Tobias Partners Pty Ltd
Tobias Partners is an architecture and interior design studio, established by Nick Tobias in 1999. Based in Sydney, Australia, the studio has a reputation for clearly resolved and finely crafted projects, many of which are bespoke residential houses and interiors, though they work across a range of project scales and budgets. They have produced commercial, retail, and hospitality interiors of note, and are currently developing a low-cost housing system. Their diverse portfolio also includes a sustainable farming project in New Zealand, boutique coastal developments in Sydney, small commercial office buildings and luxury yachts. Their work has received a number of professional awards.
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Projects:
Parsley House
Parsley Bay, NS, 2008
This architecturally bold house is individually tailored to the clients whose brief was for a comfortable family home that was inviting to guests, with a good flow between indoor and outdoor spaces. The site backs onto Parsley Bay Reserve, falling south to north, with a pre-existing structure, demolished for the two-storey residence. The cubic form of the new house explores carving a void from a solid mass – expressed as it is with concrete floor and roof slabs extending to the building envelope and steel-framed windows between the slabs. It references 18th century battlement structures, and exploits the thermal advantages of masonry for passive solar design. Outside, a deep red was used colour the concrete – like those of the Australian outback. Inside, the interior palette of polished concrete floors (and bench-tops), custom-made joinery and bespoke steelwork accentuates the distilled geometry.
Tilba Pavillion
Tilba, NSW, 2010
This yoga and meditation pavilion is designed as an outbuilding to a heritage residence on a rural site on the NSW south coast. A refined version of Australian vernacular, its board and batten timber cladding references the early settler slab huts. The building incorporates an exercise/meditation room, a steam room, bathroom, kitchenette and sun deck. Reading as two independent timber cubicles raised on a timber platform, the functions are fully concealed behind the timber board & battening. The smaller cubicle houses the kitchenette, the larger contains the bathroom and steam room. Between the two cubicles is the exercise and meditation area, enjoying the view experience over the lake towards the ocean. This sheltered timber platform is completely open at both ends, and can be closed off with glass doors that slide beside the larger cubicle cladding to open the space completely. To allow an unimpeded connection to place, material finish and detailing is seamless. The interior ceiling is lined with composite aluminum paneling; the wet areas are lined with compressed fibrous cement with drainage concealed. In the tradition of Australia’s early buildings, the pavilion uses local spotted gum for its exterior cladding, doubling as interior lining and door fascias. The grace note to this finely detailed structure is its skilion roof, arcing up to the north above clerestory awning windows, announcing it as a quiet, solitary shelter in which to commune with the landscape.
Mooramie House
Kensington, NSW, 2009
This two-storey rear addition to a Federation cottage is both contemporary in form and sympathetic to the original using proportions, details, finishes, and colour that relate to the old. Barely visible from the street, the addition fits neatly below the existing building line. The new section connects in the living area at a dramatic void that also joins the upper and lower levels at a double height window facing north. Other interior elements are crafted for more subtle transitions, through the choice of materials and refined details.
