Moon House

The key design challenge was to ensure that this home was deeply biographical to Ben and Laura while achieving a balance throughout the home. Balance in form, balance in light, balance in space, balance in program and balance in palette. Ben and Laura have a social lifestyle, recently welcomed their first baby, and are professional DJs who regularly host friends and family. They wanted a home that equally caters for a house-party and an intimate dinner for two. It needed to be a connected home, representative of them and the dualities in the way they like to live.

•Playful geometry balanced by rigorous detailing •Extruded forms to the front balanced by recessed forms to the rear •Intimate/calm spaces balanced by invigorating/lively spaces •Crisp steel and glass balanced by textural limestone and brickwork •Dynamic plays of direct natural light balanced by soft diffuse light funneled down voids •Physical connection to the landscape (west) balanced by visual connection to the ocean (east)

Balancing dynamic geometries and rigorous detailing, Moon House is bursting with playfulness and optimism yet grounded in seriousness and ambition. The diverse Sydney streetscape gave license for an expressive design, capturing the clients’ lively personalities, while still being contextual to the neighbours. Voluminous curved geometries bridge architectural typologies, reinforce the project program, and enhance the interior atmosphere and dynamic lighting conditions. Voids filter and highlight windows filter light and provide connection. The breeze is channeled from the entry to garden. The restrained palette and meticulous craftsmanship create a calm, textural home with flow and ease for family life and entertaining.

Moments of calm and intimacy sit under the extruded frontage, moments of exuberance and dynamism under the recessed rear. The diverse Waverley streetscape gave license for a dynamic, expressive façade, capturing the clients’ playful, optimistic personalities, while still being contextual to the scale of both the Federation and Neoclassical neighbours. Curved geometries bridge these architectural typologies, reinforce the project program and enhance the interior atmosphere. Three stepped arches (referencing gables) frame the entry, shower, and bedroom, and create enclosure. Inside, the double-form vaulted ceiling is a bright, airy counterpoint to the compressed entry and helps define spaces. The semi-circular vault creates intimacy over the sofa and frames the palm-tree canopy. The double-height quadrant vault offers openness for circulation, fosters dynamic lighting conditions, and the internal window connects to the study. These vaults are recessed into the rear brick façade, versus being extruded from the front brick box. Interspersed volumes and voids filter light into the ground floor and provide connections to upstairs. Operable north-facing glazing facilitates passive solar. The tapered layout funnels the breeze. The calm, textural, restrained palette accentuates the light, geometries and precise craftsmanship.