A Dance with Light – Brunswick by Placement Studio

Brunswick House by Placement Studio

Finely crafted as a series of intimate internal gestures, Brunswick House sees the recasting of its next chapter through a veil of restraint and considered warmth. Retaining the familiar character, scale and proportions of the existing Victorian terrace, Placement Studio balances intricacy and simplicity to create spaces that softly dance with the incoming natural light.

In an effort to preserve the charm of the original quaint cottage, the architects sought to move away from a traditional renovation and addition. Rejecting the path most commonly travelled in such projects, Director and Founder of Placement Stephanie Kitingan explains that “instead of merely maintaining the front of the home and harshly severing the rear, we wanted to take a more compassionate and integrated approach.

” This was also driven by an acknowledgement of the invaluable role of green space within such a tightly woven urban fabric. “As the garden was a vital component of the home and particularly for the client, we didn’t want to encroach on this space,” she states. Thus, the focus of the renovation and extension became framed by a more refined and considered approach, delicately weaving the old and the new with intent and rigour.

A defining quality of housing typologies of the Victorian period is their narrowness. In the case of Brunswick House, nestled within the same-named inner north enclave of Melbourne, the inherited home sat flanked by neighbours and stretched a mere five metres from edge to edge. Stephanie explains that “the client had lived in the existing home for almost a decade, through his mid-20s and 30s, and over that time he’s seen it evolve into more of an adult home.

” The client’s history with the house meant that “it was important that the home felt homely, wasn’t pretentious and that it retained the sense of warmth.” From this understanding, a less common brief then ensued, with a focus on the compact and the robust, primarily within the existing narrow envelope.

“Our response was twofold – to create a feeling of openness and lightness in a south-facing home, while creating intimate and private spaces to recoil to,” Stephanie says. “The brief was interesting in not needing to design for children, as the inherent need for flexibility of spaces over time or for the unknown weren’t an issue.” Maintaining the front two rooms with a light touch – simply replastering and restumping – the midsection was then used as the main reset, defining the transition between old and new.

From here, “the approach was to do something that would stylistically stand the test of time,” Stephanie reflects. “We have designed the rear mostly as a large joinery unit, with an emphasis on heightened detailing, integrating light boxes and tiled corner benches that all come together as a series of overlapping elements.”

Expressing the emphasis on joinery as a catalyst for the new, the gesture of the unique stair that sits both sculptural and functional epitomises this notion. The transitional element allows for an additional sleeping, study or retreat space to be elevated above the mid-section. Describing this configuration, Stephanie says, “as the terrace steps down to match the slope of the backyard, the internal gradual stepping then allows for an on-grade connection to the rear, subtly increasing the internal volume and optimising the original height and proportions of the home.” The new spaces are then bound through shared principles of restraint, robustness and an ingrained warmth of materiality.

Underpinned by simplicity, Brunswick House embodies timelessness and stillness. The controlled use of tactile and textural brick, tile and timber crafts intimate connections between building and inhabitant, as Placement carefully navigates the site whilst bathing spaces in natural light. With a dappled softness, the efficient interior opens generously to the prized rear sanctuary garden space and creates a protective cocooning effect, at once contemporary and familiar.

Brunswick House Project Details

PHOTOGRAPHY: Tom Ross
ARCHITECTURE: Placement Studio
INTERIOR DESIGN: Placement Studio
BUILD: Inner North Carpentry
WORDS: Bronwyn Marshall
LANDSCAPE DESIGN: Treespace Solutions
LANDSCAPE EXECUTION: Growing Designs

written by : Bronwyn Marshall
6 OCT 2021
published in : thelocalproject.com.au

Gallery of Brunswick House by Placement Studio

Nautically French – Inner West Project by Greg Natale

Nautically French - Inner West Project by Greg Natale

Combining a French sensibility with that of the P&O nautical influence, Inner West House plays with a heightened luxury in its harbourside address. Greg Natale layers rich textures and textiles to complement both the story of the home’s context and that of the owner’s own individual aesthetic.

Imbedding softness through curves and a matched palette, Inner West House sits amongst its newly developed Five Docks location in Sydney as a response to context. Abutting the ocean, a dynamic sensibility influences the approach to form, planning and the layered elements that comprise the home. Combined with a lightness, the surrounds are welcomed internally and animate the home, each surface interacting and reflecting back or absorbing the natural light throughout the day.

The owner’s own style combines with a French-inspired aesthetic and highly crafted resolve to propose a series of spaces elevated through intentionally luxurious touches. Greg Natale carefully combines the familiar elements of home with a European understanding of space and proportion.

