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‘Our overall vision was to provide considered spaces for each member of the family,’ Studio Tom director Robbie Peirce says of this Mount Martha home.
His clients — a couple with three daughters and two dogs — purchased the empty hillside block in 2019 to build a house for their young family from scratch.
The brief was relatively simple, asking for a ‘well-scaled family home with room to grow,’ Robbie explains. ‘They wanted it to feel coastal but with some rich warm features, and hold breakaway spaces for adults, kids, and guests.’ Naturally, the design also had to make the most of the sweeping views across Mount Martha Cove.
‘The steep gradient of the block posed a challenge,’ Robbie adds. ‘The floor plan was designed with multiple tiers, spanning approximately 40 steps from front to back. Our primary focus was to ensure that the journey didn’t feel overly strenuous.’
Scaling the steps created comfortable and gradual transitions throughout the house, incorporating visually engaging elements at each level to ensure there was never a ‘dull’ moment.
These include windows that catch further glimpses of the undulating landscape, or the lush treetops outside, while a large Jai Vasicek painting hangs beside the step-down in the entryway.
The kitchen and dining areas on the upper level make the most of the home’s unique outlook with white tiling and marble finishes that reflect the abundance of natural light, allowing the views from the balcony to take centre stage.
‘Sitting at the island bench, one can understand the appeal of building a house perched on a hillside,’ Robbie says.
With functionality front of mind, Robbie also sought to strike a balance between the minimalistic communal areas and the rest of the house. The earthy pale oak timber flooring in the main living areas transitions to a warm loop carpet in the bedrooms, paired alongside soft grey accents and textural tiles.
Keeping the children’s bedrooms downstairs (away from the main bedroom upstairs) also helped make the home feel bigger than its 419-square-metre block. And the owners got to lean into their more playful side in the bathrooms, using mosaic tiles and pastel pink terrazzo selections.
‘It’s always great when your client wants things even bolder than we do,’ Robbie says. ‘We started with a similar, albeit more subtle, colour palette, but Lauren pulled us up quickly and said she wanted some “woah!” moments when they showed people around. So we amped it up!’
Now, the striking peach bathroom is so full of colour it almost glows as light reflects the warm shade around the space — which has become one of Robbie’s favourite rooms in the whole house. ‘Experiencing the embrace of colour and texture is a rare delight that brings so much joy,’ he adds.
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