Modernist

Moat’s Corner draws on an inspired vision and a commitment to an established setting. Refined to a point of tranquil precision, forming an interactive haven, with which to experience the life and energy that surrounds it. Jack Lovel The site’s layered history began with a pioneering family, after whom Moat’s Corner was named. A gnarled cypress lined driveway is a historic cue to the first settlers on this rural property within the coastal town on Melbourne’s Mornington Peninsula. Next came almost 70 years of a gardener’s cultivating and collecting, resulting in a rambling and diverse array of flora across 5 acres of the 53 acre stretch.  A new phase now and the owners’ commitment to create a ho... More

An award-winning addition to a modernist home in Sumner, Christchurch, originally designed in 1965 by Austrian architect, Ernst Killnan. Commanding spectacular views over the Pacific Ocean and Christchurch city, the house had previously been used only for holidays. The brief was to convert it into a comfortable and contemporary, permanent home. The project encountered hurdles along the way, not least the two Christchurch earthquakes, but the challenges, coupled with a close and trusting client relationship only enriched the outcome.A careful balance was found between retaining the integrity of the original design, and many of its key features, while fulfilling the needs of our clients for a dream home to retire to.Awards: NZIA Local Award 2... More

On a hill site, looking to the ocean and Southern Alps, once stood HMOA Director Duval O’Neill and wife Bridget's home, designed in the 1950s by architect Don Cowey. Following damage from the Christchurch earthquakes, this modest house was demolished and in its place, and to a similar layout, is a brand new three-bedroom home.At the heart of the design was the desire to keep the essence of Cowey’s house, while adapting it for contemporary living. Adding just 36 metres to the 148 sq metre plan original floor plan, the biggest shift in planning was to develop the basement into a master bedroom and ensuite with a second living area, and to connect the upper level of the house with the garden via a new timber bridge. The upstairs... More

McIntosh Poris Associates’ design for DuCharme Place—a new, ground-up, 185-unit luxury apartment community in Detroit’s historic Lafayette Park—is the area’s first lifestyle community in 40 years. The $45-million complex comprises four mid-rise buildings, with residences standing three stories tall above a parking/lobby podium base, totaling 188,500 square feet. It is one of many ground-up residential projects designed by McIntosh Poris Associates throughout the area. “We’ve been working on designing multi-family housing developments in Lafayette Park for nearly 15 years,” explained Michael Poris, AIA, Principal of McIntosh Poris Associates. “DuCharme Place builds upon the vision of the park’s original development team by creating a co... More

Designed to house a young couple and their two kids, Ribeirão Preto Residence is a modern and fully nature-connected haven, located in São Paulo’s countryside city of Ribeirão Preto. Perkins+Will’s studio in São Paulo took the challenge of building a one-story house –as requested by the clients – on an accentuated sloped terrain. The architects divided the program in two volumes, placing them in an L-shaped layout. The first block holds the main entrance and is destined to the social areas.Placed in the highest portion of the terrain, the first volume forms a sort of shield to the second one – designated to the private uses and located at the lot’s lower section – creating an even more private ambiance. The block’s distribution also al... More

                                                                                             justificationProceeding from the assignment: to develop a modern building of the Palace of Youth, for the city of Turkestan and without disturbing the centuries-old historical environment, I propos... More

Vibe’s latest residence, Hayes Road began with a simple, universal brief. A young family needed a home that would facilitate a modern and open way of living, yet also cater for and conceal the ‘stuff’ that family life generates. Vibe’s response is a machine for organising space - for conjuring space where it ought not exist.A ruthlessly efficient design scheme and a beautiful contemporary home in-one.One example of the design at work is found in the main living space. Kitchen, dining and family ‘rooms’ sit within one open-plan expanse. Along one wall Vibe plays a trick with scale. What appears as one vast plane of walnut veneer, opens out to conceal a plethora of storage, a powder room, laundry and butler’s pantry. A great many things conce... More

One Shearwater Drive, sits comfortably into it’s coastal lookout in Mt Martha on Melbourne’s Mornington Peninsula. An elemental palette of materials and finishes that will weather well provides a stylish and hardy skin to the luxury within. On approach, the house hunkers down into its surrounds, ably aided by Vibe’s landscaping of the site. Visitors are greeted by a totemic rectangular form clad in black Alucobond. It has function as a garage, but could just as easily be an abstract sculpture, a geometric outcrop on the coastal terrain. This welcome is indicative of a deliberately ambiguous, understated entry.As you proceed, you pass a work sculpted in steel by Australian artist Russell Petherbridge. Onward, and in through an... More

Dpai was asked to renovate an existing reading space and respond to the current demands and expectations of faculty and students, while reflecting the changing layout of learning spaces. A central curvilinear partial-height partition was proposed to provide three meeting rooms for small to medium study groups and video conferences, while retaining light and vision through the space with generous glazed panels. Access to natural light is a precious commodity in the modernist tower and priority was given to the open-study and small collaborative study groupings. The previously non-descript study room, a bonus space created as the physical volumes of the library, decreased and stacks were removed. It was given texture and a layer of new materi... More

Located in the historic Boyd designed Domain Park Flats, this apartment offered near pristine preservation of the 1959 original design. Setting out to create a more current and contemporary feel whilst protecting the modernist features of the original design, we look to an open plan design in order to optimise natural light and the view of the neighbouring Botanic Gardens.Working from the foundations of the modernist Boyd designed framework, this elegant apartment uses the generous natural light to create an open and welcoming interior. Stained oak timber joinery and plush carpets complement these natural highlights to create a sense of luxe retreat in the heart of the city. With a concealed bar and balcony with vista views, the open plan l... More

Jimi House is the remodelling of a Victorian terraced house in London’s East End and home to a gallery director and her family. The three-bedroom house is located in close proximity to Victoria Park on a residential road adjacent to the Regent’s Canal. The refurbishment opens up the property, bringing in natural light and providing clear sight lines for the display of the couple’s art collection, as well as opening up the house to the garden. The renovation takes advantage of the generous spaces, stripping back unnecessary detailing to create spacious rooms for a growing family and an expanding contemporary art collection. A conservatory building to the rear of the property has been removed and additional space has been created in a s... More