Built by Ciolino Constructions, Inner West House embraces the Sydney outdoor lifestyle and ensures each internal space has the capacity to become doused in natural light throughout the day. Taking tonal inspiration from the initial timber flooring as the base, pink nuances were pulled from the blond wash as the muse for the resulting layers. An array of variations and iterations of the core base palette are applied throughout, expressed as wall finishes, fabric, and added textures, injecting a remarkable warmth and tying each space together.

A foundation of white plaster and paint ensures the expressive stone and brass additions are given the featured presence intended. Lighting and tapware further tie into the original P&O Style as bold insertions that add an elevated and nuanced nautical touch.

Spread over two floors, the four-bedroom home has been considered from a core and cohesive concept that then binds the home as one. Throughout, custom designed joinery and furniture sit along classic pieces, while lush carpets underfoot also by Greg Natale, ensure a sensory immersion. As the planning ensures a connected and openly flowing family home, it equally opens generously to its own landscape and private pool, reinforcing a sense of enclosure and privacy while also being outwardly connected. As an originally art deco style home, the geometries of its origins mix harmoniously with those introduced.

Greg Natale’s Inner West House brings a refined softness through its elevated palette and curved gestures, one that captures its past together with the essence of its present occupation.

Greg Natale Architecture Project Details

SYDNEY, NSW, AUSTRALIA

PHOTOGRAPHY Anson Smart
STYLING Greg Natale
ARCHITECTURE Greg Natale
INTERIOR DESIGN Greg Natale
BUILD Ciolino Constructions
WORDS Bronwyn Marshall

written by : Bronwyn Marshall
2 Oct 2021
published in : thelocalproject.com.au

Inner West Project by Greg Natale

Pipi House by Peg and Ray Architects

Modestly discreet, Pipi House presents as a concealed and private residence from its streetscape, opening generously to the rear to engage with its surrounding landscape and natural elements. Peg and Ray Architects conjures a restrained and carefully proportioned home amongst an animated residential setting, creating a calm retreat.

Despite its lively surrounds, Pipi House sits restful and quiet behind its solid and monolithic façade of darkened timber and masonry, protective and concealing. Located north of Sydney in Chatswood, Pipi House nestles itself into an established residential neighbourhood of similar proportioned homes, varying in heritage and individual narrative. As a means to create their own sanctuary of sorts, architects and owners Peg and Ray Architects propose a series of volumes that sit interconnected and privately obscured from the street. The formal approach on site speaks to a restrained contemporary influence, while also giving a prelude to the sense of journey and discovery to unfold behind the façade. Anchored and boldly confident, Pipi House awaits discovery.

Built by Mahony Group, together with joinery by Sydney Joinery, Pipi House is split over two levels and includes a dedicated home office. From behind its concealing front, the interiors open with an inviting warmth, where polished concrete underfoot provides a robust and resilient foundation for the happenings of any family home. A similar palette is brought from the external materiality inside, where it wraps each surface, becoming more tactile and detailed in areas. As intended, the home feels protected and calm through its open connection with the rear garden and landscape. Glazing and operable façade details allow the interiors to spill out naturally into the outdoors.

Split into wings, the portion of the home to the east presents with height and strength as the face of the home to the street, while the portion to the west opens to the rear and presents as a more transparent and approachable series of spaces. Careful articulation of controls and overhangs ensures solar, and heat gain is optimised and avoided as necessary.

The outdoor courtyard, pool and BBQ all facilitate and ease the family functions to transpire outside in an external space that is protected and private, part of the home itself. Transitioning between the open and closed places is marked by moments of pause, connecting and navigating the flow of movement through the home. These areas are imagined as a reset and as places of contemplation.

Through compression and release, Pipi House carves its proposal of balance. Peg and Ray Architects has created a purposeful retreat, which keenly reflects the architects’ needs and how they uniquely live.

Pipi House Project Details

PHOTOGRAPHY: Tom Ferguson
STYLING: Peg and Ray Architects
ARCHITECTURE: Peg and Ray Architects
INTERIOR DESIGN: Peg and Ray Architects
BUILD: Mahony Group
WORDS: Bronwyn Marshall
JOINERY: Sydney Joinery

written by: Bronwyn Marshall
1 Oct 2021
published in: thelocalproject.com.au

Gallery of Pipi House by Peg and Ray Architects

Playful and Expressive – Collaroy House by TRD Studio

Playful and Expressive – Collaroy House by TRD Studio

Combining a bold playfulness with a familiar residential warmth, Collaroy House references the known and the expressive. TRD Studio brings organic shapes together with a linear approach to conjure a family home able to transform as needed, while remaining robust and enduring.

