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Blurring the lines between large indoor and outdoor areas

Set on a tight, awkward site, this family home achieves privacy and maximises entertainment space by deft architectural strategies

​​​​​​​Playtime – sprawling indoor living spaces flow uninterrupted apartment, architecture, condominium, estate, facade, home, house, interior design, property, real estate, swimming pool, villa, gray
​​​​​​​Playtime – sprawling indoor living spaces flow uninterrupted into the covered outdoor area, complete with in-wall tv, a raised pool, al fresco dining and an elevated seating area, just out of shot. Dropdown sail sheets can enclose the al fresco area. The double-height room has operable shutters and repeats the honeycomb screen on the home’s front facade. Here, however, the screen is backed with glass and offers privacy from neighbours that overlook the home.

With smart architecture, a property’s negative elements can quickly turn into design positives. For this home, by Daniel Lomma Design, making the most of an oddly shaped site and achieving privacy from neighbours were two such factors.

The owners’ wish list for the home included optimising space on the awkward, modest site, relaxed open-plan living, and easy, seamless connections to a private outdoor living space at the rear, says house designer Daniel Lomma.

“However, this modern, two-storey family home was shaped by several factors, including council setback restrictions.”

The front facade is a balanced composition of stepped facades – meeting council bylaws and downplaying the scale of the home – and features various cladding treatments. These include plaster, powdercoated aluminium on the upper faces, and a flush panelling system on the garage door to downplay its presence.

“Plus a honeycomb, laser-cut aluminium screen provides an aesthetic feature. This screen element is also seen in other areas of the home.”

On entering the home, a turn of a corner brings guests directly into a massive open-plan living space with connected kitchen and dining area and lounge. The interiors appear to go on forever, but in reality almost half of what you see is actually an outdoor living space.


​​​​​​​The choice of similar interior and outdoor furniture apartment, interior design, living room, penthouse apartment, property, real estate, gray
​​​​​​​The choice of similar interior and outdoor furniture in this home helps downplay the change between indoor and outdoor spaces.

To gain privacy and make the outdoor living area suitable for year-round use, the designer created a double-height, semi-enclosed outdoor room with operable louvres that merges with the fabric of the home. The screen of the front facade is repeated on this element backed with glass, adding privacy while admitting natural light.

“Giant stacking sliders separate the indoor and open-air areas,” says Lomma. “However, with matching indoor and outdoor furniture, and floor tiles that run from indoors to out with only a change in finish, it can be hard to see where indoors ends and al fresco spaces begin.

The entertainer’s kitchen and open air kitchen play a part in blurring the lines, with one long benchtop that runs inside to out. A pocket sliding glass splashback can be drawn across the main kitchen’s rear worksurface, creating a private scullery zone behind. This area is entered directly from the garage, giving owners  an ideal discreet landing zone for shopping.

​​​​​​​Seen straight-on from the street, the stepped facade architecture, building, commercial building, corporate headquarters, elevation, estate, facade, home, house, property, real estate, residential area, window, teal
​​​​​​​Seen straight-on from the street, the stepped facade design conceals some of the upper elements from view – simplifying the overall look.

Clever spatial and material links are seen right through the interior, including between the upstairs and downstairs. As one example, a wood display unit at ground level rises up and turns into a double-sided shelving unit in the upstairs study.

“The bookcase sits in one of two open voids in the home – these areas are glassed off in the upstairs spaces to avoid heat build-up from the lower floor,” he says. “The staircase in the other void is designed in a combination of wood and steel – the wooden treads to suit one owner and the underpinning steel to avoid a vertiginous effect for the other.”

Material connections are everywhere in the home, another example being the padded fire surround in the lounge, which is repeated on the bedhead in the master bedroom. The padded material comes with functional as well as aesthetic benefit, as the softened surface helps control noise levels in what could otherwise have been an acoustically lively home.

Other features of the five-bedroom house include a lift and a swimming pool, raised to avoid the visual clutter that comes with the safety fencing needed for an in-ground pool. There is also a games room, a large master suite and a reflection pond along the side of the home.

Credit list

House designer
Daniel Lomma, Daniel Lomma Design
Interior designer
Akiva Design
Kitchen manufacturer
Bartholomew Creations
Pool
Boardwalk Pool
Roof
Colorbond
Windows
Cool or Cosy
Wallcoverings
Plastered brickwork; Gyprock plasterboard
Kitchen cabinetry
Painted Polytec Amaro and walnut veneer
Splashback
Glass Smoked Mirror
Taps
Novelli
Refrigeration
Liebherr fridge and freezer
Water dispensers
Zip
Shower fittings
Novelli
Lighting
Hillstone Lighting
Awards
Trends International Design Awards (TIDA) Homes – Highly Commended
Developer/builder
Daniel Scafetta, Viva Developments
Kitchen designer
Daniel Lomma
Landscaping
Mondo Landscapes
Cladding
Powdercoated aluminium
Roof louvres
Vergola
Flooring
Floorgress tiles by European Ceramics; timber flooring from Choice Flooring
Paint
Hanes
Benchtops
Essa Stone Verona Mist
Kitchen sink
Oliveri
Dishwasher
Fisher & Paykel
Vanity countertop
Walnut veneer
Heating
Temperature Solutions air conditioning
Furniture
Merlino, King Living

Story by: Charles Moxham

Photography by: Silvertone Photography

06 Oct, 2018

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