Commanding bunker: Light Vault

Located on an exposed corner in Melbourne’s Brighton, this uncompromising new house by Chamberlain Architects was conceived as a “concrete bunker,” with luxurious, private space washed in light by multiple skylights.

The Light Vault residence by Chamberlain Architects in the Melbourne beachside suburb of Brighton is an example of what can happen when an architect and a client are completely aligned in their aesthetic choices. Unusually for Chamberlain, this house is the result of a new build on a cleared site – many of its previous projects are adaptations and extensions of existing residences – and the lack of this constraint or “anchor” on the finished product has combined with a client’s strong preferences to make something distinctive and uncompromising.

Simple circulation spines running north–south on both levels are connected by a meticulously detailed black steel stair.

Simple circulation spines running north–south on both levels are connected by a meticulously detailed black steel stair.

Image: Derek Swalwell

Declaring a love of concrete, the client said from the outset that they “wanted a bunker.” The house introduces a lofty physical volume onto a suburban street with little or no interaction between interior, facade and street. Privacy is baked in, with few windows or unscreened openings other than an imposing, apocalypse-ready armoured steel door in a long, high, partially louvred facade. This is an architecture of luxurious exclusivity and it seeks to carve out a commanding and handsomely appointed private domain within, one that the architect has softened and moderated with natural light and a tactile material palette.

The house looks resolutely inward. Light is introduced into its heart by skylights and a courtyard carved deep into the two-level volume, containing a maple tree and groundcover garden. This courtyard, which is on view as soon as you enter the house via the high off-form concrete-walled entry hall, is flanked by a study and guestroom to the south and a glazed formal dining chamber to the immediate north.

A planted courtyard draws light into the entry and formal dining spaces.

A planted courtyard draws light into the entry and formal dining spaces.

Image: Derek Swalwell

Spatially, the house is organized around a simple circulation spine running north–south on both levels, connected by a meticulously detailed black steel stair. The plan is quite simple, but effectively so. Turning north onto the central corridor, you move past the dining room and into the kitchen and family room flanking the spine on the west, with the living room to the east. The client has a background in cafes, restaurants and hospitality and asked for what is essentially a full commercial kitchen fitout, complete with a restaurant-grade, sixty-second below-bench dishwasher and a full-size espresso machine.

The family room table is a substantial and impressive piece. With its in situ cast concrete base, it isn’t going anywhere any time soon. The kitchen finishes rely heavily on a beautiful dark, veined marble, which continues into the fixed sideboard along the western wall. Marble is used effectively through-out the house, in wet areas but also in built-in joinery pieces.

The living room on the opposite side of the central spine is a vast space, with custom steel joinery containing a fireplace and storage. Both family room/kitchen and living space face due north, with a wall of glass opening into a front courtyard, which includes a swimming pool and outdoor dining space. The commercial nature of the cooking equipment within the kitchen is repeated outdoors, with a bank of stainless steel barbecue and food preparation facilities that would be quite at home in a bistro or restaurant. Taken together, the living and dining spaces of the house are abundant and comfortable, flooded with natural light and oriented for good passive solar gain.

The timber battened ceiling offsets the cool tones of the concrete and softens the space.

The timber battened ceiling offsets the cool tones of the concrete and softens the space.

Image: Derek Swalwell

The circulation spine of the ground floor is repeated on the floor above. From the top of the stair, you are immediately faced with a choice between turning right and heading toward the children’s bedrooms and study and turning left into the private domain of the main bedroom suite. The main suite repeats the material palette of much of the rest of the house, with variations in the choice of marble – in particular, the ensuite is a festival of lighter toned, butterfly-matched marble sheets, with a freestanding bath situated in the middle of a large open room. One of many skylights is called on to fill the room with natural light.

On axis with the circulation spine, a custom dressing table in marble and timber is fixed to the southern wall of the main bedroom, mirroring a smaller joinery unit at the far end of the corridor to the north. The children’s bedrooms and study are comfortable and finely finished, but otherwise unremarkable.

There is something contained and encapsulated about this house, something distinctive and particular in the approach taken to privacy. Materially rich, bathed in natural light and highly adept in its detailing, this is a quality product and it is also a shrine to the primacy and triumph of private space in the city. By screening the occupants’ lives within from the public sphere of the street, the house provides its clients with exactly what they asked for, and in this regard the architects can measure their success.

Products and materials

Roofing
Lysaght Klip Lok in Colorbond ‘Shale Grey’
External walls
Rockcote Smooth Set render; Louvretec louvres in Dulux powdercoat ‘Black Ace’
Internal walls
Exposed concrete in situ; Epsilon profile in radiata pine by Wainwright Facade Ceilings to ceiling
Windows
Skyrange steel-framed windows; Lovelight sheer curtains
Doors
Skyrange steel-framed doors
Flooring
Vic Mix Broadpeak Ash exposed aggregate concrete; Pavé Berberi carpet in ‘Cold Grey’ from Whitecliffe Imports
Lighting
Douglas and Bec Line wall light, Line pendant and Y chandelier; Christopher Boots BCAA pendant; Atelier de Troupe Torche sconce; Darkon Deep Down Square surface-mounted lights; Light Project XLUX track spots
Kitchen
Pietra Grigio stone from CDK Stone ; custom oak veneer joinery with black stain; Winterhalter dishwasher; Mareno cooktop; Williams Refridgeration fridge; Brema ice maker
Bathroom
Arabescato marble from CDK Stone (main ensuite); Carrara marble from Jordain Stone (other bathrooms); Rogerseller Pinch tapware in ‘Graphite’; Apaiser Haven freestanding bath
Heating and cooling
Custom ducted system by McKinnon Heating and Cooling
External elements
Rhodes concrete pavers from Stone Outdoors
Other
Rimadesio Manta table from Pure Interiors

Credits

Project
Light Vault
Architect
Chamberlain Architects
Melbourne, Vic, Australia
Project Team
Glen Chamberlain, Ella Leoncio, Kathryn McCullough
Consultants
Builder TDRM Constructions
Engineer Perrett Simpson
Joinery Flash Cabinets
Landscaping Neil Jackson
Pool Out of the Blue
Site Details
Site type Suburban
Site area 580 m2
Building area 544 m2
Project Details
Status Built
Completion date 2018
Design, documentation 12 months
Construction 12 months
Category Residential
Type New houses

Source

Project

Published online: 13 Feb 2019
Words: Marcus Baumgart
Images: Derek Swalwell

Issue

Houses, December 2018

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