VISION 40 — OPEN HOUSE
“ We also have a family
relationship with the clients,
so for me it was a little added
pressure because we really
wanted to get the house right.
When somebody gives you
a blank canvas with
no constraints, sometimes
that’s a constraint itself.”
BILLY KAVELLARIS, ARCHITECT
That level of design freedom can also be unnerving.
Very daunting. It was very daunting. We also have a
family relationship with the clients, so for me it was a
little added pressure because we really wanted to get
the house right. When somebody gives you a blank
canvas with no constraints, sometimes that’s a
constraint itself.
Is its difference to most of the neighbours a positive
or negative?
The house is quite contemporary and a contrast to the
neighbourhood, although it does pick up elements of
its materiality in a contemporary way. I’m of a view that
good architecture can respond to the context in a way
that has a bit of tension. Having something old and new,
that tension between the two actually accentuates both
properties and gives you that synergy. So the house is
actually, quite eclectic in the streetscape. We thought
that we could do something quite interesting.
Part of the design response was to capture that in
the big glass panel which reflects the street itself.