VISION Issue 48 | Page 29

29 Sydney architect Madeleine Blanchfield’s successful design for the ‘My Ideal House’ competition is a showcase of possibilities. Rather than weight and mass, the response – from a nation-wide field of more than 70 entries – exhibits a Rubik’s Cube flexibility. And it’s not at all about an eye-watering budget so much as clever design brimming with function and gen erosity. With a reputation for high-end houses, Blanchfield’s house offers high levels of customisation and flexibility within a modular platform. Based on an initiative by Mirvac and Australian House & Garden magazine, the aim was to build a landmark family home in a master-planned community at Camden in Sydney’s south-west. A nationwide competition called for a sustainable, flexible and future-proof design. Blanchfield manages three generous bedrooms, large open living zone, a multipurpose room, double-car garage and more in a floor plan of just 230-square-metres. Her modular prototype offers floor-plan flexibility and site/ family customisation. Rising two levels at street frontage, the rear of the house flows pavilion-like along the site, and passageway free, opening itself to the garden and sunlight. The result maximises its standard allotment to create a fine interplay between inside and out. PROJECT ‘My Ideal House’, Camden, Sydney ARCHITECT Madeleine Blanchfield Architects, Sydney PRINCIPAL GLASS COMPONENTS Viridian LightBridge™ TEXT, IMAGES & FILM Peter & Jenny Hyatt