Top 10 Architectural Homes of 2019

A  Concrete Blanketed Sanctuary In Melbourne’s East

It’s no surprise this Hawthorn House by Melbourne architecture firm Edition Office has been featured in countless architecture awards since its completion.

Drawing inspiration from monolithic masonry buildings and the work of Pezo Von Ellrichshausen and Juliaan Lampens’ brutalist Vandenhaute Kiebooms House, the architects responded with a deceptively simple and singular solution. The resulting home combines a striking pair of large, heavily textured concrete shrouds, with a lush outdoor terrace and garden.

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A Home Of Pink Terrazzo And Endless Archways!

This Adelaide home designed by Sans-Arc Studio is a breath of fresh/colourful/brilliant/fun air! (And it nearly broke our Instagram account back when we first featured this home in April!).

The project synthesises diverse inspirations, from the owners’ passion for all things art deco, to their colourful collections of Italian and Czech glassware and German pottery.

Located in an austere suburb with mostly cream and brown brick homes, this property forms its own identity through the use of plaster and arches, playing off the large trees and greenery in the backyard.

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A House That Channels Modern Mediterranean, In Byron Bay

With its textured white exterior, striking archways, tiled roof and deceptively modest front facade, this home wouldn’t look out of place in the Mediterranean.

But would you believe that this now dreamy family home by Those Architects was actually once a nondescript 1980s brown brick house, with cheap tiled flooring and generic aluminium windows?

The design intent was to ‘reinvent’ the 1980s, with the aesthetic of a ‘subtropical suburban bungalow morphed with a modernist sensibility.’ Mission accomplished!

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A Forever Home That Celebrates The Past

This project in Rose Bay sensitively and playfully brings a new identity to an existing California bungalow.

Architect Ricci Bloch designed the renovation, reconfiguring the internal planning to transform the front of the home into a zone for sleeping and working, and the rear for entertaining. An open but distinct kitchen was designed, and a greater connection to lush garden facilitated.

The material palette takes inspiration from a Palm Springs modernist aesthetic, while highlighting the pre-existing extended horizontal lines of the original home. 

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An Amazing Mid-Century Home Gets A High-Tech Makeover!

Without disrupting the original façade, 8 Squared have doubled the size of this mid-century home, originally designed by architect Glynn Nicholls (son of Eric Nicholls – Walter Burley Griffin’s Australian business partner) in 1959. The property faces secluded bushland on Sydney’s Middle Cove, providing magical water views of Sugarloaf Bay, framed by parted gum trees.

The interior design by Studio Gorman is just as impressive, combining ‘50s elements alongside the latest technology to take this home into the 21st century and beyond.

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A Whole World, All Under One Roof

The Longhouse in Daylesford by Partners Hill would have to be one of the most unique homes ever featured on The Design Files!

This 110-metre-long shed contains internalised agricultural, hospitality and residential functions under the one (incredibly long) roof.  It’s a place for living, learning and entertaining, as well as nurturing animals and fresh produce, with its own microclimate. 

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From Bush Shack To Bruny Island Stunner!

Once an understated shack, this property in Tasmania’s remote Bruny Island is now a four-bedroom home by Dock 4 Architects where the landscape takes centre stage.

The A-line structure continues the original form of the shack to gently mimic a tent form. Strong internal lines create framing devices, capturing different views looking back to ‘mainland’ Tasmania and the silhouette of kunanyi/Mt Wellington.

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A Total Transformation For This Pocket-Sized Heritage Home!

This converted home in Melbourne’s Kingsville is by one of our favourite up-and-coming architecture practices, Olaver Architecture.

The heritage residence has been converted into a generous, outward-looking family house that defies its compact site. The final design is characterised by countless clever design solutions making the contained block feel spacious.

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A Subiaco Home With A Green Heart

You might remember this Perth home as the winner of the residential architecture category at inaugural TDF Design Awards!

Vokes and Peters have created a home that blends indoors and out, offering both privacy for the residents and connection to the surrounding community. The home is subtly radical in its creation of an innovative form, while remaining respectful to the neighbourhood aesthetic.

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Enhancing The Past In Studley Park

This mid-century home in Melbourne’s Studley Park was originally designed by influential Russian-born Australian architect Anatol Kagan, who was committed to designing buildings that had a positive impact on society.

The 1950s family home has recently received a sympathetic, contemporary renovation from Kennedy Nolan, who refreshed the architectural beauty of the property, while re-zoning the layout to reflect a contemporary mode of living.

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