Whenever architect Pete Kennon from Kennon meets a new client, he asks about their future, but an equally important consideration is their past. In the case of Joey (Joey Scandizzo Salon founder and Eleven Australia co-founder) and Jane (TV personality and model) Scandizzo, he discovered Joey grew up in an Italian family in a house his father built, while Jane had grown up on land near Mount Macedon, with animals, and close connection to the natural environment. ‘These upbringings already provide insight into what their definition of home is, and how a home should feel,’ Pete says. ‘It is these environments that are subconsciously their understanding of home, and what home should feel like to them.’
This history underpins Pete’s design of the couple’s Toorak home – a renovated double fronted Victorian home, with a new two storey contemporary addition, constructed by DuoBuilt.
Joey and Jane had two children with a third on the way at the time of building, so the home needed to accommodate their future growth. ‘The house’s purpose is a beginning of a family legacy – to facilitate and optimise the practical goings on of everyday life, however also to build a place that would form the identity of the children,’ says Pete.
Drawing on the aesthetic of Joey’s childhood home, and inspired by the work of Brazilian modernist architect Oscar Niemeyer, Pete selected in situ concrete as the primary material for the extension. ‘I wanted to detail the structure to have a strong presence and a sense of permanence, however feel lightweight and calming,’ he says. ‘Concrete can often feel quite brutal, so it was critical to layer the interior with many softer tones and warmer materials.’ The addition of timber flooring, alongside a varied materials palette including marble, leather, linen and textural soft furnishings provides balance. Meanwhile, the distinctive pitched roof form in the extension creates volume and adds drama, giving this project its unquestionable WOW-factor!
While the contemporary architecture of this extension is worlds apart from the home’s original Victorian facade, both are inherently classic. There’s no doubt this is a home that will be loved and for generations to come.
