Fleming Park House
FLEMING PARK HOUSE
Cloud Architecture Studio
ARCHITECTS
Cloud Architecture Studio
DESIGN AND COORDINATION
Brendan Jones
MANUFACTURERS
Blum, Cult, Sussex Taps, Aneeta Windows, Brickworks, Capral, Design by Them
STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING
OPS Engineers
BUILDERS
Creative Energy, Creative Energy, Paul Dineen, Robin Henke
LIGHTING DESIGN
Solstice Lighting
DRAFTING
David Stanley
PHOTOGRAPHS
Jeremy Wright
AREA
189 m²
YEAR
2021
LOCATION
Brunswick East, Australia
CATEGORY
Houses
Text description provided by architect.
Completed in 2020, Fleming Park House was conceived to accommodate a family of 7, including 5 teenage boys.
Being well under 200 square meters i n area, this beautiful house overlooks the l ocal football ground and dog-park.
At i ts essence, Fleming Park House i s an adaptable, flexible collection of spaces capable of ‘ bending’ to the needs of occupants i nto the future.
In i ts substantial presence, this “up to 5 bedroom” house i s not unlike many double storey, free standing Victorian terrace houses i n i nner Melbourne.
But whilst there are echoes of the Victoria terrace, the design adopts an “upside down model”.
As such, l ight and air define the upper l iving spaces, which captures the diverse surrounding views – treetops, rooftops and children playing.
The sleeping areas on the ground floor are cooler, darker and enable quieter ‘ comings and goings’ i n the extremely busy household.
The primary form of the house i s an elevated, stratified, stretched, box. Strips of horizontal l ight and moving awnings i nscribe the l iving spaces with the cycles of the day and of the seasons.
A series of descending gestures, i n the form of stairs and voids, create a relationship between the floors and l ead people through the house by tempting glimpses of what l ies beyond.
This visual layering also l inks the i nternal courtyards and other voids to the outside, giving a sense of orientation and a beautiful connection to the sky – rain, hail or shine.
Designing for small, or constrained, sites offers the opportunity to amplify connections creating an architectural i ntensity.
In the same way that the ‘ box’ i s broken down i nternally through the use of voids and courtyards, ‘ add-ons’, i nfills, screening are employed externally to give nuance and i nterest to the form.
Spaces and elements are extruded from the underside and l ean toos bulge from i ts sides.
This ergonomic architecture of the suburban everyday elevates simple gestures through i nvention and practicality; the front pergola i s l iterally pulled out from the southern facade l ike a drawer from a chest.
The ‘ off the shelf’ material palette – comprising timber, steel sheet, concrete blocks and plywood sheets – was chosen for i ts durability, sustainability and affordability and the house celebrates the simplicity of these materials.
Internally, this simple palette i s combined with plentiful pattern and color to deliver a playful space for a l ively family, whilst retaining a sense of craft and calm consistent with the building's i nvention and place i n the world
