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  • Edition Office rearranges The Melburnian Apartment around oak wood volumes

    Towering, pale wood volumes hide the functional elements of this apartment in Melbourne, Australia which has been overhauled by local architecture studio Edition Office.The Melburnian Apartment – which is shortlisted in the apartment interior category of this year’s Dezeen Awards – is set within a residential building in the Southbank neighbourhood, overlooking the city’s arts precinct and royal botanical gardens.
    Prior to Edition Office’s intervention, it had featured several rectilinear rooms that were awkwardly crammed into the apartment’s crescent-shaped floor plan.

    The Melburnian Apartment is arranged around volumes made from oak wood

    The studio was asked by the young couple who own the apartment to create a less restrictive, easy-going layout that was more suited to their often unpredictable social lives.
    After knocking through a majority of the existing plaster-board partition walls, Edition Office decided to tuck away the functional elements of the home inside a trio of full-height storage volumes.

    A kitchen is hidden behind one of the volumes
    “The design response is inherently simple, refined and calming – which restores and creates freedom,” explained the studio.
    “Circulation drifts and flows around the formal partitioning elements, allowing for a space with no doors,” it added. “In this way, the clients move from sleep to morning coffee to home office to showering to washing to working to thinking in a continually evolving and smooth loop.”

    White oak wood lines the outside of the volumes. Photo is by Kim Bridgland of Edition Office
    Each of the rounded volumes are externally lined with oiled white oak wood, while the insides are clad with grey granite tiles – two materials that the studio thought would offset the apartment building’s “textural aloofness”.
    One of the volumes contains a kitchen, which has been minimally finished with handleless timber cupboards. The second volume has been in-built with a sofa upholstered in tan-brown leather and a small desk, which are meant to have the same feel as a study cubicle in a library.

    The inside of the volumes are clad with granite tiles
    The third and final volume has been made to curve around a freestanding desk to form a larger home office. Several steel shelves have been incorporated so that the inhabitants have a place to display their wide array of novels.
    An additional bathroom is also integrated into the back of this volume, which is almost entirely covered with slim white tiles. It also includes a marble-effect vanity cabinet.

    Another one of the volumes curves around a study with steel bookshelves. Photo is by Kim Bridgland of Edition Office
    Edition Office has carefully arranged the volumes to provide shade to living spaces, which were often flooded with sunlight from the floor-to-ceiling window that curves around the apartment’s front elevation.

    Black pavilion filled with glass yams examines colonisation in Australia

    “Their curved forms invite light and shadow to drift and smear around corners, and allow for a home that has too much natural daylight to provide the sanctuary of shadow and the textural delight that comes with it,” added the studio.
    The volumes also block sightlines to the master bedroom in the corner of the apartment, which is simply separated from the rest of the plan by a raw-linen curtain.

    This volume also includes a white-tile bathroom
    Edition Office was established in 2016 and is led by Kim Bridgland and Aaron Roberts. The studio was named as emerging architect of the year in the 2019 Dezeen Awards.
    In this year’s awards, its Melburnian Apartment will compete against projects such as La Nave by Nomos, a flat in Madrid that occupies an abandoned workshop, and Jaffa House 4 by Pitsou Kedem Architects, an apartment that’s set inside a 300-year-old brick building in Tel Aviv.
    Photography is by Ben Hosking unless stated otherwise.

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  • Adytum Library in Canberra is arranged around a single book-lined counter

    A chunky, wedge-shaped island crafted from plaster and beeswax anchors the sparse interior of this pop-up library, shop and exhibition space that design studio Pattern has created in Canberra.The temporary library is situated in the trendy suburb of Braddon and belongs to new Australian wellness brand Adytum, which produces eco-conscious self-care products such as teas, face oils and bath soaks.

    Adytum Library is anchored by a huge island
    Although the brand is set to open the doors to its first spa in 2021, it was keen to conceive a slightly different style of wellness space that instead celebrates books and the “intellectual nourishment one receives from the written word”.

    Sydney-based studio Pattern – which is also developing the interiors of Adytum’s spa – was asked to design the library. The brand’s key request was that the pop-up had minimal environmental impact.

    Books and products from Adytum are displayed across the island
    With this in mind, Pattern ditched the idea of overhauling the entire retail unit and instead created just one striking element – a huge wedge-shaped island that sits at the centre of the floor plan, built around two existing structural columns.
    “While we didn’t have a tenancy of cathedral-like proportions to work with, we drew inspiration from the concepts of purity, simplicity, and clarity often found in religious architectural spaces,” Pattern’s co-founder, Lily Goodwin, told Dezeen.

