My name is Ben Robertson, I'm the director at Tecture and this is our Balmoral Mid-Century Home.
St Kilda itself is a suburb that is made up of a lot of two and three-level walk-ups,
there's also a lot of Victorian cottages and terraces. It is the only mid-century home
within the street but it has a resonance within the neighbourhood being its two-story frontage.
It's not a heritage-listed home by law, however,
mid-century homes to us are heritage listed. The clean lines, the minimalism, the rationale.
We thought it was really important that we actually hung on to those existing narratives.
Architecturally we didn't actually change much. We have kept pretty much the first whole front
of the house and we've really only opened up the rear of the home just to have a living zone
that was proportionally a bit more flexible with furniture placement.
But we did dissect the roof to allow for the new master bedroom upstairs. What we wanted to
try and achieve was give more light to the north, we wanted larger spaces for a family
that was potentially growing and we also just wanted to make it a little bit more luxurious
because the owners were looking at this as their forever home.
The design for Balmoral Mid-Century House was really about evoking a sense of what was
formerly here but in a contemporary way. When you open that front door
to be greeted by the original staircase, this beautiful curved wall and the refurbished
original chandelier is one of the most impressive things about this house I think.
Natural stones used in the Palladiana flooring have various warm tones and grey
tones which allowed us to mix and match with different materials throughout the interior.
When choosing the materiality a lot of the decisions were derived from
existing tones and materials that were already within the home.
A lot of the furniture pieces were actually left by the previous owner
and they've been re-upholstered. There were some beautiful light fittings, pendants,
there was existing joinery pieces which did have the walnut tones,
it was important that we carried them through. Working with walnut can be a bit challenging
so we did need to pick some contrasting tones that complemented it and also brought the house forward
into our current time so light oaks, using stones that had some warmth. Using the rattan
as one of those items that continues through the joinery both downstairs and in the master
walk-in robe just allows there to be this really clean balance in how the space is designed.
Balmoral Mid-Century House has a play of old and new throughout and that was something that then
does carry through into the kitchen and our use of the Fisher & Paykel appliances
mixing the very minimal and sleek new appliances with a joinery design that is reminiscent of
mid-century furniture. The Fisher & Paykel minimal
range really allows the joinery to be the hero whilst the appliances don't necessarily
recede into the background. They are still a feature and work beautifully.
What we love about the Fisher & Paykel products is when we're using monolithic moments of stone
or we're trying to make the kitchen feel more expansive,
they just blend seamlessly. We don't have to overthink them, we don't have to hide them because
some of them are already hidden for us. So it's a design philosophy that both Fisher & Paykel hold
and one that we also like to embrace whenever we're designing anything.
The walnut and rattan joinery continues through the home carrying through the language in a way
that reminds you of the space that you've just been in. Silver travertine was also
a key feature in this home linking a lot of the bathroom spaces with each other.
Probably one of our favourite spaces and I think our clients favourite spaces
of the entire home being the master ensuite. Lit from above with circular skylights
the key feature of this bathroom is the round bath in the distance.
As you spend time in the home throughout the day the lighting changes
through the spaces which I think is one of the most beautiful things to watch.
Rhe most important part about this project though is that it was a project full of passion.
This house had been passed on between
different generations. We have now moved on to a different family so we hope that that
legacy is actually the fact that we've created something that they can pass on.
We're a small team of four, there's only three architects and one admin person.
The way in which they've treated us, the way in which they listen to us,
that respect is greater than anything we've designed here. That's why I started a company
is really just those moments when a client tells you that they love what you've done.