Navigating its corner block in the same-named milieu of Collaroy, the family home balances privacy and retreat while catering to its family of four teenage boys. A mixture of low maintenance and embedded robustness forms the foundations of the home, with elevated moments of heightened luxury creating points of difference. Throughout, flow is accentuated by geometries used while timber adds a welcomed warmth to both the spaces and the inserted elements, grounding the home in its lightness.

Combining forces with architecture by Integrated Design Group, TRD Studio designs the interiors as a free moving series of connected spaces, able to be melded to suit the growing family and their needs as they change over time.

Collaroy House draws in natural light from its surrounds, further emphasising a feeling of openness through a neutral and white base palette throughout. The mixture of veined stone used in a monolithic manner creates moments of boldness, forming sculpture-type elements within the space, while elements like the organic and oversized sofa add a more fluid and dynamic insertion – both encouraging engagement in their own way. Integrated furniture and seating grounds the home in place, embedding a sense of permanency.

The lightness of the interiors is accentuated by soft pastel hues used in covering the built-in banquette seating, the bedheads and in the layering of tactile textures throughout. Moments of these colours are balanced with a calming ambiance throughout, crafting a consistent palette tying each space together. Opting to place the outdoor space in the centre of the house instead of at the back, the central living space opens to the outdoors and encourages a spill over into the external room. This placement ensures a sense of privacy is maintained and further brings in additional natural light and ventilation into the heart of the home.

Collaroy House Project Details

PHOTOGRAPHY: Pablo Veiga
STYLING: TRD Studio
ARCHITECTURE: Integrated Design Group
INTERIOR DESIGN: TRD Studio
BUILD: Custom Cut Constructions
WORDS: Bronwyn Marshall

18 SEP 2021
published in : thelocalproject.com.au

Gallery of Collaroy House Project by TRD Studio

A Return to Light – Glebe Point by JCA Architects and Décor JMH

A Return to Light – Glebe Point by JCA Architects and Décor JMH

After having lived in the penthouse since 2007 – and a flood causing damage to the home during that time – a refreshed approach was inevitable and warmly received. Ideally elevated above many other pavilion homes below, Glebe Point and its encasement of floor-to-ceiling glass called for an open and connected change. Reflecting its owners, a love of colour and richness of texture, the home is given a fresh start. Embellished with aptly fitting adornment, a new interior approach reflects a heightened level of animation and personality. As both a residence to retreat to and as a perfectly positioned place to entertain, the resulting home needed to balance both a sense of enclosure and one that openly embraces its guests. Together with JCA Architects, Décor JMH draws on a modernist approach to creating a linear and iconic restraint home.

Built by CJ Duncan, the home features three bedrooms, all with their own bathroom and 180-degree views of the nearby Anzac Bridge. The Sydney Harbour Bridge sits in the distance, with the prominent view of the brutalist beauty in the foreground. Every home within the building had its own unique brief, detailed by how each resident used each space; for Glebe Point, the residence is part home, part place for entertaining and part place of work. Bringing each of these contrasting characteristics took a patient and considered approach, while also requiring an embedded flexibility as well.

Each space becomes a showcase of sorts, bringing together modernist shapes, materials and silhouettes, which are highlighted by the abundance of natural light flooding in through the glass. Referencing these pieces is a similar toned palette, seeing brass, stone and varying stains of timber create a home of warmth and curiosity. Whilst the use of colour provides a series of internal focal points, the true centre is the kitchen. As a place to gather, entertain, nurture and even work from, it caters for the changing brief of the home while also being a space that pulls all occupants and visitors together. Its careful crafting of metal detailing and warm timber further emphasises a welcoming nature, as extensive joinery ensures storage can conceal the sometimes-unsightly everyday elements.

20 Sep 2021
published in : thelocalproject.com.au

Gallery of Glebe Point by JCA Architects and Décor JMH

Franklin Residence – Ola Studio

Franklin Residence by Ola Studio

Text description provided by Ola Studio architects. Franklin is a four-bedroom residence designed for a single owner with an extended family of children and grandchildren that will overtake the place during holiday periods. Sitting calmly on the lands of the Bunurong people, the site is situated along a road screened with dense shrubs about 400 metres from the bay in Portsea. Along the road, small sandy driveways disappear into the wall of foliage, invoking a connection to the beachside setting, although much of the planting is exotic. Hidden behind the trees is a collection of unremarkable suburban houses with a couple of odd gems immediately to the site’s rear.

