This modern family home in Melbourne, Australia, was the result of a collaboration between three different types of practitioner: horticulturist, cabinet maker and architectural designer Ben Callery. The owners’ intentions, who were also the horticulturalists involved in the design of the home, was to create a modern home that would accentuate light and open space.
The sloped roof is the most effective in achieving this goal. Sharply angled upwards to face the sky, the roof allows immense volumes of light and sun to pass unadulterated into the open plan living space. Further enabling this is an elongated rectangular window set just below the roof, stretching the full length of the building.
Besides these features, the building’s exterior is largely defined by its black wooden clad walls. The sizeable rectangular windows and white painted frames are set in stark contrast against the black wooden walls, adding to its overall unique, cubic-like character.
The underside of the sloping roof is clad with pale pinewood panels, visible on both the inside and exterior of the building. Secured to the ceiling in large neatly arranged rectangular panels, it creates an ordered and pleasing effect, and simultaneously — thanks to its pale tone — adds to the light and airy atmosphere of the home.
This pinewood material continues to feature heavily throughout the interior, too. Thanks to the involvement of the cabinet maker, Cantilever Interiors, the kitchen and living areas are well fitted with elegantly designed storage units, cupboards and surfaces, all of which are more or less constructed with the same smooth pine.
For a country with temperatures like Australia, this modern home needs to be well adapted to its climate. Cooling features have been integrated into the building to reduce heat levels, such as the elegantly designed modern blade fans hanging low over the kitchen area, and a varnished concrete floor, both a practical and aesthetically pleasing addition.
Given Australia’s heat intensity and daily exposure to the sun, it makes total sense that the owners and collaborators of this building chose to design a building that is so well tuned with the light.
Photos via Tatjana Plitt
