Located in regional Victoria, Australia, the Blackwood Studio project was designed as two separate structures (garage and studio) positioned around the existing home to create a sense of ‘community’ between the structures, whilst providing privacy to the front of the existing dwelling through a central courtyard.
The architect, Adam Kane, believed the placement of the new buildings was important to create a sense of arrival for guests, whilst maintaining a line of sight between the dwelling’s entry and the street. The buildings’ positioning whilst deflecting the wind, was critical in directing views towards the surrounding gardens. Orientation of the dwellings also needed to consider integration of the southern hemisphere’s southern light, which as an indirect light source was a key requirement of the client’s brief to paint within the studio.
The building forms are rural in nature with their gable roofs, referencing the typical historic barn forms. With unnecessary ornamentation stripped from the facades, the buildings’ contemporary exteriors are clad in a compressed cement sheet cladding and corrugated metal, both of which reference materiality of past generation’s construction methods for ancillary barns/sheds of the rural surrounds.
Complementing the refined exteriors, the interiors were stripped back to create a minimal white aesthetic. Used as a painting studio / gallery space these pristine white spaces are enhanced with the integrated LED strip light at the ceiling’s ridge which was designed to mimic a thin slice of sunlight, whilst providing a wide spread of functional diffused light. The light’s integration within the ceiling was also able to enhance the clean and strong conceptual aesthetic, devoid of light fixtures, whilst adding a sense of volume to the relatively small floor area. Contributing to the interior’s minimal aesthetic is the custom rod bracing which was designed to reflect its essential requirements in as refined a manner possible.
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