A roof terrace and pool with views over Melbourne's skyline feature at the Grange Residence, a marble-clad house by Australian studio Conrad Architects.
Located in the suburb of Toorak, the four-bedroom dwelling was commissioned by interior designer Lauren Tarrant, who also created the home's interiors.
Conrad Architects has completed the Grange Residence in Melbourne
Melbourne-based Conrad Architects described the Grange Residence as a "split form of minimalist stone blocks", which are clad in acid-etched marble.
Its design was informed by local planning regulations that required different elevation heights on each boundary.
The house is clad in acid-etched marble
Inside, the living spaces are organised to create an "intuitive and rhythmic journey", with a gradation from private spaces to bright, open areas with outward views via the home's central stair.
This staircase, designed as a "sculpted element suspended within the otherwise rectilinear arrangement of spaces," has been finished in polished plaster and is illuminated by a skylight.
The house is planned around a central stair illuminated by a skylight
"Much of the planning was dictated by the topography, yet we sought to accentuate the experience of entering the house, moving through it, and the view being revealed," explained the studio's founder Paul Conrad.
At the entrance, a small stair leads to the upper ground floor, immediately framing views out across a large living and dining area that opens onto a terrace with an infinity pool.
The staircase is designed with a sculptural aesthetic
"The home's entry floor level is intentionally raised to generate a sense of 'stepping up' to a lookout," explained the studio.
Below this is the lower ground floor, which contains the home's bedrooms, and the basement level that comprises a garage, gym and utility room.
"Bedrooms are nestled below the entry level, creating a quiet sanctuary of private spaces, each opening of the landscape," added the studio.
The home's upper floors are given over to large living, dining and office spaces that open onto a pair of stepped roof terraces.
An infinity pool and roof terrace looks out over Melbourne
Bronze-coloured metal has been used for the frames and shutters of the upper-level openings and is also used to surround the rotating glazed doors that lead out onto the terraces.
Internally, concrete, stone and polished plaster have been used to create sleek and minimal spaces, complemented by pale furnishings and brass hardware.
Bronze-coloured metal frames the windows and doors
Conrad Architects is an architecture studio founded by Conrad in Melbourne in 2008. Previous projects by the studio include a Melbourne townhouse that has been divided into distinct living spaces for different times of the day.
Argentinian architects Nicolás Barrionuevo and Juan Villanueva have completed an isolated home in Luyaba that is wrapped by a terrace with operable wooden screens.
The Obra Luyaba project is located in Traslasierra Valley in Córdoba and occupies a steep and isolated lot. "Getting there requires taking some precautions, and the notion of neighbour is not present," said the architects.
The house has sweeping views of the landscape
Sweeping views of the mountainous surroundings are the greatest asset of the project, and enhancing this experience was the focus for Barrionuevo Villanueva Arquitectos, which is based in Córdoba.
"The value of the site is nature, which has the leading role as soon as the paved road is abandoned," said the architects.
Operable wooden screens wrap the building's facade
"The work becomes present between the winding road, the mountain topography and the vegetation. Once there, the project takes centre stage for a moment, only to immediately return it."
"You can't compete with that environment," they explained.
The home is entered via a concrete staircase
Elevating the main living spaces gave the home better views of the landscape while creating a covered terrace at ground level with an outdoor kitchen.
The 270-square-metre home is entered via a concrete staircase that extends from the driveway.
Barrionuevo Villanueva Arquitectos elevated the house's living spaces
This leads to the main level, which is an L-shaped volume that contains the bedrooms in one leg, and the public areas in the other.
The communal spaces extend out towards the mountainous scenery and are wrapped with full-height wooden shutters. These can be opened or closed to provide shade and prevent overheating through the glass facade.
Shelving is formed from warm wooden blocks
An open kitchen and a dining room at the back of the house are visually separated from the main living space by a fireplace. The structural concrete used for the roof is visible throughout the interiors.
"The structure supports the loads, defines the space, the uses and the material expression," said the architects. "In collaboration with the wooden sieves, [the concrete structure] conditions and influences the sunlight and the views."
Perpendicular to the communal spaces are the home's three bedrooms, which are laid out along a corridor.
