Table of contents for Issue 131 December 2019 in Houses

This clever infill house in the tightly packed backstreets of North Melbourne offers valuable lessons for how we might rethink the single house as a flexible system that can adapt, beyond our immediate needs, to a range of life stages and occupants. Curiously, the house – which enjoys a neighbourly relationship with a Victorian worker’s cottage on the adjacent block – is the result of an act of protest. When the owners of the cottage found that the empty block next door was slated for a “transplanted McMansion,” they went to the council to object. At the point of seeming defeat – with construction of the McMansion primed to begin – a “for sale” sign popped up on the street front and the cottage owners jumped at the opportunity to…

Brisbane’s suburbs are as varied as its terrain. The meandering Brisbane River winds around seven hills, which have been progressively built-up since the beginnings of colonization in the 1820s. While the city developed around the Petrie Bight, South Brisbane and Town reaches of the river, a new rail line to Ipswich in the 1870s became the catalyst for expansion westwards. Wealthy citizens began purchasing large parcels of land for grand houses. Over time, larger estates were subdivided, and by the 1920s the suburb of Indooroopilly, just down the river from the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, had developed with private schools, theatres and golf clubs. The opening of the first stage of the Indooroopilly Shoppingtown in 1970 spurned on the growth of the city’s western hub. Indooroopilly is more organically ordered…

Industrial designer Chi Dang loves the story behind a brand and the feeling a product can evoke and convey. Wanting to tell his own story, Chi established his eponymous studio, designing furniture and creating his own brand. He is inspired by film, architecture, art and fashion, particularly when they all come together – think Tom Ford’s A Single Man. His furniture and lighting designs have a feeling of sophistication and romance; Chi can envisage the perfect scene for each one. Chi was born in a refugee camp in Hong Kong after his parents fled the Vietnam War. He studied law and finance – “like other kids from immigrant families” – but harboured a desire to be creative. Pursuing his dream, Chi studied industrial design at Swinburne University of Technology, completing…

The steep riverine terrain of Studley Park is unique in suburban Melbourne. Largely considered unsuitable for building until after World War II, it then became a testing ground for adventurous twentieth-century architects such as Robin Boyd, Peter McIntyre, Anatol Kagan and McGlashan Everist, who used inventive form and technological advances to tailor homes to the topography. Faced with a steep vacant site and a highly engaged client, March Studio looked to this modernist tradition for cues to how best accommodate a large family home. Key drivers of the brief were the capture of daylight (including in the morning – a challenge on a site falling to the west) and a direct connection between the living areas and the land. A bold cantilever is the most visible move and a salute…

Warrandyte, in Melbourne’s outer north-east, holds a lofty reputation as a seedbed for progressive twentieth-century creativity. Parted by the Yarra River, the undulating and verdant region caught the eye of Heidelberg School painters at the turn of the century, and later enticed a gamut of resident artists, craftspeople and design professionals, such as sculptors Danila Vassilieff and Inge King, potters Reg Preston and Gus McLaren, furniture designer Fred Lowen, and architects Fritz Janeba and John Hipwell. The post-war bush landscape gradually became punctuated by smart, architect-designed dwellings: many by Hipwell and Janeba and others by such contemporary stalwarts as Marcus Barlow, Robin Boyd and John and Phyllis Murphy. While a 1962 bushfire took its sad toll, it also ushered in a new wave of considered homebuilding. Among those to emerge…

Compact in scale and light of touch are descriptions that do not readily spring to mind when discussing current residential building in the prestigious suburb of Forrest, Canberra. Where not heritage protected, older style “Canberra cottages” are often knocked down and replaced with much larger residences that, arguably, more accurately reflect the client’s lifestyle aspirations and bigger budgets. But sometimes, clients’ and architects’ paths intersect to produce subtle yet exciting interventions to modest original bungalows. And occasionally, such work receives recognition and acclaim. This is the case with Empire House, a project comprising finely detailed alterations and additions to a Canberra cottage. The project’s quiet success was recognized with the 2019 Canberra Medallion, the highest award from the Australian Institute of Architects’ Australian Capital Territory chapter. The owners of Empire…

There is something undeniably fascinating about the work from Wonderglass. The studio’s lighting, objects and installations have a captivating, mesmerizing quality, as molten glass is shaped into surreal and sculptural forms. “Every single creation looks beautiful, on or off,” says Christian Mussati. Since founding Wonderglass in 2013, he and his father, Maurizio, have been moulding a new future in glassmaking by fusing contemporary design with traditional craftsmanship. London-based but Italian-born, Christian and Maurizio had an interest in the Murano glass industry and wanted to establish a family business. While Christian was new to glassmaking and design, Maurizio had worked in executive roles for Bisazza, Flos, Moooi and Established and Sons. “We wanted to establish a new brand that relied on craftsmanship and skills from Venice, and that could leverage our…

The qualities of the site reminded the architects of a small stone ruin they had seen clinging to a steep, waterfront location on the Amalfi Coast. They wanted to capture a similar sense that this home had grown out of the site. When a client’s love for a selected site meets an architect’s desire to make careful connections with a place, the right ingredients are in play for an imaginative design. This house, by Topology Studio, is the result of such a meeting. The clients for House at Otago Bay, located just over 10 kilometres north of Hobart, owned the site for several years before the architectural process and subsequent construction work began. They lived a little further along the Derwent River and would come to the site with their…

