Open House Melbourne – This Weekend!

With Open House Melbourne fast approaching, we wanted to share a glimpse of some of the buildings that feature as part of this year’s program. Now in its 11th year, Open House Melbourne will invite members of the public to consider the design, development and growth of our city and encourage curiosity in Melbourne’s built environment on Saturday 28 + Sunday 29 July. You have haven’t explored Open House, then I absolutely suggest you do this weekend!

Building sites open on the Weekend have increased to 224 sites with 87 new buildings in the program. In the City of Melbourne alone, 84 buildings will be open.

Architecture and Interior Design practice K2LD’s newly refurbished office space over three levels at 49 Exhibition Street, Melbourne, focuses on the theme of integration, collaboration, functionality and intimate creativity. In the spirit of some of the pioneers of modern architecture such as Mies and Corb; fluidity, seamlessness and personalisation are optimised in this new space.

The hero of the studio is the expansive boardroom which contrary to the expectation of sterility in such a formal room is softened through materiality in the form of boomerang lights, plush carpeting, sheer linen drapes and timber ceilings. “As designers, we have the ability to greatly influence how a person experiences and moves through space, and as such we deliberately set the tone of the boardroom to debunk the traditional corporate ambiance that would be expected,” says K2LD director Tisha Lee.

The transparent and inclusive environment of the office allows for activity-based working through formal and informal break-out areas, large open-plan zones and a central kitchen and dining hub which acts as the Studio’s focal point, much like a kitchen in the heart of the home. A unique gallery space on level one also allows for gatherings and talks, and offers an opportunity for artists to exhibit their work, promoting multiple layers of creativity within the organisation.

The Triangle House is a new home in Toorak, designed for a family of five. The clients’ brief requested a ‘beach house’ in an urban context with qualities including natural light, robust materials and a strong connection to the landscape. The architectural form is conceived as an elevated sinuous element, a timber-clad boat sitting on a rocky breakwater. The corner prow of the upper floor projects into the street, anchored by the dark recessive ground-floor mass. The massing of the new house complements its neighbours. The front building setback enables the landscape to mediate the zone between footpath and façade, while the gaps in the fence palings enable a filtered dialogue with the activity on the street. The Triangle House is a thoughtful architectural response to a challenging site, creating a unique and small-footprint home for its growing family.

The New Academic Street project has recently transformed the heart of the RMIT University city campus, creating new facilities to deliver better services for students. The project has opened the campus to the surrounding streetscape, creating light-filled laneways, glass-roofed arcades, rooftop urban spaces, outdoor terraces, light wells, and efficient walkways between floors. The Swanston Library will double its capacity and provide more than 2,000 study spaces across multiple floors with access to fresh air and natural light. Three new entrances off Swanston Street lead to the central RMIT Connect which brings all the student services into one location and providing a more timely service to students. An extra 1,000 seats will be opened across a mix of innovative food, beverage, and essential retail spaces. A new media precinct will include state-of-the-art TV studios fitted with the latest broadcast technology, 4K UHD capabilities and more — enabling a new level of industry engagement for students, community stakeholders, and alumni. The New Academic Street project boasts the design prowess of five separate architecture firms, including, Lyons, MvS Architects, NMBW Architects, Harrison and White, and Maddison Architects.

Labassa is an outstanding Victorian-era mansion with opulent architectural features. Originally called ‘Sylliott Hill’, it was renamed ‘Ontario’ in the 1880s reflecting the Canadian heritage of its new owner Alexander William Robertson. Robertson was a prominent Melbourne businessman who was a co-owner Cobb and Co. company. He had the mansion redeveloped in the French Second Empire style by commissioning the German-born architect, John A. B. Koch, to remodel the house into a 35-roomed mansion. The interior features gilt embossed wallpapers, ornate stained glass and a rare trompe l’oeil ceiling. Renamed Labassa in 1904, it was home to Melbourne’s elite until 1920 when it was divided into flats. The residents included Hollywood’s most famous Australian silent-film star and other colourful bohemians. Labassa is the most lavish of the few surviving 19th century mansions and the magnificently restored interiors of the main rooms again impress all its visitors.