My name is Broderick Ely
I'm one of three directors of our firm be architecture
and we're here today to talk about this beautiful project St Vincent's place.
This is a very large restoration project that took three years in the making.
The house here in St Vincent's place was part of three buildings
side by side originally had been owned for many years by a convent
it's in the precinct of Albert Park it's a very significant part of Melbourne's history
there was very little of the original buildings left besides their facades
although it feels like a renovation everything you see has been built from the ground up.
We decided to go back and build what could have been here in the
front part of the house and then create what's essentially a modern extension.
The extension to this building here is an interesting one because it feels like it
could have been built 40 years ago or 50 years ago of another era when people made things by
hand rather than by machine, it's like both parts of the building have the same focus.
Two quite different things and yet they feel compatible and
there's an ease of moving between the two of them.
The front of the house the historic section of the house has a formal living room
it has a formal entry.
Upstairs is a master bedroom and dressing room.
The rear of the house the more modern section of the house it has a downstairs pool and gym area
it was quite a feat to be able to build that much on this block.
During that process details have to be remade there's a
lot of examples here of these reinterpretations
we have to deal with cornices and skirtings and architraves and door jambs and doors and flooring
our idea is not to turn them into modern buildings but they are interpretations nonetheless
while these things are not necessarily traditional they could have been or they should have been.
The thing that we try to introduce clients to is this idea of creating
aspects of the building that promote conversation.
I've been here for several dinner parties when guests
come and it does take them about 45 minutes to get through the house,
whether it be the stone masonry on the outside, the light fittings that were made for this job,
whether it's the incredible tiling that was done or the stone baths that were made. Each of these
things they were all individual journeys and it's apparent everywhere. The interesting thing is that
when these ideas, details, features are used consistently through a job they start to become
quiet in themselves there's an evenness on how they're used one is able to relax quite quickly.
There are a lot of surprises here a really good example of that is the agate taurus at the front
of the building that was I think really pioneered by Sigmar Polke in Europe is a contemporary artist
that developed the idea of using a slice agate you know it's something that recedes in the background
is something you just accept but when you think about it there's something special going on
part of many conversations that are going on in this house
you know you go downstairs there's an onsen with a steam room there which is quite beautiful
there's video art here again not something you would expect to see in a terrace house in St
Vincent's place, there's a large text piece which has been exhibited all over the world
'heaven's a place where nothing ever happens' the fact of its sheer size creates logistical
problems about how a piece like that could be incorporated into a building, ever
and this is this notion of our buildings leaving room for these conversations.
If you feel the magic of how these elements come together here,
we curate, we arrange and manipulate these items so it sits very quietly,
there's a flow that enables people to live in their house in a peaceful way.
The journey with a client through the years of doing the house and the
fine tuning of the house afterwards something I'll remember all my life.
My takeaway on this is that idea of evaluation and curation can be
applied to any style of house it did result in very interesting outcome.