Florence St.

A family approached us to select a site for their inner-city home. Its long side faces north and abuts a heritage semi-detached creating an opportunity to maintain access to north light. 

The design is a marriage of utilitarian functionalism with tongue-in-cheek playfulness. The planning of the building is simplistic and efficient. Materials selected are honest and expressed genuinely. The spaces address the light and the outdoor areas and each of the four bedrooms has its own unique urban aspect. A long lap-pool inhabits the space between the house and its neighbour and brings reflected diffuse light into the home and creates a sense of separation.

A recurring theme for the building and for which the building has become somewhat known is the inclusion of repeating space invader sprite from the 80’s computer game. I liked the idea of connecting the element of the brick to the pixel of computer design and explored this simplistically in this building. The clients’ are kids of the eighties and enjoy the reference.  

The building is a tight infill project that makes the most of a small site and celebrates its materials and the urban environment it inhabits in an honest and playful way.