An Interplay of Form & Texture – North Bondi by James Garvan Architecture
Responding to the cultural context of its neighbourhood, North Bondi offers a vibrant and effervescent sense of relief from the expected urban fabric of its adjacencies. James Garvan Architecture brings a restraint palette to add textural movement and create a curiosity through materiality.
With a client who was also the builder, North Bondi is the result of an explorative and collaborative relationship. James Garvan Architecture brings a sense of restraint in palette and adds layers of textural movement and curiosity through the selected materiality and its composition. Sitting amongst a varied urban landscape, the resulting work considers how the surrounding housing stock no longer reflects the area’s culture and lifestyle. Boldly presenting to the street as a geometric and contemporary composition, the home’s silhouette offers a moment of relief in amongst the ever-present semi-detached homes of Bondi.
Built by TC Build and with the interiors designed in collaboration with Lisa Tackenberg, the project team had a longstanding relationship prior, and their combined dedication to the detailing and craft was embedded from the beginning. In response to the vibrancy of the neighbourhood and its active connection to the beach, the intent was for North Bondi to reflect those values, and present as a manifestation of its comprising parts. Fronted with the usual list of challenges, the team had to work to engage with the street, disseminate the traditional and ornate façade, add opportunities for natural light internally, connect to the landscape and provide a conscious and viable focus on sustainability.
One of the core priorities is a keen interest and engagement with sustainability. Photovoltaic cells provide 100% of the electricity for the home and with large rainwater tanks storing near to all of the home’s water. The operable façades and screening allow for natural cross ventilation and solar control and the use and implementation of low embodied energy materiality speaks to an emission-conscious approach during construction and beyond. The combined use of texture and pattern expresses the deliberately restrained palette to create shades, depth and movement in the architecture, binding the interiors to the exterior.
North Bondi brings an effortless and elegant form to its welcoming and vibrant neighbourhood. The insertion of voids internally punctuates the volume and allow natural light inward, creating a greater connection to its landscape and the world outside. Through the assembly of an ambitious and determined team, James Garvan Architecture has successfully crafted a home that captures the spirit and essence of Bondi, sharply refined and detailed through a contemporary and enduring lens.