    Incense is burned in the pop-up throughout the day
    The island, which gradually tapers off to a narrow point, has a reclaimed MDF frame that’s been covered with natural plaster and finished with a coating of beeswax.

    Pattern completes understated interiors for Locura bar in Byron Bay

    An array of design, architecture and art titles are displayed across the surface, which can be purchased by visitors or borrowed via Adytum’s membership scheme. The books are softly illuminated by a couple of white table lamps by Danish brand Hay which have been dotted across the island.
    There is also a handful of Adytum’s products, including incense sticks that will be burnt throughout the day.

    Adytum Library also exhibits work by Australian artists
    The outer periphery of Adytum Library is used to display works from Australian artists Traianos Pakioufakis and Alana Wilson.
    Pakioufakis’s expansive photographic prints are draped across bent copper pipes that were found in construction site waste, while Wilson’s collection of ceramic vessels – which have been darkened with metal-oxide glazes – perch on rough plinths that the studio salvaged from a local stonemason.

    Artworks are displayed on stone plinths or copper pipes
    Pattern was established in 2016 by Lily Goodwin and Josh Cain. Previous projects by the studio include Locura, a cocktail and small-plates bar in Byron Bay that’s meant to evoke the “raw beauty” of late-night eateries in Mexico.
    It also created rose-tinted interiors for The Daily Edited, an accessories shop in Melbourne.
    Photography is by Traianos Pakioufakis.

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  • Ritz & Ghougassian uses bricks and Australian wood inside Melbourne's Prior cafe

    The rustic materiality of this Melbourne cafe designed by architecture studio Ritz & Ghougassian is meant to reflect the fuss-free dishes on the menu.Prior is situated along the lively high street of Melbourne’s Thornbury suburb, taking over a building that once served as an industrial printing house.

    Prior cafe occupies a building that was once a printing house
    When Ritz & Ghougassian were brought on board to develop the interiors of the cafe, it stripped back any decorative elements left behind from the old fit-out, only preserving the brick walls and eight-metre-high truss ceiling.

    “It was clear to us that we had to honour the original space by proposing an intervention that sat apart from the original framework of the building,” the studio’s co-founder, Jean-Paul Ghougassian, told Dezeen.

    Bricks cover the cafe’s floor and the base of the service bar
    The space now features just a handful of elements made from unfussy materials that reflect the simple “paddock-to-plate” ethos that Prior applies to its menu.
    Bricks run across the floor and form the base of the service bar that lies on one side of the room.

    Concrete and terrazzo furniture feature in Ritz&Ghougassian’s minimal cafe interior

    Apricot-hued concrete forms the upper half of the bar and the chunky ledge that runs around its outer side, providing a place for customers to rest beverages or snacks.
    The hot drinks menu is presented on a mirrored panel behind the bar. It stands beside a single shelf that displays a curated selection of wine or bags of coffee which are available to buy.

    Apricot-hued concrete forms the top of the service bar
    “Honest, elegant and refined flavours informed the built environment; by taking a reductive approach to the design both in materiality and form ultimately allowed the food to be the hero,” Ghougassian explained.
    “Rather than simply creating a slick new eatery, there’s a warmth and richness to the space, celebrating the unevenness and rough textures of the walls and floors.”

    Seating throughout the cafe is crafted from Australian Blackbutt wood
    Customers can alternatively dine at the black-steel counters that have been built into the cafe’s front windows or along the seating banquette that runs along the far side of the room, upholstered in chestnut-brown leather.
    The banquette faces onto a row of dining tables which, along with the cafe’s bench-style seats and stools, have been crafted from Australian Blackbutt wood.
    “Like much of our work, using materials that are locally sourced and manufactured is important to us – this brings about an authenticity and specificity to the design that isn’t easily replicated,” added Ghougassian.

    There’s also a brown-leather seating banquette
    At the centre of the floor plan is a box filled with timber logs and a wood burner that the studio hopes will serve as a comforting focal point of the cafe, especially during the chilly winter months.
    Surrounding walls and the ceiling were freshened up with a coat of white paint.

    A wood burner sits at the centre of the cafe
    Ritz & Ghougassian was founded in 2016 by Jean-Paul Ghougassian and Gilad Ritz. Prior isn’t the only cafe that the studio has designed in its home city of Melbourne – back in 2018 it completed Bentwood, which boasts brick-red interiors.
    In 2017, the studio also created Penta, a minimal cafe that features concrete, terrazzo and silver-metal surfaces.
    Photography is by Tom Ross.

