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Saturday, November 9, 2024

A Semi-Formal Bayside Garden That Blooms Year-Round

It’s a landscape designer’s dream to be offered a large site and the freedom to create any garden of their choosing.

This very scenario resulted in this Black Rock garden by Andrew Panton Design, which combines overflowing foliage, formal hedging, and tropical beach elements relevant to its bayside Melbourne location. 

Designed with year-round interest firmly in mind, the garden is divided into sections highlighting perennials that bloom throughout the seasons.

A Personal Guide to Venice's Art and Culture

As Head of Art at Leonard Joel auction house, Sophie Ullin is one lucky woman who has the job of frequenting the world’s premier art fairs, exhibitions and biennales. Yet, of all her incredible experiences (we’re feeling the #FOMO!), the city that has captivated her the most, and inspired her own personal guide is… Venice!

After being part of the Australia Council tour group to the City of Canals for the past two decades, earlier this year Sophie decided it was time to release The Venice Book.  For this hardcover, she’s also enlisted an awe-inspiring band of creatives, travel editors, art aficionados and philanthropists to open their own ‘black books and memory banks’ and offer up the best of the city, from fabulous artworks, churches and museums to authentic eateries and artisanal treasure troves. There’s also a solid-gold guide to navigating the Biennale, the ‘Olympics of the art world’, which is on now.

Today, Sophie gives us an insight into her Venice highlights – get your itinerary app ready!

A Colourful, Art-Filled Family Home In Balmain

We’ve been doing everything possible to bring you our usual weekly Wednesday home features on The Design Files this year, but it hasn’t always been easy! With Melbourne’s lockdown restrictions putting a stop to our regular photoshoots for months, we’ve been sourcing new interstate contributors, and even asking a handful of photographers to shoot their own homes! 

Today, we’re dipping into our archives to revisit the renovated Balmain terrace of Sophie Trippe-Smith, entrepreneur Adam Trippe-Smith, their children Emerson and Tatum, and dog Pepper.  We also caught up with Sophie to learn what new art purchases she’s made over the past year, and what’s in store for the near future! 

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A Grecian-Inspired Update For A California Bungalow

creative-peoplearchitectureA Grecian-Inspired Update For A California Bungalow

This 1930s California bungalow in the Brisbane suburb of Toowong was in great condition as a building, it was just too small for the family of four that owned it. They wanted a semi-outdoor living and dining area that could be used in both winter and summer, a second storey that could act as a children’s wing. Finally, they requested some reference to their Greek heritage be woven into the final design. To realise this vision, they engaged architects Alcorn Middleton.

Owing to structural problems encountered in the past, the original building was kept as is, except for minor cosmetic updates and an update for the main bathroom.

The major architectural flourishes were left to the back of the house, where a new rear sequence was required to connect the existing house to the pool area. A concave feature ceiling covers the new indoor-outdoor living and dining area, which sits between the main portion of the residence and the pool. These ceilings work in tandem with the brick archways framing the pool, which can be closed off with 3-metre-tall sliding glass doors.

‘As we were very particular in setting out the brick arches to line up with the bedroom balconies above, we need the frames to the sliding doors to also line up with the centre of each brick column,’ explains architect Chloe Middleton of the careful structural choreography.

Atop this semi-outdoor dining area sits the children’s bedrooms and a shared bathroom, accessed by a large spiral staircase. Full-height louvred windows open out to a view over the pool, with mid-height steel guards protecting the drop.

In addition to their obvious aesthetic affect, the arches and ceiling contribute to the atmospheric drama of the space. The curved tunnel ceilings act like eaves, siphoning light from the rear of the house into the main body. The whole structure is designed to accumulate soft, ambient light, with reflections of rippling water even dancing on the roof.

By night the house really lives up to its project name, Toowong Lighthouse – its periscope-like chimney sticks out like a beacon above the rooftops!

See more projects from Alcorn Middleton here.

The curved feature ceilings and brick arches framing the pool also have added atmospheric effects, drawing light into the semi-outdoor living/dining area to create a soft ambient glow in the main volume of the house. Photo – Jad Sylla.


3-metre glass windows slide across to seal off the house from the outdoors. Photo – Jad Sylla.


This semi-outdoor space connects the updated but original 1930s California bungalow to the pool. Photo – Jad Sylla.


The new kitchen booth extends out from the main house with views to the street. Photo – Jad Sylla.


The new kitchen booth addition extends from the side of the house with views to the street. Photo – Jad Sylla.


The new indoor-outdoor living area contains a fireplace. Photo – Jad Sylla.


The main bedroom ensuite was updated with blues reminiscent of the Cyclades islands. Photo – Jad Sylla.


The exterior of the bungalow remains intact, with the extension just visible to the side. Photo – Jad Sylla.


The periscope-like chimney acts as a beacon among the treetops. Photo – Jad Sylla.


This distinctive chimney column gives the project its name – ‘Toowong Lighthouse’! Photo – Jad Sylla.

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