When it came time to move back to greater Melbourne after living abroad for years, the owners and designers of Architected, a small architecture and interiors studio, were faced with a prohibitively pricey housing market. So it sounds like they lucked out big-time when the owner of a large piece of land in the suburb of Northcote agreed to subdivide her backyard to help pay for her retirement, freeing up a small property that was within their price range. What they built was a simple, colorful two-story house that wraps in an L-shape around a garden. Said garden takes center stage from the combined home and office, thanks to large double-glazed windows, which are framed with Tasmanian Oak reclaimed from demolished houses, the same material used in the floorboards.
Additional footprint-reducing points are due for the bricks, which were also reclaimed, and were originally made by a nearby company. But the real highlight here is the bright splashes of color everywhere. In the kitchen, for example, the light fixtures, the legs of the kitchen island, and the sink all sport the same shade of red, while the yellow framed by the cupboards nicely offsets the grey and black tile backdrop below. More on this stylish Melbourne couple's work can be found here, and Design Milk has the full set of photos.
· A Colorful House That's Built in a Backyard [Design Milk]
· Designer Digs archives [Curbed National]
· All Melbourne coverage [Curbed National]