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  • Four Pillars Laboratory in Sydney is a “sanctuary” for gin enthusiasts

    Juniper berry-blue furniture sits against blackened walls inside this cosy bar, laboratory and store that design studio YSG has created in Sydney for gin brand Four Pillars. Four Pillars Laboratory occupies a two-storey corner building in Sydney’s buzzing Surry Hills neighbourhood. It was originally built in 1939 as premises for a tea company, but has
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  • Arched precast concrete panels form North Perth House by Nic Brunsdon

    Precast concrete panels punctuated with swooping arches make up this family home in Perth, Australia, designed by architect Nic Brunsdon.Nic Brunsdon squeezed the two-storey house onto a tight plot of land for a family keen to live closer to the city of Perth and all its amenities – even though it meant downsizing from their former property.

    Working with a restricted budget, the architect and his eponymous studio decided to use precast concrete panels as the main building material.

    “By using this commercial construction system as the main conceptual organising principle, the project was able to gain significant budget and time savings, while maintaining legible design integrity and innovation in housing type,” the studio said.

    North Perth House comprises eight precast concrete panels that are arranged in a grid-like formation. The ground floor has a sequence of four panels that run horizontally from east to west.
    “On the ground floor these panels demarcate layers of privacy from the street front back towards the rear of the property, each signifying a threshold leading deeper into the private life of the house,” explained the studio.

    On the first floor are another four panels that have been turned 90 degrees to run perpendicularly from north to south.
    These arches slot neatly into notches that have been made in the concrete panels on the ground floor.

    The concrete panels are punctuated with arches – a shape that one of the clients was particularly fond of as it brought back childhood memories of the arched doorways that appeared in their grandmother’s home.
    Narrow arching doorways connect different living spaces throughout North Perth House. On the ground floor, these arches have been made to sit in line with each other so that there are clear sightlines from the front to the rear of the home.

    The larger arches form windows or striking decor features. For example, one has been filled with bookshelves, while another has been inlaid with warm-hued timber to create a dramatic headboard in the master bedroom.
    Timber is one of the three materials that Nic Brunsdon opted to apply throughout the interior – it has also been used for the cabinetry in the kitchen, staircase balustrades and sideboards.

    Concrete has then been left exposed across the walls and floor, while insulated polycarbonate sheeting has been fitted in some of the windows to diffuse the harsh sunlight.

    Arches puncture floors and walls of Glebe House by Chenchow Little Architects

    Pops of colour in North Perth House are provided by a selection of contemporary artworks.
    “The simplicity of the design belies the complexity of the resulting spaces that are created; spaces that are compressed and dark, high and washed, raw and unfinished, and rich and intimate,” added the studio.

    Nic Brunsdon is based in Perth’s South Freemantle suburb. The architect is longlisted in the hospitality building category of this year’s Dezeen Awards for his project The Tiing – a boutique hotel in Bali that features rugged concrete walls that were cast against bamboo.
    Its 14 guest rooms are each shaped like funnels, directing views towards the jungle on one side and the ocean on the other.
    Photography is by Ben Hosking.

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  • Luigi Rosselli Architects creates wave-like facade for Bondi Bombora house in Sydney

    Turquoise and sea-green tiles wash over the undulating facade of this family home in Sydney, designed by local practice Luigi Rosselli Architects.The Bondi Bombora house is occupied by three generations of a family and their gang of dogs, cats and chickens.

    The swelling ocean waters of nearby Bondi beach informed the design of the three-storey home, which Luigi Rosselli Architects has named after bombora – an indigenous Australian term used to describe a wave which forms over submerged fragments of reef or rock offshore.

    “It’s an homage to that surfers’ haven; to the swell and the waves that have formed a rich intertidal culture for millennia,” said the practice.

    Elements of the home have been made to emulate the shape of a wave, like its undulating front elevation.
    Slim turquoise and sea green-coloured tiles arranged in a herringbone pattern cover the bottom third of the elevation, which the practice hopes will “shimmer in the daylight like the surface of the ocean”.

    Ripple-edged frames made from black steel also surround the windows and doorways.
    Black steel has additionally been used to clad the top third of the house, which the practice likens to an “armoured battleship”.

    Inside Bondi Bombora are a series of airy, light-filled living spaces with high ceilings, which Luigi Rosselli Architects created with the help of interiors studio Alwill.
    The practice had been inspired by the lofty proportions of piano nobiles, or “noble floors” – the first storey of grand Italian palazzos where main reception rooms and bedrooms would be placed.

