Architecture News Plus (ANP) – Architecture and Design Magazine

Open House

This is a project by Architects EAT and it is located at Richmond, Melbourne, Australia. Project's program: Alteration and addition to existing single family home. There are nineteen images for Open House.

: © James Coombe

Project details

Project name: Open House
Location: Richmond, Melbourne, Australia
Program: Alteration and addition to existing single family home
Area: Site Area: 300 m2 • Built-Up Area: 180 m2
Year: Completion: 2011
Project by: Architects EAT
Others: Builder: Sargant Construction • Structural Engineer: R. Bliem and Associates • Building Surveyor: Building Strategies • Landscaper: Landshapes (Matt Ford)

Project images

Designer's statement

The internal planning strategies are devoted to the layering of spaces, and orchestrating the sequences in a mise-en-scene like methodology. We have opened up the interior, got rid of the original rabbit warren internal walls, and starting from the dramatic suspended black raw steel staircase as the focal point upon entry (which leads to two children’s bedroom upstairs), the interior then unfolds from the living room, to the kitchen then to the courtyard and dining, then finally to the master bedroom and it’s private courtyard at the end.

The kitchen and dining open toward a north facing courtyard, with double sliding doors that span over five metres, in a Japanese courtyard house like manner, where indoor and outdoor are seamlessly connected. The courtyard is fully decked with spotted gum, and it is decisively minimal and low maintenance, with only a single Japanese maple tree as its decoration.

The careful selection of raw and recycled material was based on complementary textures which shape and humanize the space in an innovative and sustainable fashion. We wanted the meticulous balance between scale and playfulness to be symbiotic while allowing the integrity of each material to remain evident in the final result.