Connected to Place – Sandringham Skyhomes by Tecture and CBG Architects

Words by Bronwyn Marshall
Architecture by CBG Architects
Photography by Shannon McGrath
Interior Design by Tecture
Styling by Tecture

Inspired by their elevated positioning, Sandringham Skyhomes combine a heightened sensory experience together with an open and connected sensibility. Tecture and CGD Architects bring elements from the exterior architectural language into the interior lived experience, emphasising a sense of place.

Sitting amongst residences of similar prestige in Melbourne’s south, Sandringham Skyhomes offer an elevated sense of luxury combined with a casual openness that is a response to the home’s location in proximity to the coast. There is a natural and light-drenching softness to the spaces, which comes from encouraging natural light and allowing it to engage with the internal spaces. In an embrace of its siting, the exterior and interior architectural gestures reference the soft and tumbling forms of the sand dunes and waves of the ocean, taking on new forms in subtle ways. A calm yet quality-driven palette sees homes of interesting tactile engagements emerge, ensuring nuanced elements throughout. Tecture together with CGD Architects have created a series of homes that enhance the everyday, while ensuring a connection to place is created with meaning.

While elements of contrast aid in creating a sense of balance, subtlety is key.

Built by Camillo Builders, the penthouses are imagined as enduring homes that capture the contemporary spirit while also being deliberate in avoiding a rigid formality. Through openness, the interior connects to the exterior and the spanning views beyond, which emphasises the home’s location. Being penthouses, the expectation of elevation in all areas has been addressed and captured, which is then calmed through a welcomed connection to a softening natural approach. Hues from the nearby coast are brought inward and ensure a muted feel, cementing a connection between spaces.

While elements of contrast aid in creating a sense of balance, subtlety is key. The use of patterned and muted herringbone flooring throughout creates the base for which all of the other integrated objects float and interact. Emphasising the natural through stone and timber, texture and where variation is expressed in the process. With spatial planning deliberately arranged to increase the perception of space and heighten the ingrained sense of grandeur, the homes intentionally feel larger than they are. From the entry, stair, kitchen and bathroom, a similar design language unravels, with soft curves, linear planes of stone and metal details, which then elongate and increase the sense of scale, stretching the generosity of the homes.

Hues from the nearby coast are brought inward and ensure a muted feel is felt, cementing a connection between spaces.

Sandringham Skyhomes utilise an elevated crafted approach in bringing in elements from the outside. Tecture and CGD Architects have connected the homes to their enviable location and conjured places of lasting resonance in the process.