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.
Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the Coastal Retreat 00:37 – The Importance of Accessibility and Sustainability 01:12 – A Weather Responsive Home 01:34 – A Private and Hidden Retreat 01:59 – Abstract and Composed Facade 02:24 – Easy and Hidden Accessibility 02:58 – Amanda Oliver – Long-Term Collaborator 03:38 – The Details and Materials 04:10 – Proud Moments
Responding to its beachfront location, Somers House provides residents with a sense of protection from the strong, salty winds, creating opportunities for them to comfortably watch changing weather roll in from multiple vistas. The design brief detailed a dream home in which architecture and interior design work in unison to embrace the changing seasons, welcoming in the warm weather and sealing off from the cold.
Externally, Somers House engages the imagination of onlookers whilst revealing little of the true nature of its interiority. A large, shallow arch forms a cave into which cars can be parked and the abstract architecture of the dream home enhances the sense of privacy afforded to its residents. The red ochre colour of the exterior is intended to reference the colours of the earth and both grounds the home and allows it stand out among the colours of the surrounding flora.
A house tour of the dream home instantly reveals the ways in which accessibility has been considered. Wheelchair access is ensured across all three levels and the bathrooms are especially designed in order to establish maximum levels of comfort. Sliding doors allow residents access to the fresh coastal air and draw the sound of the sea into the home. Precise detailing solidifies the status of Somers House as a dream home.
The presentation of each fireplace is refined and sophisticated, reflecting the client’s interest in craftmanship. A sustainable material palette of concrete, steel, timber, stone and brass allows for a multi-faceted tactile experience to take place across the home. Representing the complete realisation of an idea, Somers House forms a compelling response to its beachfront location. An accessible coastal retreat, the dream home is a testament to the ability of Kennedy Nolan to be led by both client and site.
Stella is a uniquely Victorian tiny home, paying homage to the Aussie shed, crafted with repurposed timber and steel salvaged from a historical farming shed.
Stella is fitted with everything a hotel guest needs, and nothing they don’t. She’s all about quality over quantity, exuding authenticity and craftsmanship not before seen in a tiny home. With a focus on low environmental impact, the materials provide an aesthetic which is sustainable and distinctively Victorian.
Guests will truly be able to get back to nature and embrace the elements during their stay – enjoying a bespoke roll-out sleeping platform for stargazing.
Video timeline: 00:00 – Surfshark VPN 00:10 – Introduction to the Modern Farmhouse 00:42 – Designing in Response to the Landscape 01:03 – The Brief and the Clients 01:34 – Impressions On Arrival 01:50 – A Walkthrough of the Home 03:00 – The Different Aspects 03:21 – The Material Palette and Textures 04:49 – Proud Moments 05:17 – Surfshark VPN
Located in Werribee South, Victoria, where homes are spaced out by green fields and red dirt landscapes, the family of second-generation market gardeners requested a modern farmhouse. Responding to the client’s brief, Neil Architecture built a home with inward facing courtyards, a private garden space and a pool that the family could find reprieve in. Whilst a calming residence from the inside, Casa di Campo appears as a solid monolithic form that stands out from nearby farming houses.
Once inside, the house tour first reveals a lush green garden that is designed like a Roman courtyard. With a portico that runs along two sides, the pond traditionally included is instead a swimming pool. Acre also installs cut granite boulders as stepping stones that become a major aspect to the garden’s function. Following a short passage leads into the family living rooms, which have been divided by a large centre fireplace.
With no white walls featuring in the interior design of the modern farmhouse, the architects have used textures throughout to provide a unique aspect to the home. The floor is also distinct, appearing as one poured slab with smooth edges and a fine aggregate finish that the clients have fallen in love with. Separate from the living zone, the children’s bedrooms offer a view through the colonnade and into the garden, giving them ample space to play and enjoy the modern farmhouse.
At the eastern end of the home, the main bedroom holds a small private courtyard that invites in the morning sun and offers a space for the parents to unwind and enjoy. Putting together material elements of the modern farmhouse, the architects employed rammed earth for its warm pale tone and unique interior experience. Alongside the rammed-earth architecture is timber wall panelling, Quartzite stone in the kitchen and bathrooms and a green elemental tone within the bathrooms and hallways that helps to sooth the interior features of the modern farmhouse.
Although set among the fields, where the brown rich soil and the bright greens mix harmoniously, the residence separates itself from the working environment and becomes its own destination. Taking on architecture, interior design and styling, Neil Architecture turns a family home into a pleasantly surprising paradise with an exterior that provides no clues as to what is inside.
I was in Australia to shoot an ARTE documentary in the Outback and decided to stay one week longer and team up with Visit Victoria to shoot my first Little Big World episode in Australia. Melbourne consistently ranked as the world’s most liveable city for much of the 2010s and I can toally see why! It’s a big vibrant city with impressive architecture, amazing cultural offers, from museums to street art, live music and theatre.
Also there are some pretty great food places in the city. Many beautiful parks in the area invote to relax and the the Yarra River for water activitie. Oh, and the Ocean is just a quick tram ride away.
Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the DIY Tiny Home 00:36 – The Brief – Small but Generous 00:54 – Situated on a Patch of Farmland with Views of The Cutting 01:11 – A Tour of the Tiny Home 02:30 – The Challenges in Designing a Small and Transportable Home 03:14 – A Reclaimed and Recycled Material Palette 03:35 – Textural Materiality 03:52 – The Aussie Shed
Promoting a better future with the idea that less is more, the designers have provoked others to think outside the box when crafting residential projects. Looking over The Cutting, an area where the sea cuts into the sand dunes, the home provides plentiful living within its 30 square meters. The house tour of the small home begins at arrival, with basalt pavers that lead up towards the DIY pre-fab tiny home. A set of steps – made from cow trough supports, reclaimed hardwood and perforated mesh salvaged from an old farm shed on the property – brings the occupants to the front door that pivots into the passive house.
Once inside, the kitchen, dining and living spaces are infused with warm timbers and bamstone cobbles, which together pare back the interior and tie the cabin into the surrounding landscape. At the south-western end of the DIY pre-fab tiny home, a double-glazed and steel window section with operable awnings allows for cross flow ventilation throughout the small home. Up on the mezzanine level, a study nook has been inserted into the floor and blurs the connection between upstairs and downstairs.
To cooperate with Victorian road rules, Aaron and Nick needed to design to specific dimensions in order to make the DIY pre-fab tiny home transportable. After collapsing the roof by 1500 millimetres, the small home can then be moved to its new location and settled on the land. With a hope to change the perception surrounding how homes can contribute to sustainability agendas, the designers use reclaimed materials. By doing so, every piece of furniture within the DIY pre-fab tiny home is built from reclaimed wood.
The floor is recycled iron bark, while many of the other timber elements have been sourced from other structures. Futhermore, the designers have championed the idea of the Australian shed with the use of timber and metal on the exterior, reflecting the history of the landscape. Overall, Aaron and Nick have created a modest home with an unexpected perceived spatial generosity that celebrates the value of materials.
St Andrews Beach House is a holiday cabin by Austin Maynard Architects informed by a passion for sustainability. The circular cabin captures sunlight and breezes while allowing nature to regrow healthily around it. The flat roof captures water for the gardens and bathrooms. Sustainable materials include timber, double glazed windows and a concrete slab contributing thermal mass to the cabin.
Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to St Andrews Beach House 00:37 – The Beachside Location 01:04 – The Vision Behind The House 01:24 – Taking Inspiration From New Zealand Bach’s 01:57 – A Bach Type Layout 02:16 – Sustainably Small But Mighty 02:55 – A Carbon Storage Home 03:08 – Conditional Timber Selections 03:45 – The Importance of Sunlight 04:15 – The Positives of A Circular Home 04:38 – A Demountable Home 05:16 – Proud Moments In Designing and Creating The Home
Additionally, a heat pump system heats the water and the slab, keeping the house warm during the winter. Locally sourced eucalypt timber ensures the cabin can stand against time and the coastal elements. It also contributes to the cabin’s sustainability, capturing of carbon instead of producing it. The material is used inside as well, continuing both the warm, raw aesthetic and the sustainability benefits throughout.
Designed as one structural module repeated 26 times around, the efficiency of the cabin’s construction was optimised. It is also made to be demountable, so that clients are able to either dismantle or salvage the materials for another build in future, if needed. With the importance of sunlight stressed in the brief, large louvre doors were installed to allow light to flood through, and on days when the weather is blossoming, the doors can be opened to connect the deck with the living and dining areas of the cabin.
Due to its circular structure, the beach side cabin can capture or exclude the breeze whenever there is a need, and, as the spiral staircase in the centre leads up the private bedroom spaces, circulation of air and sun can continue around the entire cabin. With a playful and sustainable rationale, St Andrews Beach House is a home away from home that gives back to the surrounding land.
Melbourne is the coastal capital of the southeastern Australian state of Victoria. At the city’s centre is the modern Federation Square development, with plazas, bars, and restaurants by the Yarra River. In the Southbank area, the Melbourne Arts Precinct is the site of Arts Centre Melbourne – a performing arts complex – and the National Gallery of Victoria, with Australian and indigenous art.
Melbourne is the coastal capital of the southeastern Australian state of Victoria. At the city’s centre is the modern Federation Square development, with plazas, bars, and restaurants by the Yarra River. In the Southbank area, the Melbourne Arts Precinct is the site of Arts Centre Melbourne – a performing arts complex – and the National Gallery of Victoria, with Australian and indigenous art.
“I think it strikes a chord with people, living off the grid and being minimalist. I could build a McMansion…but it wouldn’t be interesting.”
Each project is designed specifically for your spatial requirements, budget and site. Design and finish options are limitless, but every design is the result of genuine collaboration with you. We operate from our modular construction hub in Brooklyn, Victoria which includes an impressive factory used for manufacturing the modules. The rapid off-site modular construction forces a high level of documentation – which in turn means a higher degree of design resolution and greater control of the cost for you. The factory environment ensures the risk of weather and site delays are eliminated, allowing for a fixed timeline for design, construction and delivery. It also ensures a consistent level of quality.
We’re one of Australia’s leading off-site construction companies and with Modscape, you will get:
Tintaldra is a town in northeast Victoria, Australia in the Shire of Towong local government area and on the upper reaches of the Murray River, 440 kilometres northeast of the state capital, Melbourne and 131 kilometres east of the regional centre of Wodonga.
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