Littlewood by InForm

Designed and built by InForm in collaboration with architect Pleysier Perkins and interior design firm Golden, Littlewood embraces a strong connection to nature through floor-to-ceiling windows and the use of solid natural materials.

Located just 20 minutes south of Melbourne, Littlewood is a bespoke residence accommodating Jon McKimm, director at InForm, and Alicia McKimm, director at Golden. “The original brief was for a fairly typical four-bedroom family home,” says Stewart Youngblutt, design director at Pleysier Perkins. Between the collaborating companies, the key features of the project are agreed: the house champions solid natural materials for their longevity, maximises incoming sunlight and celebrates outdoor living.

 “To maximise the natural light on the ground floor, we’ve got floor-to-ceiling windows at the whole back facade of the home,” says Jon.

A side door “creates a more interesting journey to the centre of the house than a typical front door and hallway,” says Youngblutt. Upon entering the home, residents immediately see a timber-clad circulation core, to the right of which sits a kitchen-living-dining space linking to the garden, and to the left is a private lounge. “To maximise the natural light on the ground floor, we’ve got floor-to-ceiling windows at the whole back facade of the home,” says Jon. “Upstairs we’ve included full-height windows throughout, which makes upstairs not feel inferior to the ground floor by letting a lot of natural light in.” In addition, a large skylight is positioned above the central staircase, separating the main bedroom from the children’s spaces on the second level.

In terms of outlooks, every room of Littlewood contains open sightlines to lush vegetation. Downstairs, the circulation space around the main living area is enriched by views to both the front and rear of the home. A full-height sliding door in the study allows effortless access to the garden, in which an outdoor sofa provides an intuitive place to relax. “We incorporated nature into the design by keeping the established white cedar tree in the rear,” says Jon. “This tree protects us from the sun in the summer months and, as a deciduous tree, it drops its leaves and allows the northern light to come right into the back walls of the kitchen in winter.”

In terms of outlooks, every room of Littlewood contains open sightlines to lush vegetation.

“At Golden, one of our key considerations when selecting materials and finishes for a project is that they are highly functional,” says Alicia. “It’s really important that we use natural materials through the project, finishes that are raw, honest and patina over time or have this nice worn-in effect.” Instead of featuring powder-coated materials, the home showcases raw galvanised steel, stainless steel, anodised aluminium and natural metal finishes in every fixture, fitting and piece of hardware.

Though Littlewood utilises solid materials, it is imbued with a feeling of being soft and light. The aesthetic experience testifies to the joint efforts of InForm, Pleysier Perkins and Golden, which, committed to a single vision, achieve a bright and uplifting family home.

Design and build by InForm. Interior design by Golden. Architecture by Pleysier Perkins. Landscape design by Jack Merlo.