Informed by our clients’ eclectic art interests that specifically include Japanese, Greek, Indigenous and Mid-century Modern as well as a fascination of Japanese design in general, the design is a literal response to a well-defined design brief. The brief asked for a “Japanese inspired fuzzy white cocoon” that is private, peaceful, fresh, and organic. A tranquil place to live, work, gather and play. Something that can work with the shifting numbers of occupants and still provide a sense of calm and retreat, whether there is only one occupant or a full herd.

Contextually, Franklin responds to the characteristics of the beachside setting rather than the more suburban characteristics of the built neighbourhood. Design cues come from the fall of the site, which is to the rear, the coastal treetop datum, the neighbour’s dominant cypress hedge along the southern boundary, the sites orientation, and the established conditions of the neighbouring lots. The intent in responding to these elements is to establish a sense of belonging to the natural environment rather than the built, and in turn establish an architectural language of tranquility.

Franklin’s form is simple. Using cross laminated timber (CLT) structure including floors, walls, and roof/ceiling, made from Australian grown pine processed and fabricated in Victoria, a single skillion roof covers a simple rectangle with a large north facing cut out. The roof pitches from the rear and low end of the site level with the hedge and rakes up at a slightly steeper angle to the slope of the site allowing Franklin to gently pop his head above the tree and hedge line at the front. The frontage has been replanted with indigenous coastal scrub that will return the streetscape plant screen with planting appropriate to the area, and further enhance the beach side character.

The soil on site is all sand allowing for relatively easy sculpting and carving. While the front of the house is 2 storeys, from the street it reads more as a single storey dwelling. The intent is to be humble on the outside, and full of warmth, light, joy, and scale on the inside. The scale of the house is revealed as you traverse the driveway and descend some garden steps to the front door where you are greeted by Franklin with a simple timber wall and screened fenestration hinting at what is beyond. A central slightly inset door marks the entry point, and says warmly, come in and let me show you what I have inside.

Ola Studio Project Details

Architects: Ola Studio
Area: 396 m²
Year: 2021
Photographs: Derek Swalwell
Manufacturers: Brodware, Jetmaster, Miele, Signorino, Artedomus, Ash, Candana, Graypants, Grazia and Co, Luxaflex, NavUrban, Nood, United Products, WK Marble & Granite, Xlam
Interior Design: Ola Studio
Builder: Sinjen

written by : Hana Abdel
2 Jul 2021
published in : archdaily.com

Gallery of Franklin Residence by Ola Studio

Softly Restorative – Walsh Bay Penthouse by Greg Natale

Softly Restorative / Walsh Bay Penthouse by Greg Natale

A quiet and restorative haven, Walsh Bay Penthouse sees a muted and soft approach create a home of plush and refined layers. Greg Natale optimises the home’s enviable siting and creates a protective and welcoming cocoon internally as a balanced counter to the sunlit and open balcony that surrounds.

With full-height glazing that opens to the same-named bay from each room, Walsh Bay Penthouse drinks in its surrounds while creating a protective place for its residents to shelter and feel isolated. In its elevated position atop an assortment of diverse residences, the home is spread over two generous levels and extends to three bedrooms and connected living zones.

As a renovation effort, existing elements such as the lofted proportions are maintained and accentuated through a light palette, while soft curves are introduced to mimic movement through the home and create the feeling of freestanding sculptures as furniture. This same vernacular extends to all elements internally, creating a cohesive and connected series of spaces. Greg Natale draws from on the studio’s reputation of luxury and combine with a nod to the organic in conjuring the resulting home.

As a contemporary and light home built by4×4 Carpentry and Building Services, Walsh Bay Penthouse reflects its engagement beyond its bounding walls. With the floods of natural light filling the home, the use of a muted palette of soft pinks and yellows is complemented by the use of white and grey, allowing for a natural hierarchy to be created. The brief called for curves to accentuate the connectivity internally and also to soften the rectilinear floor plate. The introduction of a European influence is seen in the furniture selections, lighting and accessories placed throughout, carefully weaving in the narrative of a time-tested and historically proven lineage.

A newly crafted staircase connects the two levels and becomes a focal point amongst the main occupied area, the shared living zone. Originally in an alternate location, the realigning with the vertical movement in this open and elevated space sees this living area become the heart of the home and signal to the spaces tucked away from view.

A similar curved line shapes the stair and the other inserted elements, completing the story of the home as one where subtleties are expressed in a considered and deliberate manner. Amongst the soft pastels of the furniture and soft furnishings, brass is used as a cool and tactile element to engage and interact with daily, while light timber flooring adds warmth and a natural element throughout.

