A Balancing Act – House in Vaucluse by Lawless and Meyerson and MHNDU

Balancing openness and enclosure, House in Vaucluse sits enviably overlooking the landmarks of Sydney while retaining the familiarity of a family home. Lawless and Meyerson and MHNDU propose a series of interwoven refined spaces that consistently connect to the surrounding context through openings while feeling privately secured.

While the site’s frontage allows for generous views outward and toward the many landmarks of Sydney, proposing a form that would respectfully align with the existing neighbours and not disrupt their own visual access was key. The resulting home combines a modernist and linear approach, where contrast between colour, form and openness allow for a both privacy and enclosure to co-exist. As an anchoring in place, the home also becomes a gesture of permanence for its owners – a place to stay for an extended period, their ‘forever home’. Although needs change over time, and what they will be is hard to predict, allowing for an embedded flexibility amongst the approach sees a timeless and robust approach form the foundations of the brief.

The resulting home combines a modernist and linear approach, where contrast between colour, form and openness allow for a both privacy and enclosure to co-exist.

Set amongst one of the most desired areas of Sydney, House in Vaucluse is built by Scott Fairweather and sees an integration into the site and surrounds with curated landscape design by Glenn Connell. The stepping down across the site toward the views required a terraced approach, breaking the floor plan to allow for transitions and to retain connections both internally and outward the views. Sitting on corner allotment, ensuring privacy was imperative and became a design challenge of its own. The home then becomes comprises of two distinct parts, one that is more open and surrounded by glass and another than is more recessive and passively restive.

A similar approach to the encasing architecture is brought inward, with linear elements and contrast felt throughout. Curves are introduced to break up the linework and act to soften the interior experience. Polished plaster and specialised paint are used to carve out circular walls and skylights, allowing light into the centre of the home while also adding a sculptural expression in the process. An overarching sense of calm is felt throughout the, with tones and a shared neutrality binding the spaces. While the focus clearly lays on the views and the positioning of the home, layers of considered detailing and refinement elevate the everyday.

As an anchoring in place, the home also becomes a gesture of permanence for its owners – a place to stay for an extended period, their ‘forever home’.

House in Vaucluse combines a refinement with the familiar. Lawless and Meyerson and MHNDU optimise the unique siting of the home to its utmost advantage.