Open House By Architects Eat

  Architects EAT’s recently completed, and AIA commended, Open House breaks into the rigid interiors of an early eighties inner city dwelling with an infusion of warmth and understated sophistication.

Located in Richmond, Victoria, the original dwelling comprised of tightly enclosed interiors and abundant internal walls, far from the open and welcoming modern house the clients desired.

Yet the beginning of Open House involved less demolishing than could easily be expected. Mindful of the original house’s embodied energy and the existing living room’s northern orientation, EAT decided to retain most of the original building envelope, reducing the cost and energy of both building and designing in the process.

Focusing instead on exploring the materiality and layering of spaces within (and outside) the home, the renovation and alteration touches at the very heart of the clients’ everyday experiences. The home’s minimal, though sensitive, material palette comprises mostly of recycled and FSC approved timber in a selection of finishes heightened by white walls and steel.

The original internal walls separating the kitchen, living and dining rooms were removed to open up the ground level as one continuous and welcoming space. EAT’s emphasis on layering spaces entwines the stairs with the kitchen, the dining with the living and the living with the courtyard before reaching the more enclosed bedrooms.

The layering is achieved through EAT’s composition of volumes and planes which play with the physical properties of the selected materials. To create the sharpness and warmth the clients desired, EAT explored the weight of timber, its absorption of light, texture and response to different finishes.

The vibrancy of smoked and limed timber next to white walls and inky black steel create a rich composition, all the more beautiful as sunlight alters the appearance of the grains and stain on the wood. These details humanise Open House, giving the spaces depth and life.

Beyond the entryway, a black, raw suspended steel staircase stands as the focal point of the home where a rich, though subtle, play with material intensifies both the look and feel of the staircase. At its base, the staircase is made of earthy stained timber that sits beside a vast white volume that partly functions as the kitchen’s bench top. Suspended by thin rods of steel, the staircase looks like a singular sheath of steel folding from the upper children’s quarters to the kitchen underneath. Fittingly light in its appearance, the staircase visually connects the levels without compromising the openness of the main living space.

The various heights of the ground floor’s ceiling define each space without the need for internal walls. Clad in limed timber, like the floor, the kitchen and dining’s extruded ceiling distinguishes it from the adjacent living room. Here, a white ceiling hovers above the living room’s limed floor which appears to fold up to form its feature wall. The spaces appear and feel woven together, building layer by layer and creating a dynamic that keeps the spaces alive and inviting.

The dining and kitchen areas face north towards a courtyard decked with stained timber and vegetated with a singular Japanese maple tree. An enclosed walkway leads to the master bedroom, sandwiched between the main courtyard and a private courtyard behind. The bedroom is screened by louvers and the branches of the tree, which also marks an outdoor walkway to the private courtyard, continuing the flow and layering of spaces inside and out.

Five metre wide sliding doors, which open up the living area to the courtyard, allow the clients to easily blend their indoor life with the outside. The court-yard also sits beside the living room, separated by a clear louvered wall and floor to ceiling curtains to provide a breezeway and thermal control. 

Joinery, ventilation and drainage have been meticulously designed into the general volumes and planes of the interiors, drawing attention to the layering of spaces. The joinery mostly comprises of off-the-shelf items used creatively. Three sizes of joinery lip pulls were used in different orientations and combinations so that EAT were able to achieve a unique outcome with little cost.

EAT’s thoughtful and sensitive interventions give Open House new life without destroying and wasting the original building’s still useful envelope and structure. Their skilful approach allowed them to invest all their energy and natural resources on a design that has clearly revived the building without the need for a complete demolition and rebuild.+

PHOTOGRAPHY James Coombe

1. Open House brings a comfortable and contemporary twist to the typically industrial Richmond material palette of raw steel and timber.

2.  Layered spaces, jutting volumes and cascading planes come together to form a welcoming and dynamic space that appears lively and much larger than it is.

3. The renovation and alteration weaves through the inner city dwelling, from inside to out.

4. Light fixtures, heating, ventilation and drainage are embedded into the house's timber ceiling and floor.

5. Wide-spanning sliding doors allow the main living space to open completely to the courtyard.