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design
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when they decided to part ways through the
project.The site is tiny (8 by 20 metres) and a
fine example of their exploration of the play
of space and materiality. It also demonstrates
that space can be manipulated to deliver a
lot of living options.
This is a courtyard house with a suite of rooms
that are programmatically flexible to provide
for a variety of dwelling options.The project is
distinct for the rigour of its planning and for
the thematic development of an aesthetic.
This house is not about space defined by
planes, rather it is a collection of volumes.
Interior space is devolved into exterior space
through large openings, a wall opens as a
door, a window acts as a wall, a room
becomes a balcony.The interior and exterior
volumes of the house are commensurate in
proportion, and thus the entire site is the
house. Materials, such as the unadorned
masonry block wall, and the absence of
colour reinforce the architectural concept.
This house integrates programmatic
requirements with the development of an
aesthetic and the accommodation of various
amenities, such that these factors are
inseparable. Rachel says she could move her
family of five into this tiny house given the
flexibility of the spaces and the efficient use
of the site.
In 2011, Kennedy Nolan Architects was the
subject of an exhibition in the Wunderlich
Gallery in the Faculty of Architecture, Building
and Planning at the University of Melbourne.
Patrick and Rachel displayed a wall-sized
mural of black-and-white photographs of
their built projects, a free-standing wall that is
‘thick’ – an aluminium frame covered in fabric
– and a lower wall, almost a plinth, whose top
is travertine marble.The intentions are similar.
Materiality, tactility, porosity, luminosity and
visuality: these are the interests of Kennedy
Nolan in the making of architecture.
In his review of the exhibition, Philip Goad,
Chair of Architecture, University of Melbourne,
described their design approach as all about
the wall.“What sets Kennedy Nolan apart
from other practices in Melbourne is their
investigation into the art of the wall.While the
work of Mies is a referent, it is only a ghost
of one.
“What appears to interest Kennedy Nolan
more are the textural walls of the 1960s, when
Modernism was undergoing critique from
within. One can’t see into the exhibition from
outside the glazed entry door.You have to go
in. Presented with a blank wall, the concerns
are not about transparency but about the
enclosure of space, the maze and the route.
Walls allow the architect/artist to control
space.
They admire Mies Van Der Rohe who famously
stated that god is in the details. I suspect this
firm is as interested in the resolution of detail as
they are about the interface between the
outside and inside of a project. Landscape
and built form are rich veins of interest with the
opportunities the intersection of materials
provides as well as materiality itself.
In 2004 the firm really kicked off with an
award-winning redevelopment of an old
factory site in George Street, Fitzroy, a project
that Rachel’s life partner brought to the
fledgling firm, requiring only that it deliver on
the program and make some money. It not only
met these requirements, but also landed an AIA
award and announced that Kennedy Nolan
Architects was here to stay.
The firm has developed a reputation as a
design-focused practice with a distinctive
approach to built form.They work principally on
residential projects, but are engaged for a
variety of projects ranging from retail to
hospitality where a strong design component is
required.
Kennedy Nolan Architects is dedicated to the
production of architecture that is highly
responsive to its context. Much of the work
seeks to form a strong relationship with
landscape, whether it is a dense urban
environment or a rural or coastal area.Their
work benefits from a multi-disciplinary
approach. Graphics and sculpture inform and
are incorporated into the work and the
practice is in constant exploration of the
possibilities for colour and materials to
generate architectural element.They are also
interested in low environmental impact which
they say is a given for all architectural projects.
This firm has attracted a substantial number of
extensions, renovations and new housing
projects and was chosen for inclusion in the
National Architecture talks held at Lyons
Architects last November.
Rachel presented on the potential for the small
house, drawing on a number of their projects
which demonstrate that a robust program and
a tight site are not impediments to a rich plan
and the experience of a multitude of living
options that can delight, cleverly using
materials to achieve interesting architectural
spaces.
The small project is particularly relevant as we
face ever increasing demand to live within the
city’s infrastructure footprint in our climate-
change-challenged world. Inner city projects
are particularly relevant in this discussion.
Schiavo House, a small home in inner-city
Melbourne is one such project, designed and
constructed early on in their practice.The client
was originally a couple that became a single