Armadale House by Neeson Murcutt Neille.
A bright yellow sunken lounge and an apartment inspired by Parliament train station have helped Victoria dominate a national architectural awards program.
A neglected 1970s Brunswick house turned into a sustainable paradise and a farmhouse in coastal Merricks named the Australian House of the Year were also among the six Victorian properties to claim one of the Houses Awards top honours this year.
House Awards judge and former champion, who took home last year’s Australian House of the Year Award, Melissa Bright said the results showed the nation’s best architects were being lured to work here.
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“It says something more about the types of clients that are here in Victoria, that there’s a desire for the best architects in the country to contribute to their homes,” Ms Bright said.
“From their tiny little urban renovation that’s so inventive, to the really pretty significant house in the country.”
Sprawling grounds of the Merricks farmhouse.
The director of the Melbourne-based architecture practice, Studio Bright, added that a couple of the winners were interstate practices designing homes in Victoria, including the year’s biggest winner.
“The Nielsen Jenkins house, they (were) Queensland architects working here in a Victorian context and same with the Neeson Murcott project, a fantastic Sydney practice doing work here in suburban Melbourne,” she said.
“There’s actually a pretty diverse group of architects from across Australia delivering projects that just happen to be located here.”
Letting the outside, in.
Views of Port Bay and Phillip Island from the outdoor entertainment area.
The Australian House of the Year was designed by architect Michael Lumby with Nielsen Jenkins and built with the harsh coastal climate in mind.
Overlooking Western Port Bay and Phillip Island, the farmhouse offers views from all corners of its 50 acres.
Mr Lumby’s clients said the design of their single-story house had transformed their lives and was an absolute joy to live and work in every day.
“Its connection to the landscape, its simplicity and strength of design, its comfort and scale, makes it a home that far exceeds our expectations for it,” they said.
As the farmhouse is only home to two permanent residents, three quarters of the home can be shut down and opened up to fit when their four children and respective families visit on holidays by closing off guest rooms, the gym, and home office from the front wing.
Sunken lounge across from the large fireplace.
Three quarters of the house can be closed off for extra cosiness.
Merricks Farmhouse was also jointly awarded the New House Over 200 Square Metres category, tied with the Shiplap House in Vaucluse, Sydney by Chenchow Little Architects.
Sunday by Architecture architecture took home the House Alternation and Addition Under 200 Square Metres award.
Spanning just 175sq m, the designers wanted to establish three main themes; communal, outdoor and private.
Architecture Architecture’s clients said since the build, they were able to live in their whole house now, both inside and out.
Sunken, yellow lounge area in Sunday by Architecture architecture.
Sunken bright yellow bathtub.
“Before, there were whole rooms of the house we barely entered,” they said.
“Now, the house feels like a single continuous space, every corner of which has both purpose and beauty.
“We gave the team at ‘Aa’ a handful of loose bits of inspo (inspiration) and disconnected thoughts, and they have made something that feels so specific to us that it’s like we dreamt it into existence.”
Warm, wooden kitchen.
Indoor courtyard leading to the kitchen and meals area.
The sunken lounge and bathtub, both in bright yellow, are quirky standouts of the home, as well as the main bedroom which is accessed via an open-air courtyard, bringing the outside in.
A grand Victorian home, Armadale House designed by Neeson Murcutt Neille, was allotted the award for House Alteration and Addition Over 200 Square Metres.
The design team said they wanted to work with the original fittings like the thick walls, high skirtings and soaring ceiling heights.
The classic, Victorian facade of Armadale House by Neeson Murcutt Neille.
Reworked rear living and kitchen spaces.
“Gracious, comfortable and performative, the project uses and elevates every part, every moment of the site, perimeter walls, gardens, existing building and new additions,” they said.
“Generous side setbacks, previously under-utilised, are incorporated within.”
Sliding doors to the outdoor courtyard.
The design team aimed to work with the original fittings of the home.
The rear of the home was first transformed in the 1990s, but the designers said it was largely disconnected with the front of the estate.
“The plan repositions the kitchen as the social hub of the house, with a pinwheel of indoor and outdoor spaces radiating from it,” they said.
“The alteration locates the main bedroom ensemble on ground level in the original house, allowing ease of living on a single level, in anticipation of a future ageing in place.”
In a bustling, brutalist building from the 70s, a unit called Spring Street by March Studio claimed the award for Apartment or Unit.
Concrete, silver aluminium and brass make up the colour palette for the home, alongside rich Tasmanian Blackwood timber panelling that wraps around the space.
Concrete, silver aluminium, and brass make up the colour palette of the home.
Inspiration was taken from Melbourne’s Parliament station.
March Studio’s design team said as the building aged, they “fastidiously” managed maintenance to help protect the integrity of the original vision.
“With intimate knowledge of the building, the opportunity to restore an apartment back to an imagined former glory was too good to refuse,” they said.
“As one enters the apartment, there is a sense that this space is designed not only for living but for celebrating life.”
The design team wanted the kitchen to be functional and utilitarian.
Light and colour of the exterior is amplified by the ceiling, the designers said.
They added that the finishes and flow of the kitchen had to be functional and utilitarian, as a kitchen should be.
“Inspired by Parliament Station below, designed by McIntyre and Partners in 1974, the ceiling is clad in lightweight aluminium extrusions,” they said.
“The light and colour of the exterior is amplified by the ceiling, providing an infinite sense of space and little need for artificial light, even during the evening.”
Lastly, in the heart of Montmorency, northeast of Melbourne’s CBD, is the Monty Sibbel restoration by Nuud Studio, commended for its environmentalism with the award for Sustainability.
Monty Sibbel by Nuud Studio is located northeast of Melbourne’s CBD in Montmorency.
The 1970s home was neglected for years prior to its restoration.
While modest in size, the home was built restored to stand for decades to come.
The Nuud Studio design team said the 1970s home when first purchased had seen years of neglect and had accumulated layers of paint.
“The brief initially focused on improving the home’s thermal performance and providing rear yard access, and this evolved into more extensive works to the entire home,” the Nuud Studio designers said.
“The design narrative drew on the surrounding bush landscape, the home’s history and its honest materiality.
“A tight budget focused attention to revitalising the internal spaces and improving the homes fluidity, envelope and comfort.”
The surrounding bush landscape, home’s history and materiality determined the designer’s narrative for the home.
Comfort and thermal performance were at the forefront of the design teams’ minds.
They said that the pragmatic goals for Monty Sibbel were to improve both the comfort and thermal performance of the home.
“Significant attention was given to the mostly glazed envelope, and existing cedar frames were reused, restored and fitted with high performance double glazing,” they said.
“Native solid timbers used throughout reflected the client’s values for a sustainable and robust design that ensures longevity for the home and strengthened its honest aesthetic.”
The Houses Awards celebrates the nation’s best residential designs, rewarding architects and designers across nine categories..
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