StudioFour's White-On White House
Imagine a home that seamlessly blends indoors and outdoors - a home that is easy on the eye without any distracting features.
24/10/2020
Wanting a home that would provide a calm retreat and a sanctuary for a busy family, the clients approached StudioFour, one of Australia's leading architects, to design a house that was understated and that's exactly what they got.
This white house might appear bland and sterile to others, but to a professional couple and their children, this home does away with distractions and focuses on what is important. The central goal of the design was to incorporate a garden setting within the structure, one that seamlessly blended indoors and outdoors.
The entire structure revolves around a central garden and hugs an enclosed swimming pool, with a split down the centre of the structure to allow for air and light flow. By focusing the building towards the centre of the lot, the inhabitants are closed off from adjoining neighbours and this provides visual privacy, no matter where in the house you are.
No matter which room you find yourself in they are all a blank canvas intended to soothe and calm the senses. Every room in the home brings the outdoors indoors with the planting of indigenous trees around the property.
The open plan flow throughout allows light to flow through the rooms from one zone to another. The great room features a comfortable sitting room that leads into an open plan kitchen and dining space - all surrounded by floor-to-ceiling glass sliders. The windows are fitted with electronic blinds to enable full control over the amount of light flowing into the house.
By using a monochromatic colour palette inside the home, the emphasis is focused on lack of detail rather than attention to detail. The restrained palette is further enhanced by the muted colour scheme used for decorating the interior. Pieces are not grand in scale or bold in colour but fill up the space without distraction.
With all rooms being focused outdoors, they feel spacious and airy, relaxing and calm, letting cool breezes naturally cool down the interiors.
In the kitchen and pantry, there is a place for everything - and everything has its place. Nothing looks out of place, spaces are clean and uncluttered and one achieves a feeling of relaxation simply by being there.
The pantry, located just off the kitchen, allows easy access to supplies, with everything labelled and tagged for simplicity.
Within the home, there are places where work or study become the focus, again without distraction, with clean lines and wood accents to soften the overall feel.
Just like the rest of the room, sleeping and bathing areas are decorated with minimalist simplicity and give off an atmosphere of serenity. Light wood flooring in the bedroom keeps the colour palette light to give one the feeling of floating.
As one walks through the house you can't help but feel that you are within a sanctuary, one surrounded the garden seen through the windows and doorways. The central passage that goes through the building gives you a line of sight from one end to the other.