The intersection of both volumes contains a terrace, with an additional staircase that leads to a pool uphill from the main residence.
Exposed concrete defines the project
In addition to the exposed concrete, light-coloured tiles serve as an interior and exterior floor finish, lending some continuity between both areas.
These creamy tones are offset by warm wooden accents used for furniture, shelving, and the battens that shroud the living spaces.
In a project called Silo Living, Van Beers transformed the disused agricultural structure into a two-level living space, which she believes could function as a short-term home.
The project converts a seven-metre-high grain silo
While silos are not ideally proportioned for living, they offer some unique benefits. They can often be installed in rural locations without planning permission.
They are also readily available in the Netherlands as a country-wide reduction in livestock has resulted in lower demand for grain, leaving many of these structures redundant.
The designer had to add doors, windows and floors
Van Beers hopes to inspire new uses for these disused silos, which are otherwise costly to dispose of and impossible to recycle.
"You always see them in rural areas," she told Dezeen. "I always really wanted to go inside one, so thought it could be a nice place for a temporary stay."
Van Beers created two storeys inside the silo
To test her concept, the designer found a seven-metre-high silo for sale online. "I thought, if I want to do something with a silo then I have to just buy one and see what's possible," she said.
After explaining her plans to the owner, he let her take it away for free.
A spiral staircase and deck provides access
Originally there was no way for a person to enter the silo, so Van Beers started by changing that.
She installed a set of double doors, then added a spiral staircase and access deck.
To make the most of the space inside, she installed two floors, connected by a mini staircase and ladder.
The lower level is a living space, with a ledge that functions as a space to eat or work.
A mini staircase and ladder connects the levels inside
The mezzanine above is a sleep space, so is entirely taken up by a mattress.
Both storeys now have projecting windows and there's also a skylight that functions as a lookout point.
Windows were added to both floors
"A cylindrical house is not something you see very often, so it was a bit of a challenge," said Van Beers.
Most of the adaptations use standard components, so could be easily replicated on a variety of silos. The designer hopes to inspire silo owners to get creative.
The windows project out, creating some additional space
"There are a lot of things I would change if I made another," she said, "but I'm really happy with this as a first prototype. A few people have slept in it already."
"If you have a bigger silo, you could use it as a living space for a longe amount of time," she suggested.
A porthole in the top creates a lookout point.
Van Beers created the project for her bachelors degree at Design Academy Eindhoven. She presented it at the graduation show, which took place during Dutch Design Week in October.
Our latest lookbook features ten home interiors with snug sunken lounges and conversation pits, proving that the retro architectural feature is making its comeback.
Peaking in popularity in the mid-twentieth century, conversation pits are lounge areas embedded within the floor of a larger room to create intimate spaces for people to gather.
Accessed by a small set of steps, they are traditionally lined with custom built-in sofas. However, many architects enjoying their revival are opting to fill them with free-standing furniture and statement fireplaces instead.
While creating more intimate spaces for their occupants, sunken lounges are useful tools for creating broken-plan interiors and the illusion of taller ceilings. They can also prevent furniture from obstructing outward views, forging stronger connections between homes and their surroundings.
Plump purple cushions fill this 13-square-metre sunken pit, which is the focal point of the living room in Pam and Paul's House in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains in California.
Craig Steely Architecture surrounded the seating with floor-to-ceiling glass doors, providing occupants with a cosy space from which to enjoy uninterrupted views of the steep wooded site.
This wood-lined conversation pit at Holiday Home by Thingvallavat was designed by KRADS to separate the lounge space from the adjacent dining area.
Fitted out with pared-back leather furniture and a minimalist coffee table, it helps to retain focus on the views out across Iceland's Lake Thingvallavatn, which is framed through large panels of glazing.
A curved concrete plinth wraps around this circular sunken lounge, which Wood Marsh created at Towers Road House in Melbourne's Toorak suburb.
Accessed by two small steps, the pit is fitted with a polychromatic carpet and red sofas that are orientated towards a large suspended fireplace on one side.
A grey L-shaped sofa and wooden cabinetry fold around the edge of this seating area, which architecture studio Echlin has sunk into the basement of a London mews house.
