Palm Springs-Inspired Aesthetic in Tasmania - 7 Ivy Lane by HONED Architecture + Design

Inspired by Californian modernist architecture, 7 Ivy Lane by Michael Bernacki from HONED Architecture + Design juxtaposes a light and breezy exterior with dark, refined internal spaces.

The street-facing elevation is made up of flat, angular butterfly roofline, which provides vast internal ceiling-to-floor space, as well as white solid stacked masonry walls. The architectural breeze block screen completes the Palm Springs aesthetic along the walkway to the front door, creating a veranda and a private outdoor space on the inside.

The architectural breeze block screen completes the Palm Springs aesthetic along the walkway to the front door.

7 Ivy Lane resembles a shell – open and broad at the front entrance with rooms that curl around an internal courtyard. The colour of the house continues the Palm Springs-inspired theme with a white exterior, which is offset and contrasted with the jet-black walls, ceilings, and floors of the interior.

Inside, while the colour scheme is dark, the vast windows opening onto both the internal courtyard and external outdoor spaces, bring in an abundance of light and the high ceiling create a sense of openness. All the rooms of the house are exposed to the courtyard thanks to the surrounding corridor, allowing light inside without compromising privacy. The hallway acts as a contemporary art space that displays to the clients’ extensive art collection and anchors the home as an open living space, including the large outdoor area in the middle of the house.

This outdoor private space is minimal and straightforward, “decorated” with the windows that allow glimpses into the house. A fire pit and comfortable outdoor furniture enable the area to be maximised during the colder months.

7 Ivy Lane by Michael Bernacki from HONED Architecture + Design juxtaposes a light and breezy exterior with dark.

The internal rooms all are dominated by the darkness, from the black polished concrete floor to the black geometric ceilings, but equally are balanced with lightness thanks to the windows that fold open. In the kitchen, a feature wall of black circular tiles offers textural disruption to the overwhelming minimalism of the interior, and when the kitchen window-walls fold up, the room is exposed to the surrounding nature to become an indoor/outdoor space.

The internal rooms all are dominated by the darkness.

Client Anna Michael decorated the interiors. Anna brings texture into the home with leather couches, wooden furniture, antique writing desks and mirrors, which she balances with the simple pieces of art, introducing carefully curated sections of colour and pattern. The bathrooms and laundry contrast the rest of the internal rooms of the house, matching the bright white of the exterior.

Through the use of internal windows and architectural breeze block walls, HONED Architecture + Design creates space and light in a Californian modernist architectural style, while still resolving the interior spaces into a refined yet cosy home for the clients.