Polychrome house / YSG.STUDIO | ArchDaily

Polychrome House / YSG.STUDIO

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Customer meeting – To transform the dysfunctional two-story, two-bedroom, two-bathroom dwelling into a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home with integrated indoor/outdoor retreat space and larger living space.

Concept – The house was designed in the 1960s by Payne & Hunt Architects and has retained its original condition of exposed brickwork and ample timber painted mission brown. While the brickwork remains a celebrated textural feature, the home blossoms into an energetic design playground bursting with color as a reflection of the owners’ commitment to “live happily”.

Structural changes – An original floor plan in the shape of a rabbit maze sees a relocation of the upstairs kitchen to the ground floor (a third guest bedroom, a mezzanine with office and bathroom replaces it). Rejecting a conventional layout, a custom brick plinth delineates the new kitchen from the living room. This addition doubles as an open liquor display.

Removing the existing rear facade and realigning it with the upper floor expands the living room footprint. Bold crazy paving now connects the internal and external living spaces. Flat bars replace the wooden railings on the staircase, while the bathroom walls are divided by colored wooden dowels to separate the bed from the bathtub, further expanding the rooms’ spatial parameters while allowing the natural light to circulate freely.

Color & Materiality – Color plays a central role with contrasting calm and bold schemes. Warm shades of white, mushroom pink – including the stairway to the first floor – and black are the basic neutral shades that hold it all together to create harmony, while the brighter, deeper shades draw the eye. pay attention to the living spaces and modular decoration elements of the heroes. Local firm, Lymesmith, developed a color palette to complement the exposed brick walls using bold tones on the surrounding surfaces, culminating in a mural on the bricks themselves directly behind the new fireplace selected for its appeal vintage. The abstract work was inspired

by aerial photographs of the coastal location of the property. It simultaneously enlivens the area and provides a refreshing alternative to installing a large wall-mounted TV screen, while complementing the new paving with its angular shape. Bold tonal touches include the mustard yellow stained open pantry millwork, blue built-in refrigerator cabinets, and terra cotta kitchen backdrop. Curved seating in this space features a white brick plinth outfitted with plum-colored seat cushions.

Iconic mid-century modular furniture complements the original sixties construction. The result is a generously playful and welcoming ‘shelter to live’ in an Australian landscape that firmly rejects neutral design schemes based on bland notions of resale value. It’s a ‘total’ commitment to self-expression, as the house wholeheartedly embraces a fearless love of colour.