Tell us about the site context.
House of Light occupies a tightly constrained 280-square-metre site in Melbourne. Despite its compact footprint, the design carefully negotiates its urban context — balancing privacy while drawing natural light deep into the home through skylights, voids and vertical openings.
What can you tell us about the client and their brief?
The project centres on a celebration of natural light, shaped by the client’s interest in wellbeing and a growing appreciation for contemporary Australian art. The brief called for a home that felt calm, uplifting and deeply connected to both light and culture.
What are the key material and structural choices?
The exterior features 26,000 handmade bricks in varied tones, laid with soft mortar to achieve a sculptural, fluid quality. Internally, warm Turkish limestone runs throughout in a combination of honed, bush-hammered and carved finishes, creating a rich tactile palette. Bronze detailing is used consistently across bookcases, handrails, kitchen joinery and vanities, providing subtle continuity. A 14-metre central wall anchors the home, while skylights and voids draw natural light deep into the plan, accompanied by cascading planting that softens the architecture.
What key functional requirements does the design address?
The design responds to the challenges of a constrained urban site by prioritising privacy, access to natural light and a strong connection to nature. A key driver was the integration of wellness into daily life, realised through a dedicated subterranean zone incorporating a sauna and meditation spaces. Positioned at the core of the home, this elevates wellness from a secondary consideration to a central organising principle, while maintaining a strong sense of liveability.
What are your favourite moments in the design?
What makes this project particularly compelling is the level of creative authorship across every scale—from the overarching architectural form through to the finest interior details. The furniture collection was designed and curated in its entirety, including collaborations with master colourist Paola Lenti on rooftop furnishings. The team also worked with a specialist art curator to guide the clients — new to contemporary art — through acquiring works by Australian artists including Sally Smart, Ben Quilty, Alex Seton and First Nations artist Mantua Nangala.
Architecturally, the defining gesture is the way light is captured and choreographed throughout the home. A robust brick exterior gives way to interiors where daylight is drawn deep through skylights, voids and layered planting. These moments subtly guide the eye upward, creating spaces that feel unexpectedly soft, calm and immersive. Achieving this balance between solidity and luminosity on a constrained site results in a home that feels both grounded and uplifting.
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