Architect Anthony Orelowitz has designed a home for his family that reinvents what it means to make a haven in the city.
Architect — Anthony Orelowitz | Words — Graham Wood | Photography — Elsa Young
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The paving mimics the patterns of tyre tracks arriving and leaving, transforming an ephemeral pattern of movement into an artistic detail, and signalling the extent to which the architecture and design is about movement and connections.
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From the entrance, a staircase ascends to the upper level. Another, smaller stair leads down to the kitchen and dining area. The skylight at the top of the double volume space opens to the sky. The floating lounge above is suspended form a slim hanger at its corner, which imparts a light, floating quality to the architecture.
ABOVE LEFT
On the lower level, the kitchen flows out seamlessly to a covered terrace with skylights. The stone floor, wall cladding and timber ceiling extend seamlessly from inside out, the tracks for the sliding door meticulously integrated into the finishes.
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The wood on the kitchen island mimics the aluminium element on the facade. The wood panelling at the back of the kitchen not only conceals storage, but a back-of-house kitchen and pantry.
GET THE LOOK WITH RESENE
Lines of sight carry uninterrupted through the living space to the vertical garden behind, and diagonally through the courtyard to the terrace below.
ABOVE
Seen from the upstairs entertainment areas, the transparency and permeability of the pavilion-like structure of the house reveals itself. Lines of sight carry uninterrupted through the living space to the vertical garden behind, and diagonally through the courtyard to the terrace below.
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Floating stairs lead from the internal courtyard to an upstairs entertainment area. The balustrades, designed with standard square steel tubing, have been converted into planters with succulents, transforming something mundane into a delight.
ABOVE
The upstairs lounge floats dramatically against the background of a vertical garden, suspended by a slim steel hanger. It is open to the upstairs paved terrace which leads on the one hand, to the swimming pool, and on the other to the outdoor entertainment area on the opposite side of the courtyard.
GET THE LOOK WITH RESENE
The house itself is essentially a series of pavilions, with vast sliding doors and screens that can be opened and closed to reconfigure a mosaic of spaces in countless ways.
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A smaller lounge area, also on the upper level against the backdrop of the vertical garden, creates a more intimate gathering space around the fireplace. This area relies on simplicity to create an innate sense of calmness. The house itself is essentially a series of pavilions, with vast sliding doors and screens that can be opened and closed to reconfigure a mosaic of spaces in countless ways.
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Three porthole windows on the underside of the swimming pool on the upper level cast a liquid light over a covered section of the courtyard below. The circular shape of the furniture echoes the shape of the windows, which contributes to the sense of calm created through the consistent and harmonious use of shape and form (not to mention colour).
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Plants cascade from the top level to the ground, creating a curtain of greenery and an almost tropical atmosphere while cleverly concealing the massive steel beams that enable the light, open, floating quality of the architecture.
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The bedroom and bathroom open onto their own internal courtyard, which in turn can be opened up to the main courtyard, or, alternatively, screened off to transform the bedroom area into a private suite. In the main en suite bathroom the marble showers appear as if they have been ‘inserted’ into the volume. The dropped ceiling creates a cocoon-like setting. The details are seamless – there is concealed storage behind the mirrors for example – and no extraneous detailing has been included.
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The upstairs guest suite opens onto a beautifully planted bathroom, which can be completely opened to the sky with an app-controlled automated skylight.
