Tucked on an unassuming corner of a typical town, the aptly dubbed Profile House here in Melbourne, Australia may be small, but what it lacks in size it more than makes up for in character! Black Line One X Architecture Studio was commissioned to transform a standard bungalow into something truly spectacular. The front face of the house is like others in the area, but interestingly, its most notable feature stands out from the side view. The compact house features an interesting undulating roof that juts up and dips down in what looks more like a landscape than a roofline.
This house is located in Brunswick East, which is a semi-industrial area where brick and corrugated iron factories mingle with residences – typical dark Californian Bungalows, one of which the clients called “home.” In their vision for a dream home, the homeowners were led by their professional paths – one specializing in environmental site characterization and remediation, and the other in the field of alternative medicine. The architects were brought in to transform the existing house into an open, airy, updated design with a connection to its surroundings, both the industrial and the natural.
The small scale of the house blends seamlessly with its low-lying neighbors, as does its white horizontal siding on the front facade and attached volume. Beyond that, the house is wrapped in a boundary wall of vertical timber boards, starting low and rising up as you move to the more interesting part of this design. This is where the house takes a dramatic turn. The roof zigzags its way between the front and the back of the house, creating a most interesting profile that begs the question, what does that look like from the inside?
Past the front door and the exterior walls, the rising and falling ceilings echo the different heights and angles that characterize the home’s exterior silhouette.
From the architects, “The defining character of each internal space is the high undulating ceilings, these, assisted by a central wharf-decking courtyard and smaller light-well to the west, allow natural light to penetrate the entire plan. This strong internal vertical profile extrudes to form the western elevation. Clad with rough sawn overlapping Victorian Ash timber, this distinct contour continues along the western boundary as the defining architectural expression of the Profile House.”
The undulating roof was the perfect opportunity to introduce some skylights, flooding interiors with sunlight and complementing the wall of windows overlooking the deck.
Interiors are contemporary and crisp, with bright white walls and warm wood framing the many windows and doors, finishing the floors and making an encore appearance in thoughtful furniture selections. Folding glass doors open the kitchen and dining area to the deck, bringing warm light and a cool breeze to meal time.
The home wraps the deck, enclosed in glass walls and offering an open view from the inside out, and outside in.
Whether you fold open the glass doors and pull up a seat, or just drag the whole chair outside, this private piece of nature is a wonderful thing to call your own, smack dab in the center of a city.
Step out f the kitchen and onto the deck, where two steps down and about 15 across lead you to another glass wall bordering a library. The library boasts a wonderfully slanted ceiling that slopes its way down at the far wall.
This minimalist palette of white ceilings and walls, with wood floors and frames is simple, letting the interesting ceiling play the starring role.
Wide window, slanted ceiling, white and wood – the bathroom is a spa-style reflection of the house as a whole. We love its contemporary touches of glass shower walls, polished chrome bath hardware, and tons of natural light.
By day or night these bright white interiors simply glow!
Here’s the floor plan of the house:
And here are some sections:
Black Line One X Architecture Studio
via Arch Daily
photo credit: Peter Bennetts