Modern House at Big Hill
House at Big Hill by Kerstin Thompson Architects, near Victoria's Great Ocean Road, is characterised by a strong, triangular form and a restrained, honest material palette. Semi-recessed into the site, the home opens up to take advantage of the surrounding coastal and bush views. I love the simplicity of the smooth natural grey concrete block walls and concrete floor, with the subtle warmth of the plywood accents for storage and partitions. The black ceilings allow them to disappear and push the viewer through the walled space to the spectacular views beyond. Although definitely robust in form, this form creates intimate spaces where light and shadow, cool and warm, smooth and textured complement rather than compete.
{The dark roof form helps blend the house into the bush landscape}
{Contrasting smooth cool concrete floors and natural grey block walls with warm continuous blackbutt plywood Armourpanel surfaces by Big River} 
{Dark picture frame windows are recessed to create deep plywood window seats for soaking up the surrounds}
{Bedroom with Armourpanel plywood storage doubling as deep window seat}
{Open kitchen kept simple with concrete and dark timbers}
{Space furniture in this living space retains the view as the hero}
{Opening to the bush beyond}
{Insitu concrete step doubles as seat and storage}
{Custom plywood joinery doubles as seating and storage, minimising need for additional furniture}
{Smooth concrete floors flow to outdoor spaces}
{Robust form to lower terrain}
Images courtesy of Kerstin Thompson Architects and photographed by Trevor Mein.
xo Romona
Local Heroes: Bellevue Terrace by Philip Stejskal Architecture
{Loving those brick steps taking their time meandering up to the new level}
{Open-wide. Come inside}
{Who doesn't want a naked room like this, kept simple with a burgundy Persian and two chatting Eames birds}
{Open to reveal the internal glow}
{Closed to weather, allowing privacy and comfort as required}
{Filtered light and screened privacy without feeling boxed in}
{Open room with custom in-built joinery for storage and seating}
{Exploded axonometric of addition}
All images are from Philip Stejskal Architecture with Photography by Bo Wong.
Share your thoughts? Can you picture living in a space like this?
xo Romona
Local Heroes: Florence Street by KADA
I love how the home has fun elements scattered throughout, in the form of bright sunny pops of colour or embossed brickwork space-invaders. How could you not be happy in this house?
For more information on the Florence St project visit Klopper & Davis Architects.
xo Romona
Bricks and Blocks
I have been assessing the Perth mantra of 'brick is best' and am finding that I am actually coming around to the idea. Sure, I'm not really in love with the double-brick and tile hot box that plagues most suburbs of Perth, but channelling a bit of Iwan Iwanoff can never hurt. Here are a few projects that I am in love with at the moment, that showcase bricks and blocks in all their glory.
{Get your geek on with these supercool Space invaders in the Florence St House by Klopper & Davis Architects, in West Perth, Australia}