Malvern House / Canny Design

Architects: Canny Design
Year: 2011
Photographs:Andy Gibson, Shannon McGrath , Gerard Warrener

Curated by ArchDaily

Text description provided by the architects. The initial challenge throughout this project was to locate the ideal site. 1B Spring Road, Malvern, is located across the road from a reputable local primary school and the expansive Spring Road Park, making it the ideal location for a family home, now and in the future. Lubelso’s Premium Double Storey Contemporary home was selected from the Lubelso Range for its broad appeal and suitability to the location. The modern, contemporary design was commensurate to the surrounding built form whilst making a subtle statement with its distinctive elegant lines and evident attention to detail. The house sits proudly amongst other grand homes in the area and thus, enhances the streetscape. One of the key challenges contained within the brief was to accommodate a two and a half metre fall from the back of the site to the front while retaining the integrity of the Lubelso design. Adaptations needed to be clever and architecturally-oriented, enhancing the home and the base plan.

The home is cleverly stepped from front to back across three simple levels at the ground floor, maintaining the flow and accentuating the sense of transition through the interior spaces. The adaptation to the site demonstrates the flexibility and adaptability of the Lubelso range of homes. Elegantly proportioned design and a flexible floor plan makes room for everyone, with three brilliantly integrated living zones, four spacious bedrooms and a study, as well as a two-car garage. In order to ensure the perfect design for the site and the intended usage, the base plan has several additions, including an in-ground cellar with automated trap door, plus an 8 x 3m swimming pool harmonised with thoughtful landscaping including irrigation, lighting and a decorative pond. Further enhancements include widening of the already sizeable garage, taken to the boundary to create additional storage for bikes and the home handy-man. An arrivals area complete with personal storage space for school equipment, tailors the home to family requirements. The rear alfresco entertaining area offers the perfect space for outdoor entertaining and family BBQs, sheltered by a gracious cantilever roof.

All challenges, such as the necessity of craning a pre-fabricated, concealed cellar basement into the rear of the home, were overcome through strong project management and problem-solving abilities of the experienced team. The result is an open and spacious residence with clean, sleek lines. The home sits perfectly in the modern urban landscape and combines sophisticated looks with cutting-edge building technology, materials and systems, including a Bose sound system, Airphone audio-video intercom and alarm system.

Malvern House / Canny Design - Windows, Countertop, Handrail, Beam, Deck, Balcony — © Shannon McGrath

The kitchen design is deceptively simple with clean lines and finishes, yet still manages to encapsulate an enormous amount of storage, perfect for a family home of this size. Full height 2-pac joinery expanding the width of the room is proportionally complimentary to the 3m ceilings and sliding doors that look out onto the beautifully landscaped garden and pool. The sliding doors allow the kitchen to expand to the alfresco area, complete with integrated BBQ capturing the true essence of Australian indoor / outdoor living.

The clever combination of built-in and integrated appliances have achieved a perfect balance of contemporary design and functionality. Corian was used on the bench top, with large under mount stainless steel sinks and chrome tap ware. A large 5-burner gas cook top has been added to the bench with a concealed range hood above within the overhead cabinets. The kitchen has been fit with integrated fridge and freezer, dishwasher, soft close mechanisms to all cupboards and doors, double wall oven and a walk in pantry. The overhead cabinets have been designed with a pivot hinge system, to allow for the door panels to line up with the under bench cupboards below, keeping all lines streamlined, yet allow for these to still maintain easy operation. The splashback is a picture window allowing the lush greenery that lines the garden to create a colourful living backdrop by day and an impressively lit landscape by night.

The island bench is the heart of the kitchen and dining zone, entirely clad in timber veneer to match and compliment the rich tones of the American Oak timber flooring. The detail to the edge of the bench top has created the perfect result with the fusion of both form and function, with the design allowing the island to stand alone like a beautiful piece of furniture to the space, again still capturing the perfect amount of storage. Wide thoroughfares surrounding the kitchen and island bench allow the space to be fully accessible and maintain comfortable transition from kitchen, to dining and living. To ensure the balance between both luxury and privacy was achieved, an external fixed louvre screen is attached to the front facade. However to soften the space, and ensure natural light is not compromised, a full height sheer motorised curtains has been installed to the bedroom which runs the length of the master retreat and finishing in the ensuite. The master ensuite was designed with a streamlined and timeless feel, with the aim of capturing the ultimate, luxurious bathroom experience. The space was maximised with the design of a cantilevered vanity, finished in clean and contemporary materials and details and providing ample bathroom storage.

Corian was used on the bench top, with 2-pack cabinetry and seamless finger pulls, all adding to the clean lines of the vanity unit. The vanity, complete with two Omvivo pond basins, round in shape and low in profile, together with bright chrome wall-mounted tapware finish the look of the simple yet stylish vanity. Full height silver mirror expanding the full width of vanity and to ceiling reflects light around the room and making the space seem even larger than what it already is. Stepping up into a ‘wet room’, the large shower space with chrome wall mounted overhead shower and full height frameless glass is inviting and lavish. A well-positioned free standing bath next to the shower sits strategically below an oversized custom made skylight allowing natural light to flood into the ensuite by day and capturing a ‘bathing under the stars’ experience by night.

Malvern House / Canny Design - Bathtub, Bathroom, Sink, Shower — © Shannon McGrath

In the main bathroom, the white bath integrates into a surrounding hob, creating a crisp contrast against the large format Basaltina Slimtech slabs that line the walls to full height. This graceful contrasting feature is bathed in natural light from an outlook window. The bottom half of the window is frosted for privacy, but the top allows for a view to the treetops when relaxing in the delightfully appointed space. To eliminate grout lines, Canny selected large 1m x 3m ceramic sheets from Signorino tile gallery, and lined them vertically on the walls to accentuate the high ceilings. Matching floor tiles were used to compliment the colour palette & finish to walls.