On the subject of lighting – Antony along with Dave Anderson and David Poulton has been active at the IES to promote a new design award for Daylighting Design in Architecture. And the practice is about to submit an exhibition entry in this year’s “Light in Winter Festival” for “Light Shed” which is being curated by Electrolight. Our entry which we will publish shortly will be all about daylight and recycling the light pollution of the city. Our gum leaf structure will be constructed from cool room panel and stainless steel which we have grown to love from the work we have been doing at Matilda Bay Brewery.

tags: daylight, lighting, media

Great images from Pecha Kucha VOL 17 “What is Light?” – taken by one very talented Neo Feliciano!

I was privileged to be part of organising the event with Dave Anderson and Michelle James. I am not sure I will give my day job and become an event manager – but it was great fun and there was a great spirit – not to mention some fantastic work by some incredibly talented people.

The best quote for me was by Steve Wright who said “What is Light? Light is ambience!”.

Check out all the photos here. Paul Beal has also written a brief piece on the Electrolight website.

Antony

tags: community, lighting, media

Before our meditation platform project in Northcote is even complete it has already been featured in The Age. The article by Jenny Brown discusses the merits of long-term investment in quality space.

tags: media, refurbishment, residential, small

The aim with this house on a corner block in East Ivanhoe was to create a harmony between contemporary style and the post-war tradition that typifies much of Ivanhoe. The use of outdoor space and landscaping was very important – the articulation of timber details responds to the established vegetation, which was preserved through construction.

Click to read Kerrie O’Brien’s review in The Age or check out the project page here

tags: garden, media, new house, residential, tradition

“An inner-city warehouse in Melbourne, Australia, has been transformed within into a modest but impressive residence where light, space, and function are the core of its striking design. As well as meeting the client’s demand for contemporary and comfortable living.

Old charm and contemporary design sensitively unite in an outstanding sustainable refurbishment.”

Read the rest of Catherine Oelrichs’ review of our Collingwood Warehouse project here or check out Peter Sackett’s review in Houses

tags: adaptive reuse, media, re-use, residential, timber

In re-organising the main internal layout of this three-storey apartment, we took great care to consider the overall quality, functionality and comfort of each space. Bold colours were used in the stairwell – a playful space that energises the apartment and takes on different characters during the day due to the changing light from above.

Read Lucinda Strahan’s review in The Age here

tags: apartment, media, refurbishment, residential

“Armed with a love of Baroque, Renaissance, Robin Boyd, Shinohara, Scarpa and Dolce+Gabbana he [Antony] decided it was time to do something. He opened a practice with a vision – to bring Melburnians out of their neatly partitioned suburban existence to discover the gentle undulating landscape of their surroundings.”

Di Mase Architects recently featured at the RAIA Past Present Future exhibition. Check out the catalogue here

tags: architecture, media, melbourne

This project is a new house for a family with 5 young children and large home office. The project is unusual in that the client is also the builder who has built much of our work over the past 5 years. The site is a large block in a semi-rural location with beautiful views to the bay and city beyond. The site is sloping and the northern aspect is to the front of the block towards the street. The view, orientation and the sloping site meant that the design approach inverted the traditional sequence of spaces of front door, house and backyard.

Check out the review in Home

tags: family, media, new house, residential, space

This project was a refurbishment to an existing Federation style house in St Kilda. The aim was to provide additional accommodation for a 3rd child as well create a new bathroom, ensuite, kitchen, laundry + car parking facilities. The project reinstated the character of the original house that had been substantially altered when the house was being used as a boarding house . The situation was made more difficult by developers who sub-divided the rear section of the property to build apartments about 10 years ago. The design approach installed modern elements into the existing rooms and spaces. These elements complimented the look + feel of the original house to give the entire dwelling a new lease of life.

Check out the review in Home Beautiful

tags: colour, federation, media, refurbishment, residential

This renovation to an existing worker’s cottage in North Fitzroy was one of the first commissions to be completed by the office. There were many challenging features to this site – for instance the site was very long + very thin (42mlong x 4.5mwide), the site is flanked by a laneway, and roughly in the centre of the site there was a boundary trap that we could not build over. Two courtyards created distinct breaks in the long laneway facade. They separate old from new as well as allow light and views to the interior of the house. The interior focus was on the careful connection of the new spaces to the existing. The dining room, living room and bedroom were treated as distinct rooms (rather than open plan) and are of similar proportions to the existing rooms of the cottage.

Check out the reviews from House & Garden and Architectural Review or see the project page here

tags: extension, media, residential, terrace

This project was a renovation to an existing worker’s cottage. The client has lived at this location for about 20 years and has developed a strong sense of community and connection to the local area. For this reason the client had decided to renovate this tiny cottage rather than sell and move away from the area she had grown to love.

The site was very small – only 4.1m wide x 24m – or about 90 square metres and the condition of the original dwelling required considerable work. Due to the proximity of neighbours + the various local council issues, such as heritage and rescode standards, we needed to consult widely to gain support for the project. Contrary to many experiences with town planning the neighbours supported this project.

Click to read the review in Houses Magazine

tags: extension, media, residential, small, stairs

The building takes its lead from the original amenities building – a corrugated metal building with a curved roof and louvre windows that was built by the local council. The pavilion extends the curved roof towards the bocce rinks and beyond the line of the building, becoming a covered area (or ‘la verandah’) to view the game. Beneath the curved roof is the main space of the pavilion – with a curved ceiling painted sky blue and generous proportions, this light-filled space is the ‘room’ the club members had dreamed of.

The bocce pavilion is a small public community room. Domestic in scale, it resembles a large living room in a house. It is an uncomplicated space and whilst the room is principally for the bocce club it has been used for many activities, including lessons in sitar playing, photography exhibitions and family gatherings. It provides an interesting model that could be easily applied to many situations and locations – it is a low cost building that does not seek to prescribe a particular use. In doing so it fulfils a multitude of needs in the community that could not be imagined at the start of a simple project.

tags: affordable, community, media, recreation, small