Bay Pavilion by Brahman Perera

Soaring white ceilings, mirror-like chrome columns, silvered stone floors and walls of translucent curtains contain volumes that pose infinite potential and possibility. The simplicity alluding to the purity found in the perfect symmetry and timelessness of truly enduring architecture.   

Brahman’s response to the highly resolved architecture was immediate. The clients — a couple and their four children — are well versed in the built industries and were able to draw on their experience to employ valuable foresight. While the architecture will mediate decades and continue to abide by principles of construction quality and aesthetic purity, the interior design draws on poignant inclinations and life’s authenticities ensuring this is, first and foremost, a warm and resilient family home. 

Sophisticated curves, sculptural forms, colour and opulent textiles are composed to juxtapose the linear strength of the rooms. Vignette’s of furniture, lighting and artwork are evocative invitations to sit, eat, read. There is a thoughtful allowance at Bay Pavilion for breathing space. It’s an intent that is often lost within the more immediate aesthetic and schematic values of interior design and is a testament to Brahman’s capacity for imparting beauty wrapped around pragmatics.

Living spaces on the ground floor are anchored by the kitchen at its core. Unlike the lightness of the surrounding architecture, the architect has harnessed a heady density in the kitchen entirely credited to the monolithic stone island and benchtops in earthy dark hues which are seamlessly carried up through the splashback with much of the joinery integrated behind similarly toned natural timbers. Brahman has perfectly juxtaposed the forms and volumes of the kitchen via a large family meals table which follows the line of the island bench while offsetting its heaviness with a subtle lightness. The colour accent on the table’s legs reinstates this as a family space injected with personality, beauty and usability.

Essential to the brief for Bay Pavilion was the orchestration of spaces that supported both the younger as well as the adult member of the family. While the furniture and lighting were chosen for durability as much as beauty, a dedicated parents retreat was integral. Tucked beyond a stone wall that sails from entry to interior, a rich and tactile landscape of furniture, art and décor unfolds. A russet silk rug adds warmth and opulence, while sculpted furniture pieces play with scale and form to soften the rectilinear footprint of the architecture. Thoughtful concessions to both privacy and togetherness mean that the ground floor of Bay Pavilion hosts many scenarios’s maintaining a connection between family members that keeps them from gravitating to the upper levels behind closed bedroom doors. 

Bay Pavilion, like the trees that line the streets and salt that permeates the air of Brighton, is also a bridge. One that forges pathways between disciplines, aesthetics and the myriad phases that make up a life well-lived. It’s current archetype perfectly supports the young family growing within and yet, the bones of the home will hold up to any purpose the inhabitants place upon it. This enduring nature, guided by an acknowledgement of the philosophy of beauty, is possibly the true definition of sustainability.