Contemporary Calm – Gould Street by Martin Friedrich Architects

Imagined as a play on form and volume, Gould Street sees large cantilevers intersect, carving out voids and external rooms that become extensions of the home. Martin Friedrich Architects combines restraint and controlled lines to propose a contemporary, calming home.

Located in the coastal locale of Brighton, in Melbourne, Gould Street is designed around the interplay of contrasts, expressed through a series of bold statements. Referencing a modernist restraint, the controlled geometries that comprise the resulting home speak to a certain rhythm and repetition, endowing a sense of calm. Through the use of cantilevered forms, elements jut out and extend the interior. As the comprising parts come together, a natural creation of outdoor spaces emerges within the voids that are carved out from the whole. Martin Friedrich Architects brings a controlled restraint together with a series of refined details to create a contemporary home with nods to the classic, where texture and subtleties add interest throughout.

Located in the coastal locale of Brighton, in Melbourne, Gould Street is designed around the interplay of contrasts, expressed through a series of bold statements.

Built by Waterside Projects, the three-storey abode is carefully surrounded and enriched with landscape by Kate Ardlie Design. The access to the natural from within the built was essential, offering a balance to the linear and bold gestures of the home. Through large glazed elements and the carefully considered placement of smaller gardens throughout, that connection is accessible and plays out in a number of differing scenarios. A feature stone wall acts as the spine that runs the centre of the home, which all other zones and volumes are hinged off of. The curved stair sits at one end and acts as both a sculptural feature as well as an experiential element of moving between floors vertically. Each of the surfaces within the home take inspiration from this main stone wall, where enhanced nuances and textures are celebrated.

At the centre of the home is a three-story void that acts as the heart of the home’s functions. Allowing visual connectivity, the void has a grand presence due to its scale. A muted monochromatic palette sees a spectrum of grey finishes, natural stones and refined metal details add depth to each of the spaces. The hard and reflective nature of the polished concrete, for example, is balanced by the soft buttery movement in the plastered walls and paintwork. The home houses four bedrooms, each with the same matched generous spirit of the home, and each imbued with the same overriding calm and composure.

Referencing a modernist restraint, the controlled geometries that comprise the resulting home speak to a certain rhythm and repetition, endowing a sense of calm.

Gould Street is both classic and modern, while its simplicity in formal elements matches the disposition of its near-coastal location. Martin Friedrich Architects has created a home with considered relevance – one that will provide the ideal backdrop for the lives of its occupants and their milestones.

Through the use of cantilevered forms, elements jut out and extend the interior.