The space was introduced as part of a broken-plan layout, which loosely demarcates the lounge area from the kitchen behind it without creating individual rooms.
This sunken lounge sits on a semi-open deck that is enclosed by the open-plan lounge, kitchen and dining room at the Shore House in New York's Suffolk County.
It was designed by Leroy Street Studio as a space for the homeowners to host large parties and events and is complete with a large masonry hearth and fireplace surrounded by black ceramic tiles.
The lowered sofas in this conversation pit are covered in cushions that match the colour of the carpet at the House on the Street, a minimalist apartment in Barcelona by Arquitectura-G.
Sinking the lounge area helped to break up the apartment's open-plan interior and adds interest to the monochrome room.
This curved sunken lounge is situated in one wing of the House in Coombe Park, which studio Eldridge London created for a family on a verdant spot in Kingston-upon-Thames.
Distinguished by a transition from oak flooring to soft grey carpet, it is framed by a large bespoke sofa that follows its curves and is complete with a grey Bertoia Bird Chair by Knoll and a pair of Flower Tables by Swedese.
Gresford Architects planned this Victorian house extension in London around a sunken seating area that is lined with plush pink-velvet cushions.
Positioned alongside a winter garden and external terrace, it is designed for a cosy mid-century aesthetic. The velvet cushions match the coloured concrete that was used to construct the extension, which is exposed internally.
A conversation pit helps to break up the open-plan ground floor of the Truth North House, where there is also a kitchen, dining area and double-height atrium.
However, to create a sense of continuity between the spaces, they are all finished with the same grey terrazzo flooring and wooden wall panelling. The pit is completed with a curved grey sofa and a plywood cabinet.
Architect Simon Pole and graphic designer Annabel Dundas designed this small conversation pit for the guesthouse at their home on the bank of the Yarra River in Melbourne.
Accessed by four white steps, it is lined with wood and fitted out with grey cushions that set it apart from the dark grey floor tiles of the kitchenette beside it.
Kuanzhai Alley is the collective name for three parallel roads running through downtown Chengdu, encompassing Kuan Alley, Zhai Alley and Jing Alley.
The % Arabica cafe is set in Chengdu's Kuanzhai Alley district
The trio of streets dates back to the Qing dynasty. But since the early 2000s, it has become populated with a number of trendy shops, bars, restaurants and cafes including % Arabica, which now occupies a former home.
Informed by these bustling streets, BLUE Architecture Studio designed the coffee brand's latest outpost to be "like a small neighbourhood where people can stroll and stay for a while".
The cafe's interior is designed to resemble a street
"We believe that a cafe provides more than just a drink," explained the studio. "More significantly, coffee provides opportunities for people to gather, communicate and fully experience the local urban culture."
"By extending the vibrant living and cultural atmosphere of the alley into the cafe, we renovated the site to make it a dynamic public space that provides a rich and solid experience," the studio added.
Grey bricks line the floor as well as forming benches and planters
A pavement-style pathway runs through % Arabica's meandering interior, formed from the same grey bricks that are ubiquitous to the Kuanzhai Alley area.
More of the bricks have been used to make the cafe's planters, as well as a few blocky benches that invite people to perch and chat.
Drinks are ordered and prepared at a counter towards the back of the cafe
Alternatively, customers can occupy slightly more private seating booths in one corner of the cafe, which are lined with handmade white bricks.
Orders can be placed at a huge white counter at the rear of the plan, conceived as a kind of "roadside shop" that customers stumble upon while strolling down the cafe's winding path.
At the centre of the building, BLUE Architecture Studio reinstated an open-air courtyard that the previous occupants had covered with a pitched roof.
Surrounded by glass panels, the new courtyard is filled with a bed of white pebbles and a shallow pool of water.
At the heart of the plan is a water-filled courtyard
Running around the perimeter of the space is a sequence of all-white counters and stools, allowing customers to people-watch while enjoying their coffee.
"The specific experience of seeing and being seen helps to enhance the interest of the space," said BLUE Architecture Studio.
"People can walk, rest and enjoy time freely in the cafe," the studio continued. "The vibrant scene stands for a reappearance of life from old Chengdu."
Seating around the courtyard lets customers people-watch
