Pavilion House by Rob Kennon Architects

With a flowing and low-lying arrangement, Pavilion House is a light-filled dwelling tailor-made for family fun and immersed within pockets of considered greenery.

In search of a relaxed, outdoor lifestyle for their second home, the clients of Pavilion House enlisted Rob Kennon Architects to reimagine their expansive 1,300-square-metre site in coastal Victoria. Committed to drawing the best out of every brief and distilling that into a core quality, Rob Kennon Architects embraced a ruled-based approach to design, “creating a universal backdrop for life in the garden,” says founder Rob Kennon. This rigorous approach saw the design team analyse and develop the basic building elements of the single-level home into a suite of repeatable components, “deployed across the site in accordance with established datum lines”.

Natural cork flooring creates a soft yet resilient ground plane, its warm hue harmonising with American oak ceilings and exposed laminated veneer lumber (LVL) rafters that honour the roof structure to create rhythm and lend a sense of scale.

This notion is expressed in Pavilion House’s thermally efficient envelope of painted brickwork, which forms a continuous internal and external skin – “a system of walls with no hierarchy between inside and outside,” says Kennon. Natural cork flooring creates a soft yet resilient ground plane, its warm hue harmonising with American oak ceilings and exposed laminated veneer lumber (LVL) rafters that honour the roof structure to create rhythm and lend a sense of scale. This restrained palette creates a calming canvas, while its banded application celebrates horizontal uniformity, reaffirmed in the home’s divided floor plan.

Based off a central spine, private zones occupy Pavilion House’s southern frontage, with kids accommodated on one side and adults on the other. Generous communal spaces sit to the north, with two landscaped courtyards flanking the central spine, separating public zones from private. The simplicity of the resulting H-shaped plan ensures each volume is no more than one room deep before opening onto landscape. This arrangement “increases light and ventilation, creates acoustic separation and reduces the overall mass of the building,” says Kennon of integrating the basic tenets of passive solar design to improve indoor comfort.

“It’s all about the horizontal plane looking up to the skies, as opposed to vertical volumes, such as high ceilings and double-height voids. There’s an expansiveness in the horizontal, which feels unique.”

Reflecting on the long-ranging vistas afforded by this layout, “the view lines are quite panoramic,” he says. “It’s all about the horizontal plane looking up to the skies, as opposed to vertical volumes, such as high ceilings and double-height voids. There’s an expansiveness in the horizontal, which feels unique.”

American oak kitchen cabinetry maintains Pavilion House’s restrained palette while skilfully concealing appliances and services. The timber’s honey tone sits against classic white Carrara marble – favoured by the practice for its “enduring neutrality and strong, nondecorative presence.” Directional lights nestle between the rafters, complemented by a rectilinear skylight over the island and iconic Flowerpot pendant lights by Danish architect and designer Verner Panton. A double-sided brick fireplace wall affords seclusion to the living area, where a curation of lounges, armchairs and side tables embraces a layered and modernist sensibility.

A double-sided brick fireplace wall affords seclusion to the living area, where a curation of lounges, armchairs and side tables embraces a layered and modernist sensibility.

Broad, glazed sliding doors connect this public volume to a deep, north-facing verandah, complete with an in-built barbecue for outdoor dining and entertaining. A diffuser canopy sails overhead, gently filtering natural light with its fine, linear banding. “It holds the same quality as the interior, shifted to outside,” says Kennon. Beyond, a manicured lawn, garden and pool extend to the north, edged by a standalone retreat to unwind and socialise.

A concrete bench and open fireplace anchor the western edge, shrouded by hit-and-miss brickwork that creates a sense of lightness reminiscent of Palm Springs’ mid-century-modern architecture.

Rather than landscape infilling external spaces, Pavilion House’s low-lying built form appears dispersed within the garden, secondary to the verdant tones.

Private zones feature recessive materials: white matte wall tiles, honed aggregate floor tiles and brushed nickel tapware in the bathrooms and soft grey linen drapery in the bedrooms, “allowing the use of spaces to evolve with the user’s needs over time.” While simple in feel, the finishes’ meticulous proportion, scale and setting creates a tectonic quality, highlighting the design team’s resolution of material detailing, as well as lead contractor Smith Builders’ crafted approach. This sense of detail, artistry and restraint is further accentuated through the suite of understated timber furniture pieces – designed by Made by Morgen – that synchronise with the architecture and maintain the dwelling’s edited palette.

Rather than landscape infilling external spaces, Pavilion House’s low-lying built form appears dispersed within the garden, secondary to the verdant tones. Designed in collaboration with Jack Merlo, the garden eschews contextual, endemic species in favour of soft and structural foliage with perennial flowers, referencing the clients’ childhood. “The garden is deliberately constructed to convey a particular mood and emotive quality based on memory, which isn’t often explored as a landscape concept.”

The thoughtful arrangement embraces a reductive approach that strengthens and simplifies the architecture, inviting it to recede.

Stone paving, hit-and-miss brick screening and bespoke, circular concrete planters complement the cobbled bluestone driveway and forecourt, crafting visual synergies across the large site. Service spaces – including an outdoor shower, drying area and pool equipment store – are thoughtfully integrated and concealed from view, a hallmark of Rob Kennon Architects’ meticulous coordination.

The result is a highly resolved and elemental home with a breezy, outdoor spirit – an open-air pavilion that feels “appealing and universal to many users.” The thoughtful arrangement embraces a reductive approach that strengthens and simplifies the architecture, inviting it to recede.

Rather than focusing on individual elements, Pavilion House creates a constant, summery atmosphere with no hierarchy between spaces. “It’s not a journey that unfolds – it’s all there in front of you, with its consistent logic connecting the homeowners to light and landscape,” says Kennon.

Architecture by Rob Kennon Architects. Build by Smith Builders. Landscape design by Jack Merlo. Furniture by Made by Morgen.