Architecture news: Letter from Australia
Architecture news: Letter from Australia
Durbach Block Architects (scroll down to read more)
From the street, this harbourside home in Sydney’s eastern suburbs appears like a piece of op art. The rectangular façade, made of tilted glass and steel, picks up shadow lines from the sun as they move throughout the day. The geometric façade conceals a wonderful curvaceous form, like a cedar ‘curtain’ wrapping around the enviable site. The two voids, which cut through the home’s S-shape elevation, add drama to the spaces as the light changes through the day.
Tel: 61.2 8297 3500, http://durbachblock.com
Photograph: Brett Boardman
Durbach Block Architects: interior of the previous Sydney harbourside home
Wood Marsh Architecture (scroll down to read more)
Located in a suburban street, this striking house is surrounded by Victorian style cottages. Rather than referencing the surrounds, the architects designed this monumental contemporary home made from concrete and glass. The concrete form is heavily fluted and appears to hover over its steel-columned base. The interior is also dynamic, with vibrant tiles feature walls and green coloured lighting to activate the street at night.
Tel: 61.3 9676 2600, www.woodmarsh.com.au
Photograph: Peter Bennetts
Architect Dale Jones-Evans (scroll down to read more)
This traditional Victorian style home in Bronte, Sydney, reveals a ‘folded addition’. The core of the house has a folded roof made of copper sheeting. The shape of the roof not only controls the amount of sunlight reaching the interior spaces, but also provides protection for the three external spaces surrounding the new living areas: the pool area, the courtyard and garden terraces. The origami-like roof appears magical from inside the house, as it folds to its lowest point over the kitchen.
Tel: 61.2 9211 0626, www.dje.com.au
Photograph: Trevor Mein
Chenchow Little (scroll down to read more and link to an interactive floor plan)
Originally built at the turn of the 19th century, this semi-detached house in Bronte, Sydney, (click here to see our interactive floor plan) has been completed remodeled by Architects Chenchow Little. The architects retained the ground floor of the original house, including the original sandstone walls. But ‘grafted’ on, is a contemporary second storey, made from glass, steel and fibro-cement. Encased with aluminium louvers, the home enjoys sea breezes from the Pacific Ocean.
Tel: 61.2 9357 4333, www.chenchowlittle.com
Photograph: John Gollings
Adrian FitzGerald of Denton Corker Marshall (scroll down to read more)
Accessed from a laneway, this local landmark, in Carlton, Melbourne, is best appreciated from the grounds of the local swimming pool. Dubbed the ‘Tube’, the three-storey home takes full advantage of a small inner-city site. Meticulously design by its owner, Architect Adrian FitzGerald, a director of DCM, every part of this small living container has been beautifully executed.
Tel: 61.3 9012 3600, www.dentoncorkermarshall.com
Photographs: Tim Griffiths
McBride Charles Ryan’s Monaco House (scroll down to read more)
Tucked away in one of Melbourne’s laneways, MCR’s sculptural consulate building draws a gasp when first discovered. Nestled alongside the gardens of the Melbourne Club, Monaco House covers a site of a mere 100 square metres. Spread over four levels, including office space at the top level for the Honorary Consulate of Monaco, the angular building responds to the client’s love of finely crafted objects.
Tel: 61.3 9510 1006, www.mcbridecharlesryan.com.au
Photograph: Trevor Mein
Jackson Clements Burrows Architects (scroll down to read more)
Located in a semi-industrial landscape, the ‘Hue’ apartments, designed by Jackson Clements Burrows in Richmond, Melbourne appear to have landed from another planet. With a stained timber façade and ‘scattered’ port-hole windows, drivers slow down when passing. Including a range of apartment types of one, two or three bedrooms, the configuration also includes townhouses and penthouses.
Tel: 61.3 9654 6227, www.jcba.com.au
Photograph: John Gollings
ARM Cultural Complex (scroll down to read more)
Ashton Raggatt McDougall’s (ARM) Melbourne Recital Centre and Melbourne Theatre Company at Southbank demands attention. Highly theatrical, like the performances within, the cultural complex hints at its precious contents. The recital centre’s glass reinforced concrete façade is evocative of a giant honeycomb. Driven by the need for acoustic perfection, the recital centre features over-scaled pixelated timber grained plywood walls. And to heighten the sense of being cocooned in a log, the seats are covered in lichen-coloured suede.
Tel: 61.3 8613 1888, www.a-r-m.com.au
Photograph: John Gollings
Lab Architecture & Bates Smart’s Federation Square
A draw-card for Melbourne, this distinctive set of structures includes gallery space for the National Gallery of Victoria, the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) and an indoor auditorium for music and theatre. Together with shops, restaurants and bars, the development surrounds Federation Square. The Zinc-clad triangles (solid and perforated) cladding the buildings create dynamic forms. Like Melbourne’s laneways, architectural lines dart in and out of the square.
Tel: 61.3 9620 3011, www.labarchitecture.com
Photograph: June Orford