ARCHITECTURE AND BUILDING BY HUMPHREY HOMES
Block size: 280 SQM
Duration of Building Contract: 15 months
Actual Build Time: 12 months
As a compact home of 260m2, this Cottesloe residence belies its small footprint, providing a spacious and light-filled home. Following the dicta ‘form follows function’, the client’s design brief called for a simple and unpretentious architectural aesthetic using strong honest forms free of embellishment. The resulting 2-storey home draws on a rich material palette inspired by the clients love of warm, raw materials and textures, complementing the home’s refined geometric forms.
Sited on a narrow block, the home cantilevers to capture Northern light laterally and vertically through stairwells and cleverly positioned glazing. An internal courtyard invites South-Westerly breezes to allow natural ventilation, while maximizing indoor/outdoor living. An operable, remote-controlled Vergola at the rear has been recycled from the original home, enabling the clients to control the entry of Northern light into the open plan kitchen and dining area.
The home’s striking second storey is clad in solid, dark-stained Western Red Cedar. A Remote-controlled privacy screen to the Master Bedroom window and front elevation enable privacy and light control. The stained Cedar finish and refined form of the screen is seamlessly integrated with the surrounding cladding. The carport posts and beams, fencing and gates are constructed from exposed galvanised steel, contributing a raw, industrial quality to the architecture.
A continuation of these textural qualities is present in the interior, which incorporates a ‘Rottnest-style’ render to the walls and a striking, timber-clad wall and bulkhead. The kitchen’s textural, plywood cabinets offer a robust, industrial aesthetic, enhanced by the burnished silver tones of the tiled splashback. The living area is anchored by a pot belly fireplace featuring a perforated metal flume in the upper floor Study, adding visual interest while effectively heating the home. The Master bedroom offers an elevated escape and includes a generous Ensuite and robe.
The Perth Street Residence reflects the grit and grain of materials that the clients longed for, while the spatial layout offers the appeal of a down-sized living arrangement. With a casual ambience and an intuitive layout, the home provides an inviting nest in which to dwell.
COMMENTS FROM HUMPHREY HOMES’ ARCHITECT, HELEN MARCHESANI:
“To meet the brief the home has been designed to be raw in nature with textural finishes. The client didn’t want to feel closed in by his home, which is on a very narrow block. He wanted to feel that there was air and natural light. The resulting home captures pockets of north light through internal courtyards and glazing. Light penetrates laterally and vertically through stairwells, cleverly positioned glazing and an internal courtyard with south westerly breezes harnessed to allow the house to breathe.
The client wanted strong honest forms with no embellishment, a simple, unpretentious aesthetic. A home that was raw in nature with strong, organic finishes. In the words of famed American architect Louis Sullivan he wanted ‘form to follow function’. He didn’t want a flamboyant home but he wanted a nice, aesthetically pleasing home - and that’s different.
The home was created in line with the brief to have good light, good space, good orientation and not a lot of fuss."
View our Client's testimonial here
View the Architect's notes here
