A seventies penthouse with good volume but poor in plan and section presented a wonderful challenge for our practice. The clients are a professional couple who travel frequently and kite board at the beach opposite the building.

‘Architectural’ approach starts at the front door: to create a sense of arrival/transition point, the area was covered with coir, like an oversized welcome mat, an internal window offers a glimpse through & into the main living area. The laundry door is replaced with a wall nib with continuous paneling, so the laundry entry takes on less importance – the door dissolves into the wall giving a cleaner more formal arrival point. The paneled wall also offers a concealed space for coats. Inside the laundry we incorporated a wet bench with stainless wires over to hang wet suits & washing: the area also houses services and general storage. Entry & arrival was a key part of design response. Existing entry felt like a backdoor service entry, dark & oppressive: a space that opened into a laundry & a concrete stair, which delivered you to the main living area. 

We introduced a ‘box’ to frame the entry & offer an arrival experience. The base of this box forms the first step; walk up inside & through the box arriving at the landing beyond. 

Our intention was to encourage a ‘process of discovery’. We didn’t want to reveal all at once but offer glimpses as you work through and around a collection of box forms that have been inserted into the space. The boxes wrap existing, load-bearing masonry walls, which reduces their impact on the breakup of the interior space. 

Almost every room in the apartment offers a view to the beach stretching. Landlocked bathrooms are able to enjoy a view of the ocean by looking through the living area from frames sculpted into the structure.

‘Box’ forms support kitchen appliances, house clothing, conceal walls and services & work to provide a unified theme which binds the design, pulling it together over its 3-level expanse. The walk-through entry form, the solid box in the kitchen, the proscenium form, which frames the view out to Beaconsfield Parade, the stair dividing box as well as the robe storage box in the main bedroom give the feeling that the apartment could be packed up / boxes closed then slid out to be relocated elsewhere.

Designer website: www.whitingarchitects.com
Instagram: @whitingarchitects
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Whiting-Architects
Builder: Latrobe building services
Engineer: John Gardener and Associates

Year: 2012
Area: 250m2
Location: Albert Park, Victoria, Australia
Photo Credit: Sharyn Cairns - http://www.sharyncairns.com.au/