ridge road residence by StudioFour

StudioFour is a collective of architects and designers, led by directors annabelle berryman (formally bradbury) and sarah henry, undertaking a range of project types from bespoke residential to boutique commercial and hospitality projects, in Australia. With over twenty years of industry experience, studiofour is an emerging design practice that combines the four disciplines of strategy, architecture, interiors and landscape to provide a holistic design solution for each project. The collaborative approach ensures that every project is design driven with a highly crafted and considered outcome.

Ridge road residence easily displays the outcome, since it has also received a special mention in the Architizer A+ awards for the single home category. It is difficult to gain more than a glimpse of the dwelling through the surrounding vegetation of the golf course, on the Mornington Peninsula where the house is built. Where the house is visible, it blends within the landscape, the black timber cladding and dark reflective glass selected to help dematerialise the building form from its natural surrounds. In stark contrast to the surrounding houses, which attempt to cancel out the sloping topography by creating a podium level at which the outdoor areas sit exposed high above ground level, the design for this house adopted a gentler strategy, with the building form spilling down the slope to terminate in a series of terraced decks. These low lying decks provide privacy from the golf course below, whilst the surrounding native landscape shelters the outdoor areas from harsh prevailing winds.

Black-stained timber clads the entire exterior, while each window has dark-tinted glass intended to reflect the surrounding landscape. An open-plan living and dining room opens out to one of the terraces, which is framed by a cube of timber columns and joists. Inside this room, a double-height window stretches across the end wall to frame a view of the nearby tea tree. The kitchen runs along the rear of the living room, against a wall of matte black panels that conceal utility rooms. An ensuite bedroom is located just beyond and is raised up to become the uppermost level. For more info and pictures go here.