We have taken many lessons from modernist architecture. The clarity of an interior created using the simple palette of expressed brick, concrete, timber and stone is both minimal and calm, solid and light. Floor-to-ceiling doorways draw the eye up, frameless glass windows continue the view outside, and the balance of all the details slows everything down. There is a freedom in these buildings. The spaces feel as if they are dissolving around you – the texture of soft limestone floors, a floating stair, the contours of a timber-lined ceiling, the framing of a gum tree here or an artwork there. You always remember it. Everything is considered, everything has a purpose. It is controlled and uplifting, and ultimately timeless.
We aim for uninterrupted connections between inside and outside, softly stitching the building into the landscape to blur that transition. On a new site, we look for cues.
A steep landscape provides interesting opportunities – perhaps a low-slung building that will step down, creating single levels that merge with the bush and soaring double-height volumes that connect with the sky. A carefully framed view creates a beautiful moment at the end of a passage.
Technology is always hidden until needed, and this can involve a lot of behind-the-scenes magic. Air ventilation that is subtly set within a marble kicker, or concealed within the carefully detailed edges of a brick fireplace surround, prevents the eye from being jarred by its functional elements. A painting might hide a niche that houses a custom-designed mechanical pulley system – at the press of a button, the artwork gracefully lifts to reveal the television. This level of refinement requires time, close collaboration between multiple trades and meticulous coordination.
When we are designing an addition to a heritage home, the connections between old and new are carefully resolved so that they don’t break the visual flow. Invisible window and door systems, floor-to-ceiling glass, materials that continue through to the outside – these details create the magic. Seamless simplicity is achieved when every material and every carefully articulated detail is there for a reason. When it’s right, you won’t even notice it.