-Dream House Designed From Brick, Stone and Timber (House Tour).

This house feels very warm and inviting and has done almost from day one. Every part of this house is filled with beautiful objects which express our client's personalities. My name's Hugh Wellart and this is Harriet Collins. We're from Wellart Architects. We were the designers for this house, the Northside House. Northside House occupies a corner site in Clifton Hill and is an alterations and additions project to an existing heritage listed building. The house is a Federation era home and it was previously occupied by an Italian plasterer who used his house as a showroom to exhibit his intricate plaster mouldings. It was important to retain these delicate details and the craftsmanship throughout the rest of the home. So the principal front four rooms of the house accommodate the bedrooms and bathroom accommodation for the house enabling us to open up to a double height space as you walk through the existing hallway. At that junction point or that transition point we're into a double height space which is filled with a staircase that leads up to a lounge room and study but also some generous steps down to our dining and living spaces and then a very generous kitchen and pantry are tucked in behind the stair wall. Walking through the living space you'll let out to a courtyard garden and then a garage and first floor studio volume above which flanks the rear boundary of the property. In terms of a theme for this house we're interested in the idea of compression and release. We see the architecture here as modern but very warm at the same time and in many respects the addition feels as though it's been sitting here for a lot longer than it has been. How our clients like to live and entertain and having an understanding of that was really important with this project. For example the kitchen had to work equally well with cooking for two or cooking for 20. When not entertaining the internal space is a subtly zoned so that not one particular area feels overly cavernous. Our clients asked for a cozy interior and the materiality chosen we feel achieves that. My name is Yas Bahar and I'm the Victorian State Manager at Artedomus. Well I'd approached Artedomus and me specifically to have a design development meeting at the showroom to discuss what they had selected and possibly some other alternatives and have a general design discussion about the products. The main materials used externally are terracotta shingles and brickwork. Internally blackbutt timber is used extensively as well as terrazzo flooring and natural stone. These materials are all very robust and durable that was a consideration for us because it is a very busy family home so selecting these materials which are a part of the building's fabric really strengthens our concepts. We used a wide range of products from Artedomus in this house. The ensuite and bathroom floors are finished in a large format porcelain tile from Italy. The ensuite vanity and basins use travertine zenner giving a lot of warmth and calmness to the ensuite itself. The Verdi Bardini was used for the stone vanity in the main bathroom. There is also some really special tiles from Inax and there's a beautiful bath in the project that's a real hero piece that's been designed by Patricia Okuola. It's the Vieques bath. Another key product that's used in this project is the Nero Fino brushed quartzite that's in the kitchen and when you walk around the north side house and get a feel for the whole space and the finishes and the finished product they just work so well together all the different finishes and create this cozy atmosphere that's great for a cold winter's day. During the design process we worked really closely with the client and with WellArd and during the construction process we were really fortunate to work closely with the builders who were Prolifica. It's just nice to have that sort of working relationship with such amazing designers and a privilege to be a part of their project in some way or shape. It's always great working with Artedomus. We've always really enjoyed collaborating and working closely together particularly on lovely projects like this. In terms of a favourite part of the project I think I'm drawn to the materiality in the juxtaposition between the existing building and our new addition. I feel it adds something to the vibrancy of Clifton Hill and the tight-knit community that live here. For me I love where the living and the dining spaces intersect. There's beautiful natural light there and everyone seems to gravitate towards this space. My favourite part would be the combination of the materials, the colours and the tones and the materiality they just all work so beautifully in the space together. I think the thing that I'm most proud of is how our clients are occupying and inhabiting their home. On a cold winter's day like today the interiors of this house are really warm and inviting. When I think back to the original client brief that's exactly what they asked for.