Houses Australia — February 2018

hen it comes to designing homes,

Matt Chan is most passionate

about preserving the idiosyncratic

nature of a dwelling. “I find

people’s personalities and the quirkiness in

the way they live the most fascinating thing

about residential design,” says the founding

principal of Scale Architecture. This informs

his commitment to delivering customized

responses that are rigorous yet attractive and

his predominantly Sydney-based portfolio is

diverse as a result.

Matt has been working this way since

2002, when, as a sole practitioner, he

undertook his first residential commission,

Milis Salem House. As if reimagining a

rundown weatherboard cottage in Alexandria

didn’t prove challenging enough, Matt

wasn’t in the country for this project’s

duration. He was studying at Amsterdam’s

Berlage Institute at the time and the

experience taught him the importance of

clear communication along with the value

of maintaining relationships with clients.

These principles underline his current

practice and define the methodology of his

three-person team today. As he explains,

“We’re not the type of architects who present

a master sketch and that’s all you get. Our

design process is a constantly evolving one

and it’s very much built around an ongoing

conversation with the client.” Milis Salem

House introduced him to the possibilities of

efficient spatial planning and taught him the

importance of understanding site and how to

formulate the best design strategy possible.

Such approaches (now Scale Architecture

signatures) underscore the project’s concept.

It is anchored in a simple arrangement

that maximizes its tight inner-city setting,

comprising separate private and public zones,

with the former occupying the upper volume

and the latter situated on ground level. A

sense of easy circulation permeates the living

areas, where a concrete kitchen bench is

the only fixed element in an otherwise open

plan. It’s an elegant design outcome not

reliant on flashy gimmicks and because of

this, it has stood the test of time. Matt’s

residential projects may have changed

in scale and increased in number, but

his ambition and desire to find the right

questions for clients remain the same.

“The curiosity we have in unravelling the

urban condition and how sites work is

still there,” he says.

In his recently completed North Bondi

House, which overlooks the Pacific Ocean

on one side and Bondi on the other, he

was faced with his most unexpectedly

challenging project to date. “Designing

something for this site was difficult because

it’s really beautiful,” Matt reflects. “We

had to formulate a direct response to the

topography of the peninsula location and

carefully navigate the ground plane.”

The home’s entry presents somewhat

like a rock platform on a sea cliff, sitting

at the top of a set of stairs that follows

the natural contour of the land. This

entry forms the base of the internal void,

which dramatically splits the house in

01

2002

Milis Salem House

• SYDNEY, NSW •