Embracing the street and garden as a way of making visible and physical connections to the outdoors is key to the success of the interior realm. The enfilade of ‘public’ rooms saturating the long western edge ensures interior spaces can engage with the adjacent laneway through operable, vertical shutter windows. As each room is open to the next, long views through the house are also possible, south toward the front street and north toward the back garden. In the sitting room at the front of the house, neighbourhood musings are framed by the large window that doubles as a seat, just metres from the footpath. At the northern and opposite end of the house, sliding doors are positioned a step below the concrete floor to emphasise the immediacy of the lawn lapping at the tiled edge of the building concourse.

The sitting room, kitchen, dining room and library form a collective string of spaces designed to promote family gathering in a variety of settings. The rise and fall of the ceiling ensures a spatial fluidity punctuated by archways and thresholds that amplify a sense of visual depth. The expression of ceiling joists in the kitchen and library create a rhythm that reflects the ‘pace of occupation’ of these rooms in contrast to other spaces. The deep concrete plinth made between the kitchen and dining room is treated as a room-within-a-room and place of pause where a low, flat ceiling invites occupation.

The most spatial drama is reserved for the dining room (which doubles as a living space). Inside this double-height volume, sunlight and sculptural form combine in a kind of baroque exposé. Vaulted ceilings and a continuous datum struck by the clean edge of pistachio coloured wall tiles are some of the devices used to effect an overarching spatial ‘order’. The ‘layering’ of contrasting materials and textures is employed to generate visual interest through inexpensive means. Simple, white paintwork embellishes a muted palette. Where the raw concrete surface of staircase and floor are partially rendered, they appear like shadows cast and frozen in time. The fluid line of the handrail captures the still animation of descent, brought to life by the simple contrast of white paint on naturally finished timber. Gestures like these are described by the architect as ‘whimsical’, yet generate a deliberate and beautiful sense of ‘DIY’ craftsmanship.