SURFACE DEEP
Rugged raw finishes deliver a low-maintenance interior with a carefree edge that is tailor-made for a family’s escape from the big smoke.
Landscaped by Jim Fogarty, the native garden includes coastal and silver banksias that frame the entry to the main living, kitchen and dining space, with native sarsparilla and ‘White Anzac’ bottlebrush at the lower level. ‘Ellis’ curved bench and ‘Anchor’ side table, both from Grazia&Co. Anston circular concrete pavers. ‘Valley’ sofa from Jardan. Artek Armchair 41 ‘Paimio’ armchairs by Alvar Aalto from Anibou. Bernabeifreeman ‘Spring’ rug from Designer Rugs. Rotations and Undulations #1, #4, #8, #13, #17 and by Sean Meilak from Niagara Galleries. GB Masonry honed blocks in Porcelain from Brickworks. In-situ polished concrete oor. Victorian ash windows by Feature Doors & Windows.
Any new build shortlisted for an architectural award in 2021 has, arguably, satis ed the most demanding criteria in many years, given how buildings have had to adapt in the COVID era and be far more than a roof over a family’s heads. Melbourne’s Architects EAT, and its co-director Albert Mo, certainly achieved that with this new build at Flinders on the Mornington Peninsula, which has been nominated in the category of Residential Architecture – Houses (New) at the 2021 Victorian Architecture Awards. What was the client’s brief? I’ve known the clients for a while and have designed commercial projects for them, as well as a house in Melbourne. Perhaps because this is their second home with me, they gave me more latitude to experiment. The brief was very simple – a holiday house where they could escape the city; a house that felt like a home yet was different to their primary home. They wanted somewhere they could invite their friends and family, a house to love nature in and where their children could grow up. Also, there were to be no marble benchtops! It was supposed to be rugged, carefree and very low-maintenance. What were the challenges of the site and how did you resolve them? All I could picture at the start was the amazing clifftop location with views to the ocean. That’s what every architect dreams of – then reality hit. The site is located inland, within the village, and is very, very at, on a corner block with a single row of mature poplar trees along an unsealed side road, which leads to the back beach. The existing house was structurally unsound and hadn’t been occupied for a long while. In my rst visit to the site, what struck me was there wasn’t a consistent character in the area. There wasn’t any particular structure or feature, or house numbers to tell you where you were. So I set myself an »