Australian Architect

Few projects allow as much experimentation as an architect's own home, Connected House is no exception. Fifteen years ago architect/client, Albert Mo and his family moved into a 1950's mid-century home designed by Peter Mcintyre. For more than a decade they ruminated on design philosophes that would become the driving force behind the extension. The conceptual framework for the project balanced the restoration of architectural heritage with a new approach to outdoor connections and a growing floor plan to accommodate teenage children. The resulting home is as much about garden as it is about building, the daily ritual of living interacts with nature at all levels - from the cantilevered lounge room in the canopy of a mature elm, to the dini... More

The brief was for a harmonious design respecting the period of the existing property. Lush green on green plantings of varying height, form, tones, and textures were incorporated, bringing balance to the seasonally intriguing garden. ERIC HOLT PHOTOGRAPHY ERIC HOLT PHOTOGRAPHY ERIC HOLT PHOTOGRAPHY ERIC HOLT PHOTOGRAPHY ERIC HOLT PHOTOGRAPHY More

This project is the new headquarters for Australia’s largest youth circus organisation. The project reflects the more pragmatic and industrial aesthetic of contemporary Australian circus, which rejects the artifice and costuming of traditional circus. Christopher Frederick Jones Christopher Frederick Jones The building becomes an adaptable, adjustable circus apparatus which performers scale, climb, and swing from. It is a low-cost project that can be easily disassembled and relocated, throughout its life, like a modular circus tent. The scheme uses twenty-eight shipping containers stacked four storeys high like large bricks to form an external perimeter wall around the 12m high practice and performance spaces. Christoph... More

After seeing how we’d refurbished and renewed their friend’s beach shack home at Burrill Lake, on NSW’s South Coast, our clients engaged us to work some similar magic on their ‘unusual’ home at nearby Mollymook Beach. The Palm Co. While the house was set on a flat 680sq m block just one road back from the beach, the existing dwelling had some challenges. Inside, the house was dark, with a compromised, multi-levelled floorplan featuring one and a half bedrooms and no real connection to the generous backyard. Weird would be a polite way of describing the layout. The Palm Co. The late 1970s house had also been given an ill-thought-out internal makeover in the 1990s which was beginning to look tired and... More

The project came about with the development of a large residential block close to the Elwood foreshore and Port Philip Bay. The brief simply requested a spacious apartment product that was cutting edge and contemporary, but subtle both inside and out. The concept of a large apartment resulted in six single level dwellings, each with the proportions of a small house. The apartments are low maintenance, functionally adaptable to appeal to a range of potential residents, and highly sustainable. Externally, rather than go for a standard “stacked wedding cake” form, the building was set back significantly from the adjoining properties on the lower levels. This allowed the main volume of the building to have vertical sides and reduce... More

A double story, 4 bedroom, modern home full of angles and light, this abode was designed to encourage bright & uncluttered spaces – redefining family living. By using clever shapes and restraint there is a sense of calm and comfort that flows from beginning to end.   Set back from the street the distinct roofline rises up over the 3 car, basement car park. Large windows are placed thoughtfully through the house, to make the most of solar gains, ventilation and views out towards the Dandenong ranges from the top floor.   Grand ceilings and generous hallway sizes internally further emphasize space and air circulation. A void and wall of pivoting glass doors at the rear ensures the open plan living, kitchen and dining a... More

This Contemporary home was derived from a need for a functional floor plan and a sympathetic monochromatic façade that blended in with its neighbours. The open plan living zone is the hero of this house and opens its arms to you when you entry the space from the entry foyer. The high-volume space creates a light filled warm and happy place where you can sit and have a coffee or relax on the couch. A light colour palette was used as well as natural timbers to create warmth and attraction. More

This contemporary new residence in located in ACT, Australia and was an idea that generated from creating a unique home amongst a new suburb where the majority of houses looked generic and lacked personality. More

‘To collect is to gather your thoughts through things…I think there is always something of a contest between art and life.…’ Patrick Pound   The client, an artist and Leonard Joel enthusiast - a collector of all things astonishing and strange - had recently purchased the property, down-sizing after finally releasing the shackles on her two adult sons, she wanted to fully renovate the place before making it home.   The existing single storey, semi-detached Edwardian house is located in the leafy inner-bayside suburb of Elwood and adjoins a property directly to the north and Dante’s Lane to the south. The house was last renovated in the early 90s and had a dated kitchen and bathrooms in poor condi... More

A spectacular coastal site called for a complementary beach house to integrate with the landscape and take advantage of ocean, light and views: striking the perfect balance between prospect and refuge. Located on Central Queensland's 'Discovery Coast', Springs Beach House harnesses the incredible views of the Coral Sea and across the cresting waves towards the headland at Seventeen Seventy, the site where Captain James Cook first landed in Queensland in 1770. The site is a bushy escarpment, falling dramatically towards the beach and view to the north.The single-storey beach house nestles carefully into the site, paying reverence to the stunning natural landscape, rather than dominating. A sunken grassed courtyard, screened by low walls... More

Nestled in a diverse neighbourhood pocket in Albert Park, the original building was a dilapidated double-fronted Victorian house book-ended by a double-storey terrace house on its south side. The house is located on a corner allotment that is pinched in by the main street and a laneway which gives it its irregular, triangular "pizza" shape that tapers towards the rear. As a heritage listed building, it was imperative to rescue the front of house which was in a severe state of disrepair. The homeowner and his family of 4 presented us a brief that started off with the basic functional premise of maintaining a 3-bedroom house at the very minimum, and making use of the neighbour's double-height boundary wall to introduce a second storey vo... More