Nest Architects
Our studio is committed to creating architecture, interiors and furniture that start from ‘first principles’ and ends with a result of which both client and architect are proud. Rather than honing in on a discernible trademark style, we draw upon our shared interest in user-shaped spaces, responding to the everyday challenges of ecology, budget, time and our clients’ aspirations to design stimulating and creative human environments. We see the finished object as the end result of a rigorous and fun process of analysis and ‘gathering’.
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Projects:
Boston villa – George St Residnce
Fitzroy, Melbourne, 2010
The house was abandoned for years and became a squat before it was set on fire half way through the design phase of the project. He wanted a cellar, she wanted a room for her parents who live out of town and they both wanted an environmentally sustainable house. Both clients have a strong sense of their own style so it was an easy process to guide them through the design phase, which turned out to be a great collaborative process. Basically, we tore the house apart to let light and air into rooms that otherwise would have been very dark which created a number of courtyards. The large timber façade was a result of trying to create a really flat surface that relied on composition and materiality as opposed to articulation.
McIntosh Residence
Balwyn, Melbourne, 2010
Here’s a project that slowly reveals itself, where the junctions between new and old are carefully weaved together. The original mid-century style house was built in 1963 and the client didn’t want us to touch it. Instead they wanted the new kid’s wing (3 bedrooms, bathroom, laundry and rumpus) to reference the style of the existing house, without simply copying it. The new kithcen and meals area is a nice example of updating a design sensibility from another era. The guest ‘pod’ out the front was incredibly fun to design and I expect even more fun to sleep in. How good is that beetle in the photograph? Gold!
JCR, Cafe & games rooms
Ormond College, Melbourne University, 2010
The Junior Common Room main hall and surrounding suite of rooms (including Billiard Room designed by Robyn Boyd) were dramatically under-utilised and in need of transformation. Creating a cafe, a games room and a billiards room in these unique spaces provide an inviting social hub to support the diverse interests and activities of the Ormond community. The spaces will accommodate a wide range of social activities, such as quiet chats between friends, groups of students enjoying a small late night gathering, students studying collaboratively, gatherings of academic and general staff and large college parties and functions to which alumni and other guests may be invited. Designing the space to work for a wide range of activities without it being just a reconfigurable barn was the key design challenge of the project.
