y mind swims when I stop to
think of the twelve years since
our little house in Fremantle was
completed. These thoughts drift
from memories of life with my partner
Rebecca, and then as a family, to returning
from an intense three years in London where
we had worked hard and travelled at every
opportunity, and as a result, had come home
with our foundations as architects solidified.
We had returned knowing more of what we
were not about, and with a desire to do more
than what our day jobs offered us. This little
house was our first foray into translating
that knowledge into something physical.
For us, good architecture has a force
about it, just like a Mark Rothko painting.
We need to be moved by our surroundings,to feel that they have a specific presence and
for this to be imprinted on our memory. At
the time of designing Fremantle House we
may have struggled to describe it in these
terms, but regardless, we were motivated
by other architects whose work we had
experienced firsthand and who are also
interested in these concepts.
Tempering these motivations, just in
case we were to get too serious about it
all, is the fact that we have children – two
little girls whom we adore, and who are in
possession of battalions of unicorns and
cityscapes of “elven” Lego. We find this
stuff tucked into every niche, alcove and
crevice of our home. I can’t imagine the
house without the children, nor it stripped
of their things (which are often arranged02
02 Floor-to-ceiling windows
to the north invite light
into the living areas.03 Timber-clad walls frame the
main dining space, imbuing
it with a sense of openness
and order.