VISION 40 — OPEN HOUSE
What’s the secret to achieving a good, or great result?
A good architect once said, ”Good architecture comes
from good clients.“ If you have a client that is not going
to enable you to explore interesting and challenging
ideas, then you’re going to end up having sub-standard
architectural responses. So when we do have a situation,
and there weren’t many on this particular project, where
a client can’t connect with that idea, it’s our role to come
up with innovative ways to establish how we can translate
that idea and make them understand the journey of how
we’ve come through to that idea. Now most times it
actually works. Not always. In this case, pretty much
everything that we wanted to come through with our
design language actually did come into fruition.
Is there a feature or highlight for you?
Interestingly enough, it’s probably not the obvious one.
And that is the entry foyer. And the entry foyer of the
home has a sculpture we designed on the wall, which is
an abstraction of the floor plan that sits on the wall and,
because of the westerly light, when that light hits that
sculpture the shadows change and they dance around on
that wall. The wall is nice and curved, but the main
reason why I like that space the most is because when
you enter that space, you pretty much can see the
mystery of the home unfolding right before you spatially
in an instant.
When you arrive at the front of the home, you see this big,
heavy, three volumes addressing the street. But when you
move into the house, into the foyer, I suppose that
mystery unfolds instantly and you can see the secret of
the house and how it works. And it gets some beautiful
light through that really large entry. In a time where we
live in such a rapid world where everything is go, go, go,
sometimes we just want to sit in beautiful sunlight at the
front of the house and just contemplate and do nothing.
It’s very, very rare that we can do that. But I think that
space offers that actually.
Were you satisfied with the work of the window
installers?
The window installers had a very challenging job.
The glazing was heavy, large and seamless. And I think
that they did a magnificent job in executing the brief.
I was there when they were installing it. It took five men
to lift the piece of glass and it had to be done with Swiss
precision. They did a magnificent job.
It’s a house of sounds, colour and easy movement which
is a great start.
The house is designed for people to actually use. We get
caught up in beautiful publications and photographing
houses with one chair and a mat. People don’t live that
way. It’s not a dentist studio. It’s a house. It needs that
warmth and interaction. And I think the clients use it
that way, which is great.
PROJECT
The Makris House
Ivanhoe, Melbourne
ARCHITECTS
KUD Architects –
Billy Kavellaris, John Kachami
GLAZIER
Master Windows and Doors
PRINCIPAL GLAZING
Viridian Reflective Coated Glass
Viridian Clear Double Glazed Unit
TEXT & IMAGES
Peter & Jenny Hyatt