Fitt De Felice

Sometimes, simplicity is key. Seeking virtue, we aim to adore simple pleasures, lead a simple life, and accept the simple truth. We are often told to follow the KISS principle (keep it simple, stupid). The antithesis of stupid, Einstein believed we should “make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler”. Because sometimes, simplicity is a good thing.

The Pescara Residence is one of those times. Simply put, the clients wanted a pure, uncluttered space, with refined sculptural forms and unaltered natural materials. Armed with a spacious outer suburban block, and with few design or planning constraints to overcome, the client brief was clear: a simple yet sculptural family home, with a restricted palette of natural materials and colours, that would frame and meld with the surrounding natural environment. The functional brief outlined all the main requirements: four bedrooms, a study, a two-car garage and two-car visitor carport, plus generous living and entertaining areas integrating seamlessly with a large courtyard space. Simple.

The straightforward drama of the Residence is epitomised by its central axis, framing a telescopic view through the length of the home and to the 30- metre high pine trees beyond. This corridor is thematically extended into the driveway and further emphasised at the entry point by a thick sandstone blade wall, which also dramatically screens the carport. The hallway becomes a window into the heart of the Pescara Residence: a ‘void’ emphasising the structural ‘matter’ of the home.

The ‘matter’ in this metaphor comes in the form of three rectilinear elements, organised asymmetrically around the bisecting axis, according to their function, space and movement paths. The front white rendered mass represents the garage and carports, while the rear white rendered pavilion contains the main living areas. These two forms intersect the third element: a two-storey cedar-clad cube, which houses the service areas on the ground floor and the bedrooms above. This cube has an outer veil of cedar battens, adding texture and depth to the façade and creating a sheltered ground-floor undercroft. Over time, as the cedar slivers off and the landscape matures, the building will become increasingly entrenched in the site and its surrounding environs.

Rather than drawing on the varied residential development of the area, the Pescara Residence instead reflects the surrounding natural ecosystem. The home itself is chiselled into the sloping site to minimise its scale in the landscape and to create a private sunken courtyard. This protected outdoor area is enclosed by embanked garden beds and accessed seamlessly via the ground floor living zones, which in turn are fully glazed along the western facade. At the upper level, horizontal slot windows provide panoramic vistas across the surrounding tree canopies and beyond to the Dandenong mountain ranges, while also maintaining privacy from neighbouring properties.

Simplicity governed the entire project, bringing with it ecological sustainability and budget economy. Basic block veneer walls and timberframed walls and roof construction made erecting the building skeleton a quick and cost-effective affair, allowing more expenditure on the timber and stone finishes so integral to the homes natural, pared-back aesthetic. The ground floor was designed with a high thermal mass to provide a comfortable, unconditioned living environment all year round. Generous eaves provide shade to the glazed expanse of the living room, and every space in the home is exposed to natural through-ventilation, especially the lightweight upper level of the timber cube, where heat can be quickly evacuated via the large sliding windows on all four sides. Concealed sliding doors and walls are also utilised throughout the home to maintain the open plan aesthetic requirement, while allowing for efficient zoned control of the heating system. Furthermore, 100% of the greywater produced in the home is recycled in an on-site ‘green’ septic treatment plant, and reused as irrigation for the front lawn.

Simplicity and clarity are architectural virtues, and the Pescara Residence is a paragon of both. Simple as that. +

1 Front view of the house, showing the distinctly separate carspace (white) and bedroom/service (cedar) elements. 2 The entryway and hall create a telescopic bisecting axis along the length of the house, extended externally by the sandstone wall. 3 Natural stone and timber surfaces typify the raw aesthetic of the home. 4 Modern styling gives the natural materials a sense of elegance and luxury, despite being as pared-back as possible.

PHOTOGRAPHY by Tony Mille, Archiphoto