    One side of the home accommodates an open-plan kitchen with bright white cabinetry. Inhabitants can eat at the marble-topped breakfast island, or around the more formal wooden dining table.
    Where possible, Alwill has incorporated practical features for family living. For example, a sideboard that runs along the rear of the room includes a fold-out desk where the kids can do their homework.

    Luigi Rosselli Architects adds twisting stair to Sydney’s Peppertree Villa

    Expansive glazed panels can be slid back to access the garden, where landscaper Michael Bates has planted an abundance of fruit trees and pollen-friendly plants for the bees the inhabitants keep.

    A double-height void accommodates a small study area and a stairwell that leads up to the Bondi Bombora’s sleeping quarters.
    Cocoon-like pendant lamps made from black and white mesh cascade down the centre.

    The entire back wall of the stairwell has been in-built with a towering bookshelf. More books can be stored in the stepped shelving unit that’s been built to sit alongside the steps.
    A deep-set window on the first-floor landing has also been transformed into a cosy reading nook.

    Luigi Rosselli Architects has been established since 1984 and works out of offices in Sydney’s Surry Hills suburb.
    The practice has designed a number of dwellings around the Australian city. Among them is Peppertree Villa, a 1920s home that features a dramatic spiral staircase and contemporary glass conservatory.
    Photography is by Prue Ruscoe.
    Project credits:
    Architects: Luigi RosselliProject architects: Sean Johnson, Diana YangInterior designers: Alwill InteriorsBuilder: Building With OptionsJoiner: BWO Fitout and InteriorsStructural consultant: Geoff Ninnes Fong and PartnersLandscaper: Bates LandscapeWindows: Evolution Window SystemsMetal roofing/cladding: Traditional Metal Roofing

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  • YSG carries out tactile overhaul of Budge Over Dover house in Sydney

    Terracotta brick, aged brass, and aubergine-hued plaster are just some of the materials that interior design studio YSG has included in its revamp of this house in Sydney.The house – nicknamed Budge Over Dover – is located in Dover Heights, a coastal suburb that lies to the east of Sydney.
    Despite the home’s spacious 825-square-metre floor plan, it previously played host to a rabbit-warren of light-starved rooms and poky corridors.

    Local studio YSG was brought on board to create a more “fluid” sense of space across the ground floor and improve the home’s visual connection to its sizeable garden.

    YSG began by knocking down a majority of existing partition walls to form a sweeping living and dining space.

    Surfaces throughout have been loosely rendered with aubergine or toffee-hued Marmorino plaster, forming a discrete backdrop to the studio’s “interplay of polished and raw finishes”.
    “Settings are embellished by tonal and tactile variations that delineate the neutral zones via swathes of colour and surface patinas,” explained the studio.

    At its rear lies a kitchen that boasts black-stained timber cabinetry. It’s anchored by a chunky prep counter, the base of which is crafted from aged brass while its countertop is made from veiny Black Panther marble.
    In front of the countertop is a row of stools upholstered in fluffy cream wool, and an oversized white lantern dangles overhead.
    “Wall sconces and lamps were selected to consciously pool light in areas and brushed velvet tonal depths as opposed to installing integrated ceiling lights,” added the studio.

    The kitchen directly faces onto a lounge area that has a large fawn-coloured sectional sofa dressed with mismatch patterned cushions.
    A breakfast nook has also been created in the corner, with a seating banquette made bespoke to curve in line with the wall.
    Inhabitants can choose to dine here or at the more formal dining table that’s surrounded by tubular-framed chairs with tan leather seats.

    This entire living space has been elevated to sit on an expansive platform covered with handmade terracotta tiles, bringing it in line with the garden patio.
    YSG purposefully used the same tiles to clad the floor of the patio in attempt to “draw the outside in”.

    The project also saw the studio cut back the size of the pool, which used to butt up against the back door, making space for more outdoor furnishings.

    Amber Road uses dark tones to furnish 1906 apartment in Sydney

    Beyond the brick-lined portion of the ground floor is an additional seating area that features the home’s original travertine flooring. Here, a beige sofa perches on a forest-green velvet rug, along with an angular maroon armchair.
    A complementary green-tone painting has also been mounted on the breast of the huge fireplace, which curves out from the wall.

    Upstairs, the studio has continued the rich palette but with “more saturated intensity”.
    The master bedroom has been painted a dark, mossy green shade to draw attention to the impressive ocean views seen from the windows.

