A Machine for Living In – Brighton House by Tim De Natris and Chloe Skurrie

Skilfully modulating its relationship to the street and landscape, Brighton House by Tim de Natris and Chloe Skurrie is a bright and spirited home designed to nurture family life.

Nestled in the heart of Melbourne’s bustling bayside locale, the project is a finely crafted ‘forever home’ for a young family of six. The clients’ desire for a light-filled and spacious home was embraced by the design team, who sought to capitalise on the site’s coastal atmosphere while ensuring a sense of privacy and comfort. “The clients spoke about wanting an open house,” comments architect Tim de Natris, “but on a suburban corner site, there was also a distinct need for enclosure.” While these aspirations appeared to be in conflict, Tim de Natris and Chloe Skurrie’s architectural response successfully tempers the experience of inside and out.

Stepping through the walled perimeter, the lower level is conceived as a Miesian ‘glass box’ raised on a weighty stone plinth, allowing the family to experience the site in its entirety.

The façade draws on the coastal vernacular to establish a confident modernist sensibility – sleek, elemental forms articulated in crisp white. Stepping through the walled perimeter, the lower level is conceived as a Miesian ‘glass pavilion’ raised on a robust stone plinth, allowing the family to experience the site in its entirety. The solid foundation sails beyond the interior boundaries, granting a sense of seamlessness: “You start to lose where inside and outside starts and ends,” reflects Tim. This obscurity connects the interior with the lush textures of the pool and private garden, sensitively landscaped in collaboration with Myles Baldwin.

Inside, a central core housing the kitchen and scullery gives definition to the pavilion arrangement. Distinctive natural stone and stained-walnut joinery gives presence to this principal space, a place of gathering and entertaining surrounded by active communal areas. Light is abundant yet softly tempered by sheer curtains, while luminous chrome glazing suites and slender chrome columns gently reflect tones from the garden and sky.

“You start to lose where inside and outside starts and ends.”

Above, the private spaces are shrouded with battened screens that allow the family to adjust the building envelope in response to seasonal changes and privacy needs; “an operable skin determined by the user,” Tim describes. The shifting screen gives plasticity to the otherwise sleek façade, creating a dynamic and playful quality to the architecture. “In many ways it’s a functional response,” he admits, “but the changing, dappled light it filters throughout the day has created a beautiful, poetic outcome.”

Indeed, the interplay of light throughout the home binds the experience of space to the ephemeral qualities of light and shade, connecting the family with natural circadian rhythms. Crafted light wells are carved throughout the home, eschewing heroic ‘moments’ to instead celebrate the delight of natural daylight and landscape as a continuous and considered journey. Framed garden vistas bring outdoor space into the reading of the interior, creating a sense of generosity and scale.

The rich and spirited palette of finishes, comprising rich russet reds, pale blue velvets, boucle and quilted fabrics, contrast and coalesce with the smooth and restrained surfaces of the architecture.

Throughout, circulation space serves a dual purpose, optimising storage and utility at every opportunity. Stained walnut wardrobes to the master suite double as a headboard and define the passage, while architectural gestures sail into the interior to cleverly define space inside and out. The quality of light, tempered by screens and sheer drapery, gently accentuates the restrained palette of natural finishes. Exploring texture, richness, warmth and tactility, polished plaster sits alongside honed marble, stained walnut and chrome, crafting a sophisticated and enduring atmosphere.

Designer Brahman Perera sought to parallel these qualities in his thoughtful curation of furniture, lighting, art and decor. Given the glazed perimeter of the lower level, “there was an overtone of these pieces needing to be sculptural, as they’re considered from all angles,” Brahman reflects. Pieces such as the Nuvola 09 armchair by Gervasoni have a striking presence from the garden, forging stronger linkages between interior and exterior. The rich and spirited palette of finishes, comprising rich russet reds, pale blue velvets, boucle and quilted fabrics, contrast and coalesce with the smooth and restrained surfaces of the architecture, defining particular moods as one traverses the home. “I wanted to engage with how the clients aspired to live in the space,” he says. “Consideration of the family’s changing needs and the longevity and sentimentality of the pieces was paramount, as was the ability for the family to continue layering and experimenting with the space.”

A tactful response to the unique ‘urban versus coastal’ context, Brighton House is a distinctive family home that belongs to its context. The confidence and legibility of the architecture fuses seamlessly with the interior approach, creating warmth and spirit with practicality at its heart. A canvas for family life underpinned by quality, practicality and pleasure – as Tim expresses, “it’s all considered as one.”