Perched on the edge of an alpine reserve in Dinner Plain Village, part of the highest approved freehold land in Australia, the home is located just 10 minutes from down hill skiing at Mount Hotham. Featuring extensive 8 x 9 sq metre glass panels, sweeping alpine views are drawn in to the interior of the home, which also features a 20 tonne cantilevered fire place made of local stone.

Forget the stone fireplace, look at the bathroom! A divan perched beside the spa. Dark and decadent. This is definitely a bachelor’s pad in the snow, no? A private aprés-ski lair. Glühwein anyone?

Husked splendor

Medieval stone walls, bare ceilings and peeling stucco were all preserved with varnish to keep much of the original look of the space. Layers of stone are mounted on wooden boards, so the floor seems to merge with the wall. The architect also used white modular furniture to further brighten the interior.

Smart design

The’white cross’ in the middle of the apartment consists of the kitchen and bathroom. Open to all rooms, it forms central axis of the apartment. “Dedicated and peripheral areas are there to emphasize the boundary between new and old.

Vyurstman used his familiar approach to “non-binding architecture” and hides part of the premises . The bathroom is located behind a sliding wall, the kitchen is integrated into the white structure and childrens’ room turns into a bath when you remove the roof panels. There are options for reallocation of spaces and recesses so that children can choose where to sleep

The three bedroom house showcases an angular design partly hidden by a stone facade kept intact. An open plan kitchen combined with the dining and living room were constructed on the original part of the building. Beautiful stone walls merge with modern furniture to create an outstanding interior design. Replacement windows, sliding doors and skylights were carefully placed to ensure natural light in all rooms of the house. A rooftop deck offers beautiful panoramas of the city with its 360 degree view. Other features include a two car garage, cellar, gym, second living and study room. Tell us what you think about this creative mixture of styles or if you think something is missing in order to call this home desirable.

Reportedly costing $200,000, the loft makes wonderful use of space with a freestanding centralized wood veneer kitchen that contains a half bath and built-ins whose surfaces blend into the wall angles.

Materials like stone and wood bring a warmth to the modern design and the space is thoughtfully designed to accommodate media and work needs as well as living and lounging needs.

Nothing says ‘this room is special†like setting it apart both in terms of material choice and physical space. For residents of this ultra-modern loft, it is clear that the kitchen is the top priority; it is the core area around which the rest of the layout (also be the designers of GraftLab) revolves.

In plan, the angles of the kitchen define the adjacent spaces. In perspective, the ‘island kitchen†is both a unique built-in space in the center of the condo and a semi-freestanding partition that helps divide the adjacent living and dining areas that wrap around it.

Clad in high-grade wood veneer – in turn cut by thin and criss-crossing lines of black – the kitchen encourages movement through and around it, each perspective different from the last. Shelves and counters are also sliced out of the main volume, making it seem almost as if the space was hewn from a solid block of wood.

A small bathroom toilet space is also carved into the core kitchen box, accessed from the opposite site of the main cooking and food preparation spaces and hidden nicely in a cove that is almost invisible when closed (its door being made of the same sheets of plywood veneer that cover the rest of the zone). Across the way, and not for the shy, sits a bathtub which is surrounded by stone which also connects back into the flooring of the kitchen area – a strange but interesting design choice.

Note how the wall panel and console top slide open and closed to reveal the monitor and storage:

Recessed lighting and built in banquets help to make the most of the space:

Tile serves as both a bathtub backsplash and seamlessly blends into the kitchen flooring:

Technology is an integral part of the design in two ways,

Technology is used to control the environment. The inhabitants have the ability to alter the mood of the space in a number of ways via a central control station. Lighting, music, security, heating – air conditioning and the display of the media wall are all programmed as part of the user interface. The media wall (a wall tiled with cinema display monitors) serves as an extension of the computerâ€s desktop. The wall is a screen for viewing films and for gaming. The media wall also serves as a virtual art gallery, displaying the occupantâ€s photography collection.

Technology was used to design and fabricate the residence. The forms were produced via a computer model and fabricated using a CNC (computer numerically controlled) milling process. 65 plywood ribs (14′ high) were placed 12″ apart as an armature to which thin layers of gypsum wallboard and plaster were affixed to form the complex curves of the walls.

The raised floor is sheathed with a system of translucent honeycomb panels that allow for the LED lighting system below to morph from one color to the next. The building materials used were chosen for their ability to absorb or reflect the ever-changing color palette of the light. The raised flooring transforms into the lounge seating area and the desk of the workstation. A spa area is provided in the residence. Stone steps rise to the platform base of the monolith. The raised deck houses an air-bath tub, natural light, a stylized garden and a floating steel fireplace complete the relaxation zone.

Undulating curved walls form the womb-like enclosure that serves as the kitchen. A 15†long island of stainless steel houses the appliances and cabinets. The skin of the elliptical shaped room tears away revealing the bathroom concealed beyond. The walls are pierced with light sensitive tiles. The light portals absorb and redistribute the available light within the space providing another dimension within the environment. It is here where the overhead cantilevered stone appendage penetrates the embryonic form. The two distinct entities compliment, contrast, violate and coalesce one another as they become one.

This house is awesome. Clean, simple, beautiful…it has every element I love. The wide spaces combined with glass windows are great. The pool and patio are also really charming and the open spaces give the sensation that indoor and outdoor are integrated, really cool. Another nice place to live.

Check out Belzberg Architects website for further details about this and other projects. See you next time.

via architecture