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It felt like a ‘contained risk’ for sculptor April Pine to purchase a small inner-city block in Perth, enticed by the challenge of what could be built on the 179-square-metre vacant site.
Using every metre, she carefully designed her North Perth home to create a footprint that felt calm — but not compromised — by overlapping circulation, storage, and views with living spaces.
‘Privacy, natural light and a sense of calm were must-haves. I didn’t want the house to feel as though it was constantly looking out onto neighbouring properties, which can easily happen with inner-city infill,’ April explains.
The ground floor works as an insulated space where views are directed towards the sky and into the courtyards, giving April and her family privacy.
Moving upstairs, the space opens up to engage with the surrounding mature tree canopy, which April says ‘gives the first floor an unexpectedly peaceful, almost a retreat-like quality’.
‘It feels private and protected without feeling enclosed. Downstairs you look inward; upstairs you’re amongst the trees. There is a quietness to it that I still really enjoy.’
The relaxing atmosphere continues with the materials themselves — warm timber, earthy brick and terrazzo, Japanese and Spanish ceramic tiles — rather than through applied shades.
‘I’m probably most proud that I committed to the material choices, particularly the extent of the timber,’ April explains.
‘There were plenty of opportunities during the build to pull it back or simplify it, but I’m very glad I continued the timber wrap around all sides of the building. It gives the house a completeness and warmth that I think would have been lost if it had only been used on the primary elevations.’
This colouring was mostly inspired by North Perth’s landscape. ‘I was interested in the warm, muted colours of the suburb, its mature trees, old brick and materials that already carried some evidence of time,’ April explains.
Her sculptures — or maquettes (small-scale models or drafts) — fill the house, adding texture and unique detail to each space.
‘They are part of the process of testing proportion, balance, movement, and ideas before works are developed at a much larger scale,’ she explains. ‘I like having those traces of process throughout the house rather than treating art as something completely separate from everyday life,’ she says.
April also sees something special in the home’s design as a reflection of her career transition from architecture to sculpture. Her sculptural practice has informed the contrasting lines and sharp edges throughout the house, bringing a sense of dimension and visual interest to the design.
‘Looking back, you can see elements of both disciplines throughout it: the rationality and squareness of architecture softened by increasingly rounded, tactile and imperfect details.’
