Bob’s Bungalow by Blair Smith Structure is a reimagined California bungalow in Melbourne’s northwest suburbs that radiates heat — and never simply due to the expansive home windows that fill the dwelling areas with sunshine.
Semi-retired couple, Mark and Jacinta, engaged Blair Smith for the latest redesign after dwelling within the residence since 1980! Whereas the entrance of the bungalow featured an endearing interval facade and a superbly established backyard, the home had been principally unaltered because it was constructed within the Nineteen Thirties, and the lean-to on the rear was now ‘on its final legs’.
Along with refurbishing areas of the prevailing residence, the temporary was to create a comparatively easy, single-level addition that the purchasers may construct themselves (aided by Mark’s expertise within the development business) containing a kitchen, lounge, eating, laundry and a nook for his or her report participant.
‘Inside that straightforward diagram, the purchasers have been trusting sufficient to permit me to have some enjoyable with the interior detailing,’ Blair says. With the couple tackling the renovation as owner-builders, it was at all times going to be a private mission, and most design conferences happened over home-cooked meals, that includes produce from their backyard.
‘[The design] was influenced by an ongoing and evolving dialog with Mark and Jacinta about life; their experiences, pursuits, the backyard; and many years already lived in the home,’ Blair says.
A part of the preliminary plan was to create separate eating, dwelling and kitchen zones divided by partitions and full top joinery, however this rapidly felt too restrictive inside the addition’s 66-square-metre small footprint.
As an alternative, they determined to outline the areas in different methods, utilizing stage adjustments and timber planters to create a sunken lounge, as {a partially} suspended terrazzo bench boarders the kitchen. Blackbutt joinery by Temper Workshop and the terracotta tiled flooring underfoot additionally deliver inviting textural variations and earthy tones to interiors.
‘The purchasers embraced choice making with a way of pleasure and experimentation. Decisions weren’t primarily based on pattern or precedent, fairly their remoted emotional response to what we proposed. There was a “sure, and…” response to most concepts and supplies put ahead,’ Blair says.
This collaboration result in among the residence’s extra distinctive options, together with the inexperienced metal home windows that tie in with the verdant colors of the yard.
The home windows alongside the rear additionally function what Blair calls an operable ‘dynamic eve’, with louvres that may be opened or closed to maximise photo voltaic warmth acquire in winter, and supply shade in summer season — bettering power effectivity. On the skillion ceiling, a cloth known as EchoPanel (comprised of principally post-consumer recycled PET plastic bottles) runs between every laminated timber beam.
‘Past it being an surprising method to end a residential ceiling, it affords superb acoustic qualities in an area with excessive ceilings and many glass. This was an essential consideration as Mark and Jacinta like to play information inside this area,’ Blair says.
The couple have been actively concerned in each choice, and remained dwelling within the residence through the three-year-build, working bit-by-bit, at their very own tempo. ‘As a result of the method was longer, it felt as if decisions and design strikes have been in a position to unfold and inform each other extra naturally,’ Blair provides.
He says the house now feels fully genuine and unpretentious, with quirks and handmade particulars that make it an ideal reflection of the homeowners themselves.
