Bild Architecture
Bild Architecture is a cross-disciplinary design studio specializing in architecture and urban design. We work throughout Australia and internationally, with particular focus on Victoria and Tasmania. We believe in the capacity of great design to enrich the lives of our clients and the broader community. The studio is committed to discovering unique solutions for each and every project. All of our projects are realized, and enhanced, through a process of open collaboration with the client, consultants and contractor, delivering individual projects of high design quality.
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Projects:
Blurred House
Northcote, Victoria, 2010
The Blurred House project is a major renovation and extension to an original 1930’s Californian bungalow in Melbourne’s inner-north. Reacting to the established convention of juxtaposition of existing old and introduced new; the Blurred House offers an alternative proposition; that of a blurring between old and new to produce a hybrid. Gradually transitioning from the vernacular to the contemporary, the division of old and new is deliberately ambiguous, producing a unique formal and visual language. Viewed from the street, the house appears largely unchanged, with a small clerestory window the only hint of reconfiguration. Moving through the house, new materials, spatial characters and formal language is progressively introduced; by the time of arrival in the back yard, the house has evolved into a different building; no longer recognizable from its original starting point; an architectural rabbit in a hat. A hybrid of both old and new, oscillating between the past and present, the building sits comfortably in the street scape as something familiar yet alien. Distinct from both the area’s new housing and the original suburban fabric the ‘Blurred House’ is neither little red riding hood or the big bad wolf, somewhere in between.
California Dreaming
Launceston, Tasmania, 2011
The California Dreaming project, the first in a series of projects that explore adaptations to Australian suburban typologies, is for a pair of duplex residential units, in inner-urban Launceston. Located in an area of city originally developed with inter-war ‘California Bungalow’ type housing, the project seeks to adapt and co-op this typology to contemporary living styles and expectations. Unfashionable for many years, this area of the city was largely unchanged following its initial wave of development, preserving an enclave of inter-war speculative housing. However in recent years, with sudden gentrification, the area has seen a new wave of housing occupying the abundant infill opportunities, reflecting the area’s proximity to the city and key infrastructure. These new occupants, reflective of contemporary ways of living and ways of building, sit in stark contrast with the area’s original houses. This project takes the California Bungalow typology as a point of departure, wrapping the signature double gable roof form around the brief’s requirement for two residential units. The double gable form is tuned to the path of the sun, to provide maximum exposure to northern light in winter, while shielding the interior spaces from western light in the afternoons, reflecting contemporary expectations for environmental performance. The units are mirrored in plan and provide ample open space to the north with views down the valley and across the city. Inverting the California Bungalow planning, the plan of the units centralize all service elements (bathroom, kitchen, and laundry) pushing the living spaces and bedrooms to the perimeter with maximum access to daylight and the connections to the exterior spaces. The building sits in its street scape as something familiar yet alien -an uncanny presence, distinct from both the area’s new housing and the suburbs original occupants, yet familiar and linked to both.