Greg Natale Architects Project Details

WALSH BAY, NSW, AUSTRALIA

PHOTOGRAPHY Anson Smart
STYLING Claire Delmar
ARCHITECTURE Greg Natale
INTERIOR DESIGN Greg Natale
BUILD 4×4 Carpentry and Building Services
WORDS Bronwyn Marshall

15 SEP 2021
published in: thelocalproject.com.au

Gallery of Walsh Bay Penthouse by Greg Natale

Concrete House, Wembley WA

A unique multi-generational new residence for a growing family of five. The house creates a new form of linear planning and environmental responsiveness by locating private and social spaces to the southern edge, resulting in a full, site length, north facing linear garden connecting the rear private lane and main streetscape. 7.2 Star NatHERS environmental rating.

Client Mark Civitella + Megan Kaino Structural Engineer McDowall Affleck Landscaping DIG WA ESD Cadds Energy Builder Distinctive Homes WA

published in : ah-a.com.au

Concrete House, Wembley WA

Daramu House – Tzannes

Daramu House - Tzannes

Text description provided by Tzannes Architects. Daramu House is an evolution of its sister building, International House Sydney. Together they complete the first stage of the Barangaroo South precinct, establishing the unique and desirable character of mass timber construction in the competitive CBD office market. Daramu House has been designed to present a cohesive and inviting public threshold to Barangaroo South, providing a transition in scale between the three towers and Sussex Street, establishing a 7 storey street wall and continuous colonnade edge to the precinct.

What distinguishes Daramu House, is its position at the intersection of the commercial and residential Barangaroo precincts. The architecture responds to this condition at the northern boundary by taking on a sculptural, folding form. This form signals the end of the street wall on Sussex Street and the turning point toward the harbour.

The fluid northern form provides generous amenity on the ground plane, enhancing the connection between Sussex Street and the harbour. The distinctive architecture of this part of Daramu House differentiates the commercial precinct of Barangaroo from the residential precinct to the north, whilst reinforcing precinct and harbour vistas. The rounded corners of Daramu House encourage seamless pedestrian movement into the precinct contributing to the connectivity and legibility of the public domain.

On Sussex Street, the commercial entry is announced through a dramatic two storey space. An impressive 18m span in glulam members allows a column-free entry by utilising the bracing elements on the upper 5 storeys as a truss. On the vibrant laneway of Scotch Row, the façade intersects with the exposed CLT lift core providing views to its timber anatomy for the full height of the building, both from the public domain and from within.

At the heart of the design is the warm, golden glow of the timber structure that is wrapped in a minimal glazed envelope allowing the timber to be celebrated as the hero. The expanded structural grid of 9m x 9m is currently the largest in the world for mid-rise commercial projects, allowing for generous and flexible fit-out opportunities.

Daramu House celebrates the rich industrial history of Barangaroo by reinterpreting the timber building typology that dominated the site post-European settlement. The pragmatic and expressed use of solid timber as the structural component of the building connects the history of this precinct to the present. External timber elements are made from Australian recycled hardwood selected for robustness, durability and weathering. Internally, the timber is left unadorned and uncovered providing warmth and a tactile beauty to the commercial floors, as well as contributing to a healthier, biophilic workplace for all users.

Architects: Tzannes
Area: 11700 m²
Year: 2019
Photographs: Ben Guthrie, Brett Boardman
Structural Engineer Team: Lendlease DesignMake, Lendlease DesignMake – Tim Butler, Tom Watts, Sindu Satasivam
Mechanical Engineers: Lendlease Applied Insight
ESD: Lendlease Applied Insight
Acoustic Engineer: Wilkinson Murray

written by : Hana Abdel
9 Sep 2021
published in : archdaily.com

Gallery of Daramu House by Tzannes

Malvern Evolution by kirby architects

Malvern Evolution by kirby architects

Text description provided by Kirby Architects. Having enjoyed this gracious Victorian villa for over ten years, our clients’ asked us to evolve the house so that it could function in different modes and adapt to suit their future. As a ‘forever home’, they wanted options for accommodating extended family who regularly stay over, generous entertaining spaces and new work from home zones.

This a full renovation, where modern lifestyles meet with heritage values. Removing the rear, we created contemporary and elegant rooms for large scale entertaining and lovely guest quarters with discreet disability-friendly features and private access.

To make the most of the fabulous northerly aspect, the large kitchen living space connects with the outdoors. Stepping onto the deck is like entering another realm; for big get-togethers, four pairs of steel french doors are flung open so the spaces flow easily. Behind the new kitchen is a butler’s pantry, which means party preparations can be underway, yet the kitchen is always presentable.

Inspired by the colour and texture of the Victorian red brick frontage, steel box windows are our solution for adding extra seating. They make the living room seem larger without extending the external walls and add a touch of romance so you can sit amongst the cushions and have a private moment.