This impressive home designed by Argos Design was built to go the distance, with robust material choices and well-considered design. So much so that it will likely survive anything that Mother Nature would throw at it — and still be standing. The handsome abode was designed to be a family home, with ample room for entertaining and luxurious spaces to accommodate guests.
It’s a dwelling that does not fit neatly into one design box, or even era. It is reminiscent of a cache of stately homes over the past few centuries. Stewart Prain, building designer of Balcombe Constructions, says the client always enjoyed the idea of buildings that are difficult to pinpoint in time. “Classical, stately, and with an inherent stability within the immediate environment,” says Stewart. “This notion was regularly returned to when selecting materials and finishes.”
The home’s exterior is completely clad in Bowral’s dry-pressed Chillingham White bricks in a slender 50mm profile. All 41,300 of them. The colour, size and bonding of the bricks was important. “Numerous colour renderings were produced, with the client ultimately selecting the palest design as he felt it evoked a ‘sense of Brighton’, somewhere between sharp, white render and sandy beach tones,” shares Stewart.
The masonry build threw up a series of challenges, from structural engineering through to the staging of the build. “The upper brickwork was completed before the lower, with the garage and facade finalised only after the 14-tonne precast swimming pool was craned into position,” explains Stewart. To cap off the stately brick abode, a modern flat-tiled version of the terracotta brick that echoes the local vernacular was selected.
The five-bedroom, five-and-a-half-bathroom home stretches across two levels. Downstairs is an office, laundry, two well-appointed open-plan living areas, kitchen with butler’s pantry, a formal dining room and a gym. A powder room, cloak room and storage space aptly take care of communication equipment, and there’s a four-car garage. Upstairs are four-bedroom suites and a generous living area, with a bar and study.
The interiors are warm and inviting, a neutral colour palette that bodes well with the home’s exterior. “The objective was to carry on the theme of artisan masonry from the exterior to the inside, but ensure a softness required for intimate spaces,” says Stewart.
Each component of the build was performed with precision. There are 27 rooms in the house with custom joinery. Stewart’s favourite part of the design is the kitchen, with its sculptural forms of champagne quartzite contrasting with clean-lined joinery. “The standout within this space is the way that curved plaster flows from the head of the kitchen windows up past matching pairs of skylights, then down to cleanly integrate with the large bulkhead above the island that helps define this zone,” says Stewart.
Outdoors, leafy planting flows gently in the breeze and serves to soften the hard landscaping elements, and a plunge pool offers respite on scorching summer days. The alfresco and pool paving echoes the sentiment of the external brickwork with large, random-format Beaufort pavers.
This project was a close collaboration between design professionals. The homeowner is the proprietor of a national building products company and wanted to design and build a home with energy-efficient building products. It’s a sustainable powerhouse of good design and materiality choice. Each floor has an electric heat pump system for climate control. The residence is well sealed, and high-performance double-glazed windows and doors boost thermal efficiency. Solar and batteries on site store and redistribute excess power.
With an eye firmly on the prize, the designers and builders delivered a project that shows what can be achieved with a high level of detail and superior quality construction.
