In Mount Lawley, one of Perth’s inner northern suburbs, an empty lot sat between two character homes with Hyde Park natural reserve in its backyard. It was the perfect spot for this couple with four grown children and a puppy to build their forever home. However, council approvals and privacy issues were to prove challenging. Simone Robeson and her team from Robeson Architects have employed clever building and design principles to create a contemporary home that maximises views of Hyde Park and the city skyline, but that also maintains the family’s privacy and satisfies council heritage zoning requirements.
“The brief called for a long-term home for the couple and their four children and puppy, together with a music room for Liz, the owner, to teach in, as well as a pool. They were also both sustainably minded and wanted to make sure the house was designed passively and as airtight as possible,” Simone explains.
“While not strictly a heritage control zone, both neighbouring properties had character homes on them and the local council was very prescriptive and unyielding when it came to permitted external materials, street setbacks and building forms. The challenge was to design a home that was not trying to replicate a character home, but that was contemporary to suit the needs of the family and fit in with its streetscape while also not imposing on it,” says Simone.
Satisfying council requirements was something that needed to be done, but the key features that drove the brief were to maximise views of Hyde Park while also maintaining privacy. Responding also to the site, Robeson Architects “split the home lengthways down the middle”, with the eastern side at ground level with a first floor, master suite overhead and a basement garage underneath (complying with height limitations). The western side was kept as a single storey but was raised half a metre above natural ground in order to provide privacy from cars and pedestrians. The single-storey western wing was allocated as the main living area and features the kitchen, dining and lounge. Keeping it as a single storey also meant that ceiling heights and volumes over the living areas maximised the views of Hyde Park and created a sense of space in the home’s most lived-in environments.
“This raised living wing allowed for better views of the park’s trees while blocking out the busy traffic and cars parked below. Lines of sight were drawn at the planning stage from eye levels of both pedestrians on the street and the occupants sitting at their dining room table to ensure the living wing was raised at the right height for privacy,” says Simone.
Full-height Vitrocsa glazing doors slide into a pocket, allowing the seamless connection of the dining room to an outdoor terrace and pool. The pool and pool deck were also raised, providing an unobstructed view from the pool through the living room to Hyde Park and beyond. Raising the pool also removed the need for pool balustrading as the height effectively formed a protective barrier. The pool has become a favourite space for the homeowners’ grown children, while its unique shape and tiling have made it one of the home’s notable design features.
“Tiling the pool was more complex than originally anticipated,” says Simone. “We lost one tiler in the process as it was deemed too difficult. We had to model up all the tiles individually in a 3D model to prove it could be done. The second group of tilers understood the assignment and did an amazing job. It was executed perfectly.”
The design of Hyde Park House aims to be a “contemporary interpretation of the character of the street and neighbourhood rather than a replication of a specific era”. Much thought was given to material and colour selection and how these elements can be used to connect the home with the surrounding buildings. Bone-coloured stuccoed walls on the western wing are a richer version of its neighbour. On the contrary, the eastern wing is clad in a reddish-brown, handmade face brick, also echoing the red brick used in the character homes. The face brick has a slight curve, subtly referencing the Art Deco period and softening the edges of the home’s overall contemporary aesthetic.
Internally, materials and colour selections are pared back and minimal with walnut timber cladding, ivory floor tiles and a bone-coloured kitchen to match the walls with all-white cabinetry. The kitchen is the narrowest space of the home, so the light colour palette maintains a sense of space and thin 6mm benchtops continue the home’s minimal theme. Thermally broken, double-glazed windows and underfl oor hydronic heating, powered by solar panels, keep the home feeling comfortable all year round.
“The driving intention of the design was for it to be ‘of its place’ and sympathetic to the streetscape and adjacent heritage properties,” Simone says. “Much has gone into the aspects of the home that cannot be seen, but more importantly, makes the home feel comfortable.”
