Kalorama

Dandenong Ranges, Victoria, Australia

An addition and renovation, inspired by our clients’ deep connection to mountains as a source of energy and peace.

Owen and Amber started their journey of creating their forever home in the Dandenong Ranges with Bower while they were still living in London, dreaming of a new life back in Australia.

We feel happy and proud to be living in such a beautiful home. It is so peaceful waking up in the morning, and the house is a glorious retreat to return to from work in the evenings.

Amber, Client, Kalorama.

Their unique site in the hills featured a dated but solid existing house, spectacular established trees and views to Mount Donna Buang. Owen and Amber wanted to create a super functional and well zoned family home family that made the most of the existing areas, with new spaces for their two boys in a whimsical architectural addition. They were open to our ideas for the addition and to enhance the existing house to make it work for their lives.

Through our briefing process Owen and Amber revealed that they feel a deep connection to mountains as a source of energy and peace. This became a key source of design inspiration.

Our response was to create a striking black slate clad addition with a gentle monumentality, that reaches up into the canopy of a huge chestnut tree, like a shard of a mountain found here by design. It is poised alongside the original house with a spectacular glassy gallery between the building elements for a moment of immersion in the sky and landscape, and to look up at the shimmering slate surface. The boys’ rumpus room at the first floor of the addition is like a ‘treehouse’ immersed in the branches and changing foliage of the chestnut tree.

The client’s love for the European Alps and Swiss chalets influenced the warm, natural internal finishes and large windows that capture views. The addition and the interior design play with light and dark, prospect and refuge, and surprising journeys and moments.

The existing house is given a complete glow up with a new entry experience, layout changes to serve the family’s lives better, new large windows and doors to meet the view and a refreshed kitchen, bathrooms, robes, joinery and new finishes inside and out. The alterations immerse the family into the views and the surrounding garden to feel like a retreat from the world when they arrive home.

By design, I love all the different spaces that the house offers. This allows for a lot of flexibility and means that we are not all on top of each other when we want to do different things – there are 4-5 lovely places for me to read, the kids can be contained down one end of the house when they have friends over, and movies can be watched at full volume without disturbing others not interested. I also include sitting outside in the lovely garden as part of this, in the front with the sound of the water feature and out the back with the views to the mountains.

Amber, Client, Kalorama.

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I love how bright and warm the house is, even in the depths of winter (this is very important to me!). And one of my favourite things is that during the winter, we all naturally gravitate to sitting in the living room around the fireplace – this really becomes the heart of the house at this time of year, it is so cosy.

Amber, Client, Kalorama.

Photo by Bower Architecture

The combination of the wooden joinery with the steel and stone elements – the team did such a great job on these, they really make the house beautiful.

Amber, Client, Kalorama.