CLEAR CUT

A group effort helped transform the owners' detailed wishlist into reality.

- CARLI PHILIPS

Of all things, it was a garage that won the contract for this home in Melbourne’s Brighton. The owners tasked three separate design firms to design a space that would fit four cars on street level within the site. Sync Architecture was awarded the project based on their scheme that included a double-car garage, a flexible, Palm Springs-style open carport and extra room for driveway parking. In addition to its practicality, the format gave the facade breathing room as opposed to dominating it with cars.

Replacing an old weatherboard dwelling one road back from the beach, the new build was set to be the owners’ “forever home”. Instead of providing reference imagery, they supplied architect David Tennant and interior designer Carly Tennant with a heavily detailed written brief. “It was articulate, thorough and well-written,” says Carly. “The specificity helped immensely with our direction.” Their functional requirements included a dedicated area to relax as parents, a zone for their kids to be with friends, a room to come together as a family and a “quiet space” by way of a library or study. 

Schematically, they wanted the look and feel of contemporary minimalism-meets-Palm Springs style. Fittingly, Carly was visiting Palm Springs the same year as working on the house and was inspired by many of the fixtures, fittings and materials such as the cedar ceilings, terrazzo flooring and Palladiana mosaic outside. Pared-back joinery in Flamed White veneer from Elton Group and ‘Cloudburst Concrete’ surface by Caesarstone made for a demure, less-is-more palette in muted finishes and neutral colours that would allow the furniture, accessories and art – selections curated by Flack Studio – to shine.