Inner City House
Toorak

This project is an alteration and addition to an existing house set on a small block of land, located in an exclusive inner city Melbourne suburb. The street is heavily tree lined, with many of the properties being large and established.

Our strategy to contrast or contextualize with the scale of the adjacent houses was to treat the house like a jewel. As a necklace or a bracelet sits on the expanse of one’s body, we have created a jewel-like façade that sits in the streetscape.

To contrast the warmer colours of the surrounding built elements, the house has been limited to black, silver and white. Shapes, shadows and surfaces are reinforced by the monochromatic colour. Traditional jewellery making involves cutting stones and polishing them to beautify the stone’s form and lustre of colour.   A 3-dimensional, faceted glass façade, combining hand slumped glass, textured and flat coloured triangular panels, fronts the street. With the house facing east, the jewel-like façade glistens with morning sun, exaggerated by shadow and the texture of the glass panels. This is transformed at night by back-lit lighting. The front fence is faceted but constructed of folded steel panels, painted white to reinforce the idea that the house is a plinth (or ‘ring’) on which the ‘jewel’ sits.

The house is divided into three different zones: Zone 1 (basement/ground): indoor - outdoor entertaining and multi-functional spaces: semi-indoor pool (ruby pink in colour), dj room, utilities and garage. Zone 2 (first): general living areas, which incorporates kitchen, scullery, dining, living, powder room and a children’s playroom. The space is open visually yet defined by a central circulation core. Wall details and treatment are layered, 3-dimensional, delicate, and textural to reflect the front façade. Zone 3 (second): private sleeping quarters, shaped to hug the existing palm tree.

Publications

Essential Magazine, Sydney Morning Herald – “Jewel in the Crown”

International Interior Design Yearbook , Tianjin University Press, China

Furniture by Architects, edited by Driss Fatih, Images Publishing

The Financial Review – “Furniture with an architect’s touch”