Architecture studio FIGR deliver a playful double-storey residence that intertwines indoor and outdoor living within a modest 215 square meter footprint.
Located in a heritage setting in Melbourne’s north, FIGR have created a two-storey home that skilfully rejects the traditional separation of indoor and outdoor spaces to make way for adaptive dualism and family living. The design blurs the lines by activating multiple uses and opportunities in each space. At the same time, the house encompasses both the surrounding urban context and plans for family life changes.
Maxi Birch Plywood kitchen cabinetry are paired with a deep green laminate by Abet Laminati in Verde Lauro and the Phoenix Vivid Slimline Pull Out Sink Mixer. FIGR specified Fisher & Paykel and Smeg appliances in this space.
Architects Adi Atic and Michael Artemenko are known for exploring new notions and opportunities of ‘underutilised’ or ‘static’ spaces in their projects. This approach comes to the fore in Pop-Up House; the minimised building footprint allowing for generous landscape and the creation of flexible and malleable spaces that can contain multiple, potential uses.
The home features a familiar roof form with a white weatherboard cladding, referencing the surrounding neighbourhood. It’s also set back off the street, creating a new threshold inviting a sense of community and interaction between inhabitants, passers-by onlookers, and neighbours.
The dual design facilitation continues in the outdoor terrace and landscape design where informal entertaining areas, storage and workshop spaces sit alongside functional, sustainable design features and services such as water retention and site permeability.
The Pop-Up House demonstrates the benefits of living small and living well. Surrounded by the neighbours’ existing brick walls, the rich warmth of the terracotta carries through the home through recycled brick paths. The home’s central core is softened with the use of timber balanced with deep green laminate cabinetry and concrete benchtops.
FIGR has created a dialogue between old and new through the value in small spaces with dual-purpose in their Pop-Up House. The project was designed on the importance of play and sustainability, expressed through the home’s minimalist palette, green landscaped wedges and internal courtyards.
Above the internal courtyard is a netted area utilising the in-between space and creating additional zones for play and activation. The netting allows natural light into the home.
The street front western facade has a custom-fabricated mechanically operable screen, designed to allow for views and solar management, in a white design pine weatherboard cladding.
