Jury comment
Edsall Street’s mature restraint is extraordinary and makes for a home that’s calming and welcoming. It’s an exquisitely resolved interior with a sense of simplicity and understated yet timeless material execution that highlights the space’s beautiful lines and light. A project this restrained is always in danger of appearing to lack in some way, but Edsall Street’s interior feels complete and has so much breathing space.
The design proficiency is revealed increasingly with the more time you spend in the house. It is expressed in the way geometries line up horizontally and vertically, speaking to the architects’ deft hand. The use of concrete blockwork for the walls makes for a powerful statement that’s surprisingly soft and subtle once inside. The jury commends the proportions of the interior spaces – from ceiling heights to the width of each room, everything feels well considered, inviting and finely detailed. This degree of minimalism is difficult to achieve formally and to actually pull it off is not to be underestimated. For one jury member, this home is a dream house.
Design statement
Edsall Street is a renovation to a semi-detached Victorian-era property in Malvern. Concrete block walls that form the architectural envelope return in to create a seamless lapse between interior and exterior, while the apertures between the walls create framed views outward toward neighbouring trees and garden. Conceptually, the new interior space is defined by a series of perpendicular concrete blockwork walls. Blackbutt joinery and pivot doors are inserted amongst the uniform concrete walls. The strong fiddle-back grain of the eucalyptus panel creates movement and relief. The client brief asked for a multitude of living spaces and bedrooms. They are a young couple and wanted to grow into the house. Internally the design team has created a thoughtful home with flexible spaces that can develop and grow with the family’s needs.
The Award for Residential Design is supported by Smeg. The Australian Interior Design Awards are presented by the Design Institute of Australia and Artichoke magazine. For more images of this project, see the Australian Interior Design Awards gallery.
