Green Magazine #82 November-December 2021

Working from home is the new normal and architecture is evolving to accommodate this. Architects and their clients are beginning to consider the home office right at the beginning of the design process. No longer just another room, the place where we will potentially spend much of our time requires careful consideration. Outlook, access to natural light, ventilation and joinery are all factors to consider. The five workspaces in this issue are unique and specific in their design. Connecting with the outdoors, whether it be from an office or elsewhere in the house, has become more desirable. If we are to spend a lot of time at home, we need to feel less enclosed. Our cover house, designed by FIGR Architecture Studio, embraces this concept fully with a clear view from the…

Zesty We’ll give you a second to guess what this lamp by Milan-based startup Krill Design is made from. Spoiler: it's orange peels – specifically, of the Sicilian variety. This is “Ohmie”, a marvel of circular design created using 3D printing. It’s even compostable! en.krilldesign.net New Meaning The work of Makiko Ryujin never ceases to enchant us. Pictured here, LOOP is a series of wood-turned sculptures inspired by Toro – traditional Japanese lanterns found in Buddhist temples. “The light of the Toro was thought to illuminate paths and guide the souls of the deceased towards peace,” Makiko explains. “In this series, I have used the lathe and fire to transform discarded timbers to give new meaning – a sculptural reincarnation – reflecting on cyclical themes of time and space, death and life.” makikoryujin.com Close Brunswick,…

Energy industry company sonnen has gone from strength to strength since its inception in the Bavarian village of Wildpoldsried in 2010. Today, it’s an international market leader with around 70,000 home batteries installed worldwide in its ninth generation of product development – and counting. Integral to its success is a model that delivers reliable clean power, affordable pricing and the opportunity to join a like-minded community committed to the energy revolution. Who wouldn’t want in? “[The] vision is clean and affordable energy for everyone. That’s the basis of everything that we do,” explains Tim Latimer, Head of Sales and Marketing ANZ at sonnen. “… We focus very much on prosumers, so not just a one-direction system … but a world where people can be producers of energy and consumers of energy.” This…

Innovative architect Fiona Dunin of FMD Architects designs her places inside-out. Deep research and nifty economical design have set her designs apart and won her recognition (and jobs) worldwide. Her ‘whole-house’ aesthetic is easily recognisable with perfectly executed and detailed design using easily available, economical materials with a distinctly Australian tone. Fiona started as an interior designer and returned to do architecture after finding there was a “disconnect” between the two practices. Her first roles were in other architecture firms, incorporating interior design into concept planning, until she started a practice of her own in 2005. “That’s just the way I think – often from the interiors-out. Just thinking about how people will move around the space, how they will use the space – from the first sketch really.” A good example…

RETOLD Sam Crawford Architects’ renovation of this family home took inspiration from the original property’s Inter-war Functionalist provenance. Its history is now retold and elevated through bespoke elements, curvaceous joinery and splashes of colour. The study/home office has received the same treatment with a recycled spotted gum desktop and flourishes of colour in overhead cabinetry. It’s awash with light, courtesy of original glazed brick windows and makes use of what the architects believe was formerly a breakfast nook back in the 1930s. samcrawfordarchitects.com.au PAGE TURNER Antonia Pesenti of studio fable brings experience as an award-winning book creator to her practice in architecture. The story of creating the studio fable workspace has a thoroughly happy ending: a windowless basement has been transformed into a light and open studio complete with a private garden. Existing…

Hermann and Virginia Stelzer had a simple brief for their son Tim and daughter-in-law Phoebe Clarke of Torquay studio Not All Architecture. “We wanted a small house with no maintenance and lots of light and garden space underneath,” Virginia explains. With two of their three children living on the Surf Coast, the couple simply needed a master bedroom, a second bedroom that could accommodate children and grandchildren visiting from Melbourne, a kitchen, dining and living area that could also open up for family visits and entertaining, and a bathroom with a bath but strictly no tiles. (Who wants to spend retirement by the beach cleaning tiles?) Their priority was to unobtrusively connect their new home with the coastal landscape they’ve moved here to enjoy and help restore to health. “Virginia volunteers…