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Thursday, October 3, 2024

Avocado 8 ways

Prized for their creamy-smooth texture, rich taste, and heart-healthy fats, avocados are more popular now than ever.Prized for their creamy-smooth texture, rich taste, and heart-healthy fats, avocados

Raw Chocolate Cinnamon Mousse – The Design Files | Australia's most popular design blog.

This month we are thrilled to welcome an inspiring Melbourne business to join us for Tasty Tuesday. Founded by Pana Barbounis, Pana Chocolate opened its first store in Melbourne in August 2013, and has quickly gathered a cult following for its raw, organic, handmade chocolate and treats!  Everything at Pana is free from dairy, soy, gluten and refined sugar.

Amber Roche is Pana’s head chef, based at the company’s Richmond headquarters.  Her job is to challenge people’s perception of what a raw or vegan dessert can be. She has created four INCREDIBLE raw and vegan dishes to share with us this month, and we’re kicking off with a contemporary take on a classic dessert – chocolate mousse!

A Modernist-Inspired Haven Hidden On The Mornington Peninsula

St Andrews Beach is a seldom mentioned slice of Victoria’s Mornington Pensinsula. Wedged between Cape Schanck and Sorrento, the rugged coastline faces Bass Strait rather than the bayside views favoured by the more popular townships on the opposing side of the coastal strip.

But this sense of undiscovered seclusion right in the heart of Victoria’s most popular beachside destination is exactly what the owners of this modernist-inspired beach house were seeking. It’s the perfect local getaway – and yes, you can stay here!

An Elwood California Bungalow That Draws From Within

creative-peoplearchitectureAn Elwood California Bungalow That Draws From Within

In the words of architect Rob Kennon, Elwood Bungalow is a project that relies on the idea of subtracting space, as much as adding it.

Rather than retain the property’s overshadowed backyard surrounded by neighbours, Rob Kennon Architects saw an opportunity to carve space from this area for the extension around a central courtyard, designed in close collaboration with Eckersley Garden Architecture. This low-lying addition builds square up to all three of the property’s rear boundaries, and subtracts a circle garden out from the middle, creating an inward floor plan that looks onto itself.

‘They were an open-minded client who didn’t come with any preconceived ideas of what they wanted. They just gave us the opportunity to solve this problem that the rear of the block was overshadowed and overlooked,’ says Rob.

The addition’s planning is reminiscent of Roy Grounds’ Hill Street House (circa 1954) in Toorak, which also features a circular, glass-walled courtyard.

‘I remember I visited the Hill Street House early in my studies of architecture, and it sort of always sat with me as a really significant project in the history of Melbourne architecture,’ recalls Rob. ‘The thing that resonated with me there was that it was a singular idea that carried through and solved a problem. It’s such a memorable response.’ 

Rob recognised this project in particular would benefit from a similar arrangement. ‘It was appropriate for this site,’ he says. ‘We didn’t have any opportunities outwards, so we needed to look inwards.’

Internally, the addition contains all communal areas of the home as well as the main bedroom.  The absence of corners bordering these spaces enables an endless fluctuation of views to the courtyard and lighting conditions across the space. Connection to the outdoors permeates daily life, and one’s experience within this space is never without the garden or sky.

This addition doesn’t seek to compete with the home’s original architecture, but rather sit as a materially restrained and formally simplistic backdrop. Weighted materials (masonry walls, concrete floors and ceiling) complement the concrete wall construction of its interwar counterpart, while the textural palette (painted brick, timber joinery, and fine tiles) interprets existing features such as the stucco and decorative timber work into a modern context.

Existing rooms of the house have also been opened up and reconfigured, with original features restored. ‘You still walk in the same door, but you’ve got connections to light, air and green,’ says Rob.

Another inspired collaboration between Rob Kennon Architects and Eckersley Garden Architecture, this is a project that pushes the boundaries of contemporary home design. 

Elwood Bungalow by Rob Kennon Architects is shortlisted in Residential Architecture of The Design Files + Laminex Awards 2021, presented by COLORBOND® steel.

Elwood Bungalow by Rob Kennon is devised around a central courtyard. Photo – Derek Swalwell.


The addition’s planning is reminiscent of Roy Grounds’ Hill Street House (circa 1954) in Toorak, which also features a circular, glass-walled courtyard. Photo – Derek Swalwell.


Rob Kennon worked closesly with Eckersley Garden Architecture to bring this circular internal courtyard vision to life. Photo – Derek Swalwell.


The subtracted circular garden creates an inward floorplan that looks onto itself. Photo – Derek Swalwell.


The absence of corners bordering these spaces enables an endless fluctuation of views to the courtyard and lighting conditions across the space. Photo – Derek Swalwell.


A clever division of space to create a living area within the circular curve. Photo – Derek Swalwell.


Connection to the outside is present in every area of the home. Photo – Derek Swalwell.


A bedroom in the new dwelling. Photo – Derek Swalwell.


The main bedroom. Photo – Derek Swalwell.


An exterior view. Photo – Derek Swalwell.


Looking into the main bedroom from the courtyard. Photo – Derek Swalwell.


This addition doesn’t seek to compete with the home’s original architecture, but rather sit as a materially restrained and formally simplistic backdrop. Photo – Derek Swalwell.

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