TRUE TO FORM

This new home’s innate sense of gravitas and material sincerity stems from the local architecture and the family who live here.

- LINDYL CRABB

Rubbing shoulders with modernist mansions in a suburb known for its architectural history, this recently built Toorak home has taken to the residential dress code with aplomb. According to interior designer David Flack of Flack Studio, who was engaged to collaborate on the project in 2016 alongside architect Richard Blight of Blight, Blight & Blight, the venerable local vernacular was a rich source of inspiration, one that has bestowed the reverential design of this brand-new residence with a sense of gravity beyond its years.

Their design called for dual perspectives – while the exterior deferentially looks outward to the surrounding landscape, the interiors are more intimately informed by the owners, a couple with three young adult children. “The brief was for a considered family home that would get better with age, that fitted into the context of Toorak and maximised the aspect to the outside,” David says. “As it was a new build, we could create the perfect spatial planning to support their lifestyle,” he adds. “This tight-knit family adores cooking, reading and time together so the design focused on these three moments.” Giving the family enough space to move and grow was essential and the house’s voluminous proportions more than meet this requirement. David says this volume also maximises the asymmetric site without overwhelming it, all while “honouring the classic 1950s architecture surrounding the property”.