123 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy Vic. 3065, Australia
P 61 (0)3 9417 0995
E&W office(at)archarch.com.au



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Newsletter

1690

Arcadia

Notions of home are as much a projection of our dreams and memories as they are the bricks and linen cupboards that anchor them. Tangled in the sheets of inner-urban Melbourne, Arcadia is a fever dream of pastoral histories.

Arcadia

, perpetual blush.
1657

Vivarium

In time this house will be consumed by its gardens. Already the buzz of pollination fills the air: bees, blowies and butterflies. Nestled between three native crops, nature has the jump start.

Vivarium

, turning in, turning out.
1884

Sunday

Sunday is a home for physical and psychological well-being, providing a diversity of spaces where occupants can always find a place of comfort: social spaces and private spaces; generous spaces and intimate spaces; spaces to gather and spaces to retreat.

Sunday

, to gather and retreat.
1623

Park Life

Curious neighbours slow their cars. From between the trees across a vast nature strip, a fence-like shed with a cyclops eye peers back at them. ‘Whose world is this?’ they ask.
Location

Williamstown North

Park Life

, from between the trees.
1670

Silver Lining

If every storm cell has a silver lining, it’s that the girls have tired of sodden socks and finally agreed to join us up here in our fancy new living room. The fridge is here too, which can’t have hurt. From where I’m sitting, I can see the weather overhead through the high window. I can also see across the park to where a young family are stranded on the play equipment. If they could get themselves afloat on one of those bright plastic tubes, I reckon I could chuck a rope over and pull them in.

Silver Lining

, everybody needs an ark.
1716

A Periscope

A periscope, washed-up on the beach. The oceans must be full of them and yet this is quite unexpected: half buried with its ends poking out like a happy seaworm, chatting to its tail. The tides have washed it crystalline; mirrors bend the light to fill its buried chambers. A single sunlit passage, coursing through the sand.

A Periscope

, washed-up on the beach.
1610

Skygarden

Skygarden has its genesis in tessellated ornament, in the colour fields of abstract art, in the hanging gardens of Babylon, and in James Turrell’s immersive installations where sensory deprivations eventually give rise to figments (and pigments) of imagination.

Skygarden

, blossoms in the sky.
1825

Norwood

Upholstered banquettes, window seating and kitchen benches line the living space, freeing-up the centre for a generous island bench and built-in table. Everything feels integrated, fitting together like a three-dimensional jigsaw.

Norwood

, edges and interfaces.
1552

The Summit

A curved wall of glass emulates the roof form, bending inwards to create a side courtyard. With glass and garden on all sides, the house is awash with natural light.
Location

Malvern

The Summit

, grounded and lofty.
1663

The Arbour

On a hot summer’s day, nothing beats the shade of a leafy arbour. With dappled cover and a little breeze, the body finds its comfort. This simple extension provides just that.

The Arbour

, sunlight at play.
1423

Fifty Fifty

Partly inspired by the original 1950s home, partly by the modernist Case Study houses of the same decade. 1950s meets 1950s. About half of each. We’re talking fifty-fifty vision. That’s sharp.
Location

Murrumbeena

Fifty Fifty

, that's sharp.
1413

Dark Horse

The play of tones establishes a subtle field of spaces that expand and contract, creating moments of generosity and intimacy.
Location

Brunswick East

Dark Horse

, a handsome creature.
1229

The Kite

Inside and out, the roof rests like a canopy. Sky and foliage are ever-present. Light filters in from all sides marking the passage of a day, while overhead, triangles beget triangles, folding and multiplying against the sky like barely tethered kites.
Location

Albert Park

The Kite

, barely tethered.
1886

Periwinkle

The common periwinkle (or winkle) is a robust intra-warehouse species within the renovation family, characterised by a mostly neutral shell with rosy flourishes about the inner-ablution.
Location

Fitzroy

Periwinkle

, unique among its genus.
1537

Parasol

Everywhere you look a grove of trees and a shady deck. A deck out the front, a deck out the back and a deck in the middle. Decks for eating, decks for dancing, decks for love stories and daydreaming.

Parasol

, a heartwarming scene.
1524

The Taranaki Rift

The Taranaki Rift is an inner-suburban rupture off the east bank of Brunswick, initiated in the early-Turnbullian, due to the expansion of the Goodman van Dyke cluster.
Location

Brunswick East

The Taranaki Rift

, an inner-suburban rupture.
1876

Terrace #71

How to make a single-fronted terrace house light-filled and liveable? Simply so. Working within the footprint of the existing, rooms have been opened-up and reconfigured, lending them clarity, beauty and purpose.

Terrace #71

, chase the shadows away.
1226

Miller House

From the moment of entry, views shift and redirect between the courtyards, light-wells, decks and gardens. Natural light washes the internal space from all directions, encouraging exploration of the various living areas and retreats.
Location

North Fitzroy

Miller House

, a casual arrangement.
1522

The Skin Job

An assemblage of generous openings, bench seats and a fireplace re-animate an otherwise ordinary red-brick façade.
Location

Hawthorn

The Skin Job

, like tears in rain.
1309

Hip & Gable

A reclining hip casually slouches over the bedroom wing, while an attentive gable stands to attention over the more formal living spaces. Side by side, they are like the ears of a dog, one alert and the other playful, ready for whatever comes next.
Location

Kew East

Hip & Gable

, jaunty gables, casual hips.
1523

Together Apart

Where once they shared a womb, now they share a room; twin girls needing their own space, yet wanting to stay close too.
Location

Hawthorn

Together Apart

, a room for twins.
1824

The Picador

Finding no bull and no audience he begins to dance, lunging and dodging imaginary foes, gripping a lance in each hand.
Location

Kew East

The Picador

, grace and gravity.