The concrete volumes that make up this property on Sydney’s seafront are arranged in a bridging formation to frame sculptures belonging to its art-collector residents .
Architects Clinton Murray and Polly Harbison, based in Melbourne and Sydney respectively, used massive expanses of concrete to develop a neutral-toned backdrop for the richly textured and brightly coloured artworks in the clients’ collection.
The void created between the overlapping blocks type a plinth for a figurative sculpture, although windows on the concrete facades frame artworks inside the residence.
“The type of the concrete creating creates a framed window from the street, via a sculpture court, to the water views beyond,” said the architects. “Artwork and views are shared with the street.”
The house stands on a hill opposite a beach in the Mosman area of Sydney. The seashore and sloping suburbs that surrounds it take their title from Balmoral Castle – the Scottish summer residence of the British royal family.
Named Balmoral House, the building itself is based on a piece by Isamu Noguchi, a Japanese-American abstract sculptor who also created furnishings for Herman Miller.
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The sculptor’s work focuses on a perform in between sound and void – a theme that led to the design of the house’s bridging form.
“Our customers are passionate supporters of the arts and they embraced conceiving of their property as a sculpture on the site,” explained Harbinson and Murray. “The initial layout was inspired by a operate by Isamu Noguchi, a sculpture that is a perform on sound and void.”
“Central to the style is how the developing contributes to this beautiful place and surroundings,” they additional. “Boxes shift orientation to react to views, the sun and privacy demands.”
The 4 concrete and glass blocks every single contain different functions. The largest features a broad glazed residing location. It spans two base blocks, containing a gym and bedrooms, to generate the bridge.
The blocks are also positioned at angles to suit the unevenly shaped site, as well as to provide the very best views of the shoreline and gardens.
Bars of concrete set into the gently sloping grounds provide shallow actions that weave among the sculptures.
Within, timber doors, floors and cabinetry aid to visually break up the rawness of the concrete surfaces. A staircase with matching timber treads links the floors.
The tall concrete stairwell generates a area for displaying huge-scale artworks, such as a hanging wire sculpture and a prolonged slice of timber with decorative markings.
Bedrooms, utility rooms and a fitness center are split in between the two blocks that type the base layer of the creating, even though the entrance on the upper ground floor supplies accessibility to the glazed lounge and dining area.
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The glazing slides back, linking the dining room to a elevated terrace with sea views.
A large master bedroom suite is housed inside the fourth block, offering panoramic views out in excess of the treetops.
Photography is by Brett Boardman.
Decrease ground floor strategy 
Upper ground floor plan 
First floor program 
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