Houses

For every piece of Peninsula furniture sold, a tree is planted through the Carbon Neutral Plant-a-Tree program. Sustainable and stylish, the Sideboard is made from Tasmanian oak and features Peninsula’s signature bevelled-edge doors, which open to re

This clever infill house in the tightly packed backstreets of North Melbourne offers valuable lessons for how we might rethink the single house as a flexible system that can adapt, beyond our immediate needs, to a range of life stages and occupants.

Compact in scale and light of touch are descriptions that do not readily spring to mind when discussing current residential building in the prestigious suburb of Forrest, Canberra. Where not heritage protected, older style “Canberra cottages” are oft

This is a new house on an old site. Tonkin Zulaikha Greer’s clients have lived here for many years, gradually adding to and refashioning the original house (which this new work completely replaces) to reflect their changing needs. In this sense, they

Beyond the museums and galleries of South Bank’s cultural precinct, the inner-city suburb of South Brisbane is an eclectic mix of remnant light-industrial and commercial uses, recent high-density residential development and pockets of traditional det

Emily Wong Can you tell me a bit about your background and your house? Tarragh Cunningham I am assistant director at the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) and my partner, Keith, is an artist. Eleven years ago, we moved to Bri

There is something undeniably fascinating about the work from Wonderglass. The studio’s lighting, objects and installations have a captivating, mesmerizing quality, as molten glass is shaped into surreal and sculptural forms. “Every single creation l

Designer Fumie Shibata took inspiration from the Japanese word for “bubble” to create a set of pendant lights that, like their namesake, appear weightless. Awa’s combination of wood, metal and fine, hand-blown glass evokes an inflated vessel that has

When a client’s love for a selected site meets an architect’s desire to make careful connections with a place, the right ingredients are in play for an imaginative design. This house, by Topology Studio, is the result of such a meeting. The clients f

Richard Peters, designer and principal at Tobias Partners, took me through the Drill Hall House on a chilly morning in the first week of spring. This house sits left-of-field in Tobias Partners’ architectural portfolio. Firstly, it is located in Sydn

Brisbane’s suburbs are as varied as its terrain. The meandering Brisbane River winds around seven hills, which have been progressively built-up since the beginnings of colonization in the 1820s. While the city developed around the Petrie Bight, South

In the early 1990s, when Australia was riding a wave of minimalism, architect Renato D’Ettorre took a risk. In a weak economy, he launched his own practice with the commission for a house that would take years to build, on a breathtaking coastal site

We met in Frankfurt in 1993 working together on Foster and Partners’ Commerzbank tower – the tallest in Europe at the time and the first with a concerted environmental agenda. In January 1994, we visited Australia (Huw’s first visit and for Penny a r

Industrial designer Chi Dang loves the story behind a brand and the feeling a product can evoke and convey. Wanting to tell his own story, Chi established his eponymous studio, designing furniture and creating his own brand. He is inspired by film, a

Australia’s most distinguished potter, the late Gwyn Hanssen Pigott, is attributed with breaking the barrier between craft and art, turning everyday objects into arrangements that resembled still life paintings. Her life’s work, produced between 1955

The steep riverine terrain of Studley Park is unique in suburban Melbourne. Largely considered unsuitable for building until after World War II, it then became a testing ground for adventurous twentieth-century architects such as Robin Boyd, Peter Mc

Rich marble, concrete-look tiles, timber salvaged from the depths of a Tasmanian dam – whatever your taste, there's a flooring product here to inspire you. The DecoDeck joiner reduces material wastage in Deco's aluminium decking system. The system on

Balmain Rock by Benn and Penna is the product of a familiar downsizing story. In the pursuit of more efficient living after their children moved out, clients Vanessa and Chris decided to bid farewell to their large five-bedroom family home. They set

Sitting within inner Melbourne’s fine-grained Domain Precinct, South Yarra House by AM Architecture binds together a semi-detached heritage dwelling and its expansive sloped site. The architects have drawn on a quiet design approach that subtly comma

Warrandyte, in Melbourne’s outer north-east, holds a lofty reputation as a seedbed for progressive twentieth-century creativity. Parted by the Yarra River, the undulating and verdant region caught the eye of Heidelberg School painters at the turn of

Each year, Craft Victoria holds the Craft Cubed Festival, a month-long exhibition and celebration of the handmade. For its tenth anniversary, makers and designers were brought together under the theme of “crafting culture.” On display at the Bates Sm