Far from the garden-variety design

A DESIGNER home is turning heads in Broadbeach Waters, with the unusual landscaping attracting as much attention as the house itself.

A rooftop garden spills over the edge of the new-build home at 140 Rio Vista Boulevard, while grass pads dot the dirt around circular stepping stones leading to the front door.

Kurt and Scott Reid, of John Reid Real Estate Broadbeach Waters, are marketing the eye-catching property with a price of $2.395 million.

Up-and-coming Mermaid

Beach practice Studio Warehouse is responsible for the design and worked closely with owner-builder Logan Pihl of Gold Class Homes to achieve the finished product.

Studio Warehouse director and founder Rory Spence said his team wanted to create a design that was sympathetic to the local environment.

“In a lot of developments, the landscaping is the first thing to go but we were all keen to incorporate the landscaping into the design,” he said. “The green roof gives it that overgrown tropical feel as opposed to being a building with grass around it. Creating a feature entrance with the grass and the circular pavers was really important.”

A contemporary Queensland palette has been applied throughout the home, with materials chosen to keep the feel “light and bright”.

“The site is angled so we really wanted to accentuate the angles throughout the design and try to incorporate as much green space and light by using double-high voids and screens to let light through into the entry of the design,” he said.

“As much as we angled and tapered it, it’s really quite spacious inside. At the rear, we wanted to capture the vistas over the canal and out to Surfers Paradise.”

Studio Warehouse has left its mark on a string of exciting design projects in Mermaid Beach, including 8 Albatross Ave, where a blue fibro beach shack made way for a fourlevel townhouse, and 45 Petrel Ave, where an original twobedroom house was replaced with a duplex development.

“With our designs, we try to push it outside of what is perceived as standard around the area,” Mr Spence said.

“We’re doing work all over the country and overseas at the moment, but we love working on local projects.”