A Bold Frontage – The Quarry House by Finnis Architects
Through restrained rectilinear rigour, Quarry House engages with its corner location with a strength and boldness that anchors it to the site. Finnis Architects creates a tension between open and closed elements, resulting in a private and reclusive home that opens freely to its rear.
Sitting proudly on its corner allotment in Brighton, in the south of Melbourne, the bold and solid front that comprises Quarry House provides a protective outer shell to a contemporary and openly connected home that sits at its rear. Utilising a grid pattern, bluestone pavers wrap the external shell of the home, making a departure from the more traditional use of the material in such a residential setting and instead offering a reinterpretation of the form and a textured nuance through the surface application. Finnis Architects uses proportion, scale and materiality to create a home of lasting character, envisioned to capture the spirit of the growing family who inhabit it.
As an open and connected family home sitting behind the veil presented to the streetscape, the lived experience becomes a free-flowing series of generous spaces, intertwined through their carefully curated spatial planning. With interiors conceived in collaboration with Carmel Ludica, Quarry House was built by The Rattray Group and is founded on being one part timeless while still maintaining a connection to modern contemporary sensibilities. In establishing a unique formal identity in its varied residential setting, the resulting home fulfils its purpose as the embodiment of its owners, while also respectfully acknowledging the heights and scales of its surrounding context.
As a place to convene and gather, the landscaped rear and side spaces allow a full embrace of the established green and outdoor spaces. The interior living, dining and kitchen spaces then open generously through large floor to ceiling glazed openings, dissolving the threshold of the built envelope. The emphasis on a linear approach sees large columns create opportunities for larger and uninterrupted spans internally, opening up and enlarging otherwise restrained spaces. The internal generous spacing and double height volumes create a balance of compression and release, aligning with the area’s function and aiding in subtly delineating spaces. A matched low maintenance and weighted materiality is used internally, with the use of timber introduced as an element of familiar warmth and texture, softening interactive elements and welcoming interaction.
As its family grows, Quarry House is intended to bear the patina of time, while being the foundation for many gatherings and memories over time. Finnis Architects has created a lasting and relevant homethat, through bold and unornate gestures, should see the connection between people and place only continue grow with strength over time.
