On a late winter’s day with full sun and a brisk breeze, the sliding side panels of a vast Ampelite shed were open. A large almond tree – the first fruit tree to blossom – was vivid white and buzzing with bees. Shadows of birds moved across the roof with a clatter of claws. A pair of masked lapwings voiced their distinctive call. They typically inhabit large grassy areas near open water but have taken to nesting on flat roofs. The Longhouse roof isn’t flat, but perhaps it seemed like an expanse of reflective water from above. Within, all is glowing, leafy-green and very comfortable.

Perched high on a cliffside plot in Bowen Hills, a suburb just north of Brisbane’s CBD, La Scala is the private residence of Ingrid Richards and Adrian Spence of Richards and Spence. Drawing upon four years of collected ideas, the architects desired to create a house where the outside space acted solidly as its centrepiece. The resulting dwelling – a section of which was resolved by Ingrid with a sketch on a napkin while on holidays – evokes snapshots of the Mediterranean and Central and South America. Its bare masonry standing out under Queensland’s famed blue skies.

In an act of rebellion against the shrinking footprint of traditional green spaces among cityscapes, towering vertical gardens are clambering onto the agendas – and facades – of high-rise developments around the globe. And it’s a welcome sight. After all, the concrete jungles of the world are damn hot, pretty ugly and rather unpleasant to inhabit without them.

Locals who wander the foothills of Mount Coot-tha in Queensland, Australia remark that the distinctive, textured brickwork at Couldrey House is akin to sedimentary rock, tree bark or corduroy fabric. Wildly more playful and sweet-toothed with their words, “children say it is cake with icing,” says architect Peter Besley, who designed the recently built home for a member of his own family.

Defined by its colossal curves, scalloped detailing and coved rear benchtop, the Expansive Kitchen boasts all the hallmarks of Melbourne architecture outfit Kennedy Nolan. But this certainly isn’t a cookie-cutter response to the client's brief, explains practice principal Rachel Nolan. “Every approach we take for kitchens is always new,” she says. “We try not to ever roll out just what we’ve done before.” The client in this instance was Australian company Laminex and the challenging brief called for the brand’s range of laminates to be put to the test in innovative and exciting ways by Rachel and practice co-principal Patrick Kennedy.

The colonial shophouse buildings of Singapore, so-named due to the shared retail and residential functions, evolved from the early 19th century. With a restricted budget and only four months to complete the project, MOD opted to blanket Canvas House with an all-white veil, a brave move that Colin says, “blurs the distinction between new and […]

Subiaco House, however, is far from cliché. Designed and coordinated from nearly 4500 kilometres away by Brisbane-based architecture practice Vokes and Peters, the two-storey family abode is located on a prominent corner block and wears a distinctive bell-shaped ‘top hat’ clad in petite terracotta shingles. At ground level, the suburban home engages politely with the […]

Appearing like a mirage in the metropolis, the concrete house is situated in a Singaporean landed housing estate that hails from the 1980s. Zoom out and within a 1.5-kilometre radius the new dwelling is surrounded by typical low- and high-rise housing estates. Within the same radius, Stark House also rubs shoulders with Changi Prison, Changi […]

Since early January when the awards program opened to submissions, many, if not most, aspects of daily goings-on around the globe are markedly different from those that surrounded last year’s announcement. But one key message remains the same: Architizer’s commitment to highlighting the most pressing issues facing architecture and design today. News highlights The Architizer […]

When Monique and Scott Woodward of WOWOWA Architecture first imagined Merri Creek House, their overriding design ambition was to make “the familiar strange and the strange familiar”, a fitting concept for this out-of-the-ordinary home where modern and gothic influences intersect in the most wondrous and playful way. Built by Atma Builders, Merri Creek House is […]