Métropole Musée d’art moderne, d’art contemporain et d’art brut (LaM) in France will present Anselm Kiefer: Photography at the Beginning, the first exhibition dedicated to the artist’s photographs.

Architecture: A Tour Of Berson House, Australia

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.

Design: A Tour Of Emeco House In Los Angeles

The Local Project (May 12, 2023) – Demonstrating an inspiring commitment to fully sustainable living and working, Emeco and David Saik Studio transformed Emeco House, a forgotten 1940s sewing shop, into a space that retains, restores and rejuvenates in equal measure.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the Fully Sustainable Living and Working Space 00:34 – The Location and its Surrounds 00: 48 – A History of the Designer 01:26 – A Multifunctional Space 01:44 – A Walkthrough of the Space and its History 02:04 – The Original Materials 02:39 – Being Surrounded by Nature 02:55 – The Material Palette 03:36 – The Project Architect 03:59 – The Idea of Permanence 04:11 – Proud Moments 04:33 – Focusing on Leaving A Legacy

Located at the edge of a residential neighbourhood in Venice, Los Angeles, Emeco House is a fully sustainable living and working space for furniture designer Emeco. The house sits in an area where many creatives live and work, therefore serving as a hub for local architects, designers and the community to come together. The initial structure has been reworked to form two separate living areas and one common living area with a kitchen, living room and balcony.

In the creation of a fully sustainable living and working studio, the renovation was grounded in an ethos that underpins Emeco – “Begin with what’s left over. Turn it into what will last.” The design process, therefore, focuses on retaining and restoring as much of the original building as possible, with thoughtful new integrations throughout. In this way, Lead Architect David Saik blurs the old with the new to craft a fitting reflection of the junction of sustainability and evolution, two elements that sit at the core of what Emeco stands for.