Rich marble, concrete-look tiles, timber salvaged from the depths of a Tasmanian dam – whatever your taste, there's a flooring product here to inspire you. 01 DecoDeck decking joiner The DecoDeck joiner reduces material wastage in Deco's aluminium decking system. The system once required a joist to join pieces of deck together. The DecoDeck joiner can join pieces anywhere along their length, allowing for almost 100 percent material utilization. deco.net.au 02 Herringbone flooring Havwoods’ herringbone collection includes a large variety of shades and finishes in a classic pattern. Whether it's in the elegant Venture Plank 'Fendi Prime' finish, or in finishes from the Italian Collection, Havwoods’ herringbone flooring can bring sophistication to any space. havwoods.com/au 03 Coastal Hamptons bricks PGH Bricks’ Coastal Hamptons range of softly toned bricks draws inspiration…

Balmain Rock by Benn and Penna is the product of a familiar downsizing story. In the pursuit of more efficient living after their children moved out, clients Vanessa and Chris decided to bid farewell to their large five-bedroom family home. They set their sights on an 1860s cottage in Sydney’s inner-west, originally built to support industrial workers associated with the neighbouring working harbour of White Bay. At the time of purchase, the house, with a number of shoddy lean-to structures off the back, was “very dilapidated” and in need of some attention. In selecting an architect, Vanessa and Chris were determined to find someone who would work with them for the life of the project. “We wanted an architect who was willing to listen but also challenge some of our…

01 The Sideboard For every piece of Peninsula furniture sold, a tree is planted through the Carbon Neutral Plant-a-Tree program. Sustainable and stylish, the Sideboard is made from Tasmanian oak and features Peninsula’s signature bevelled-edge doors, which open to reveal practical, adjustable shelves. peninsulahome.co 02 Axor MyEdition wash basin mixer The sculptural Axor MyEdition washbasin mixer adds character to any bathroom, with its customizable design. Consisting of a body and plate, the taps can be tailored using Axor’s brushed or polished finishes, such as ‘Red Gold’ (pictured), or materials like marble and leather. axor-design.com 03 Zip Micro tap system Zip Water has launched Zip Micro – a practical solution for kitchens in which space is at a premium. The drinking water system fits beneath almost any bench and instantly delivers…

This is a new house on an old site. Tonkin Zulaikha Greer’s clients have lived here for many years, gradually adding to and refashioning the original house (which this new work completely replaces) to reflect their changing needs. In this sense, they have had the luxury of time shaping their brief, bringing to this exquisitely constructed Mosman house more than two decades of lessons about how they wish to live here. Designed by Tonkin Zulaikha Greer’s director Tim Greer and project architect Belinda Pajkovic (now director of Atoma Architecture and Design), the house coalesces around three devices: a basic plan geometry designed to dissolve in response to the clients’ program; rigorously framed monumental concrete panels; and views controlled both to amplify and edit relationships between “moments” on a site that…

01 Awa lighting collection Designer Fumie Shibata took inspiration from the Japanese word for “bubble” to create a set of pendant lights that, like their namesake, appear weightless. Awa’s combination of wood, metal and fine, hand-blown glass evokes an inflated vessel that has been sealed with a cork. brokis.cz 02 Paper Clay ceramics The Cartocci in paper clay are timelessly bold, handmade sculptures by ceramicist Paola Paronetto. Formed through a long and complex procedure in which paper pulp and fibres are mixed into clay, the pieces vary in size and shape, rendering each truly unique. spacefurniture.com.au 03 Lightcycle task light Dyson has launched the Lightcycle task light, equipped with the latest lighting technology. In addition to preset modes and among a suite of other intelligent features, the light automatically adjusts…

It is not immediately apparent that the architects have taken a curatorial hammer to the home, winding back a gaudy 1990s modification to reinstate the clarity of the drill hall’s original building form. Richard Peters, designer and principal at Tobias Partners, took me through the Drill Hall House on a chilly morning in the first week of spring. This house sits left-of-field in Tobias Partners’ architectural portfolio. Firstly, it is located in Sydney’s inner-west, away from their regular eastern suburbs stomping ground and accompanying water views. Perhaps this meant that the architects needed to work a little harder to curate a sense of place. Secondly, the dependably confident design language that the architects are well known for has here been tasked with reactivating building fabric and detail from a bygone…

Sitting within inner Melbourne’s fine-grained Domain Precinct, South Yarra House by AM Architecture binds together a semi-detached heritage dwelling and its expansive sloped site. The architects have drawn on a quiet design approach that subtly commands the experience of the home’s landscape and picturesque built context. Accessed solely via a quaint pedestrian walkway stepping down to the Yarra River, the 1930s house offered much charm but little connection to its surroundings. Seeking to make the most of the site’s wide-ranging views to the river and the city beyond, the clients wanted a “treehouse” from which to delight in the outdoors. The extension is composed of two distinct parts. At the top of the house, a stepped copper shroud forms a striking silhouette of its clinker-brick neighbours’ pitched terracotta roofs. Below,…