Meet the owners of His and Hers House

People | Stephanie McGann

17 Sep 2021

FMD Architects’ full-service design and project management left the owners of His and Hers House feeling confident about their build. Here, Stephanie McGann chats with Pam Mitchell and Arthur Apted about working with an architect on their reimagined terrace in Melbourne’s Clifton Hill.

The owners of His and Hers House chose an architect whose work they were familiar with.

Image: Peter Bennetts

Stephanie McGann: Could you share with us a little about your family and background?

Pam Mitchell: I’m a chartered accountant and I currently work for a philanthropic trust. I have two adult children and I’ve just recently become a grandma.

Arthur Apted: Pam and I got married three years ago. I was, at the time, living in an old house just around the corner from Pam’s house in Clifton Hill. We engaged Fiona Dunin of FMD Architects to renovate my house to become His and Hers House, where we now live together with one of my sons, Lindsay.

SM: How did you discover Fiona and FMD Architects?

AA: I set up and ran a property investment trust for industry superannuation funds, which did work with architects. One of the architects that we engaged was John Wardle of John Wardle Architects, where Fiona worked prior to founding FMD Architects. John, who is a good friend of mine, recommends Fiona highly. When I first planned to renovate my house years ago, I approached Fiona. We drew up plans, but that particular project never got off the ground. When Pam was renovating her own house, she also chose to work with Fiona. Now we’ve completed His and Hers House, our first house together, and we’re in the process of doing a house on our farm on Bruny Island in Tasmania.

A single-storey design ensures the home’s livability as the owners grow old there together.

SM: What inspired the project’s name, His and Hers House?

PM: Fiona merged her original drawings for Arthur’s house, which were about six years old by that time, with some of the features from my house to create His and Hers House. I love light and, as she did in my house, Fiona has incorporated skylights and large windows with an outlook to the garden into our His and Hers House.

SM: What drew you to again work with an architect, and Fiona at FMD in particular?

AA: When you work with a decent architect, firstly, you get a result that’s nice – at the end of the day, we just like Fiona’s work. Secondly, the architect can do the project management – it can be very difficult for home owners to be effective project managers.

PM: Fiona managed our entire project and she combines her skills in architecture with her background in interior design. She’s on the ball, highly efficient, creative and open to new ideas.

SM: How did you prepare for your first meeting with Fiona?

AA: An important starting point was to have an idea of what we were prepared to spend on the project and to set a budget.

PM: I’ve done two of these now and I always factor in a 5 percent contingency. We’ve just about come in on budget each time.

AA: Fiona asked us to prepare a project brief, which started as a bit of a wishlist simply written down on a piece of paper and, over a couple of meetings, was developed and sharpened.

PM: You would probably call it a very open brief, though. We wanted Fiona to bring her ideas and imagination to it.

SM: Could you tell us more about the brief?

AA: We’re both in our early sixties and the main thing we wanted was for our home to be a single storey with no stairs. Fiona created a ramp to meet the slope of the block. We envisage this to be our home for life. Also, I work from home, so we needed flexibility in one of the rooms so that it can be very quickly converted from an office into a spare bedroom when needed.

PM: Arthur has an extensive vinyl record collection so that had to be accommodated in this house, too.

AA: With Fiona, we designed this beautiful cabinet to put the stereo in. It’s built on top of a big concrete plinth so that the turntable needle doesn’t bounce. Over the years, we’ve been to many parties where people bounce the needle off the records with their dancing!

SM: Did you have much involvement in the progress on site?

AA: Every two weeks or so we would have a site meeting. We’d take a look at everything and chat with all the builders, and Fiona would take minutes on her iPad then and there, so it was all incredibly efficient. These were some of the only times we really spoke directly with everyone on site. If you’ve got an architect engaged as the project manager, then you’re well advised, in our view, to have the architect manage the dialogue between yourself and the builders and contractors.

The architect’s expertise in project management resulted in a smooth build and a home the clients love.

SM: Is the result of working with an architect what you expected?

AA: Yes, very much so. We think it’s a great house. Other people come to visit and say they’d love to live here. We love the natural light and the way the deck area is configured, with plants that will eventually grow over the top to form a canopy. It’s all pretty special.

PM: The living area and deck really open up to the north. It is beautiful.

SM: What advice would you give to someone who is thinking of working with an architect?

AA: You are far better off working with good people, who know their profession and expertise, engaging them on reasonable terms and letting them do their job without micromanaging them. If you choose the right architect for you and your project, and you respect the professional standing of the people involved on site, you get a happy workplace and a good outcome. You also need to determine with the architect what it is that you’re looking for in a home and you need to have some comfort with the work they normally produce, their style.

PM: Choose an architect who is receptive to your lifestyle and understands what you want, what’s important in your world.

Read the review of His and Hers House here.