    Another bedroom has dusky pink surfaces, brass light fixtures and an opulent natural-stone vanity table.
    Lighter tones are offered in one of the kid’s bedrooms, which has sky-blue walls and whimsical cloud-shaped lamps hanging from the ceiling.

    YSG was established at the beginning of 2020. Prior to this the studio’s founder, Yasmine Saleh Ghoniem, led interior design studio Amber Road alongside her sister, landscape architect Katy Svalbe.
    Previous projects by Amber Road – which has now closed for business – include Polychrome House, a colourful 1960s-era property, and the dark-hued 1906 Apartment – which is owned by the same family who reside in Budge Over Dover.
    Photography is by Prue Ruscoe.

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  • Longhouse by Partners Hill spans 110 metres across Australian bushland

    Architecture practice Partners Hill has designed this lengthy shed-style home in the Australian town of Daylesford, Victoria to incorporate living, cooking and agricultural facilities.Described by Partners Hill as “a study in inclusion”, Longhouse contains a farm, restaurant-cum-cookery school, guest rooms and living quarters for its owners, Ronnen Goren and Trace Streeter.
    The practice worked alongside Goren and Streeter over a period of 10 years to design the multifunctional property.

    “The Longhouse recalls a Palladian tradition of including living, working, storing, making in a single suite rather than referring to the Australian habit of casual dispersal,” said the practice’s founding partner, Timothy Hill.

    “It emphasises how much – or how little – you need for a few people to survive and thrive. A handful of animals, enough water and year-round crops.”

    Nestled amongst a 20-acre plot of land just outside the town of Daylesford, the 110-metre-long building overlooks rolling plains of bushland.
    Goren and Streeter were charmed by the site’s natural vistas but, after several visits, came to realise that the area was subject to extreme weather conditions including strong winds, erratic downpours of rain and snow during the colder months.
    A variety of animals such as kangaroos, wallabies and foxes could also be found roaming the site.

    This “beautiful but hostile” environment is what encouraged Partners Hill to design Longhouse as a huge shed-like structure which would be “big enough and protected enough for the landscape to flourish inside”.
    Translucent panels of glass-reinforced polyester wrap around the exterior of Longhouse, which is punctuated by a series of windows that offer views of the landscape.

    “Smart gel-coated cladding provides different levels of UV and infrared resistance,” explained the practice.
    “Panels with different finishes have also been deployed to optimise solar penetration and shading depending on the orientation of each facade and roof plane.”

    An algorithm was used to design the home’s 1,050-square-metre roof, which has been specifically sized to harvest an optimum amount of rainwater.
    Any water collected is stored in a series of tanks around the site – some of which are concealed by grassy banks – and can be used to service different rooms. It can also be used in the event of a bushfire.

    The main entrance to Longhouse is at the western end of the building, which plays host to a sizeable garage for storing farm machinery and an enclosure for the cows, pigs and fowl.
    A short walkway leads through to the kitchen where cookery workshops are held and meals are rustled up for guests dining at Longhouse. Designed to appear as a “surprisingly lush haven”, the space is bordered by leafy trees and plant beds overspilling with foliage.
    Vine plants also wind down from the ceiling.

    Australian cypress pine has been used to craft a majority of fixtures and furnishings, selected by the practice for its resistance to rot.
    The same timber has been combined with red bricks to form a couple of gabled structures that accommodate cosy eating areas.
    Some elements, like the kitchen hearth, are built from glazed clay tiles.

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    A set of stairs leads up to the guest rooms on the first floor, referred to as The Stableman’s Quarters. One of them features warm orange walls and is centred by an oversized daybed piled high with plump cushions.

    Goren and Streeter’s private living quarters, nicknamed The Lodge, are also located on Longhouse’s first floor. Surfaces throughout have been painted a pale shade of blue.
    “Even in the depths of cold, grey winters – there is an uplifting sense of blue skies and long sunsets every day,” added the practice.
    In a nod to the owners’ passion for 19th and 20th-century interiors, the practice has also included a handful of decor elements that “recall the manors of a bygone era” such as clawfoot bathtubs and ornate ceiling roses.

    Partners Hill is led by Timothy Hill, Simon Swain and Domenic Mesiti. Previous projects by the practice include a wooden pavilion for skincare brand Aesop – the structure was specially created for a Tasmanian music festival and was shrouded by shrubbery.
    Photography is by Rory Gardiner.
    Project credits:
    Architecture, interior design and landscaping: Partners HillCladding fabricator: Ampelite

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