Klopper and Davis Architects based in Perth, Australia is an architectural design studio established in the year 2004 by architects Sam Klopper and Matt Davis. In the present day, their practice spans over residential projects being the primary domain, followed by commercial, retail, hotel, and mix-use projects complemented by interior design.
Their projects reflect the significance of spatial relationships, context, material, functions, and minimalism in their designs complying with the approach of making them expressive, welcoming, and distinctive.
Following are the 15 Projects by Klopper and Davis Architects:
1. Elliott Road Residence
Located along the coastal suburban region, this residence counters the existing context of the built form in its vicinity and rather seeks to initiate an interaction through its semi-pellucid façade and warm lighting. The raw concrete, yellow framework, and painted timber acknowledges and supplements the existence of beach and landscape in the vicinity. The main entrance splits up the residence creating two blocks hence segregating the private and public zones.
All the spaces subsequently open up to the central courtyard hence balancing a harmony between the users, functions, and the spaces along with ensuring an adequate amount of lighting throughout the residence. The moderate warm colors used in the interiors with the gentle intervention of plants blur the contrast of internal and external spaces.
2. Mayfair Street Residence
With the lush green trees around, and the view of Claremont valley at one end and the city’s skyline at the other, the residence was designed considering the essence of nature it is surrounded by. Glazed walls for the living room, structural timber frames camouflaged in the woods, and the striking white canopy on the top embracing the north light and illuminating the spaces within, manifest themselves as the built forms of the trees and their foliage.
The multi-functional living space consists of a kitchenette, dining area, and casual seating, followed by a stepped seating leading to the courtyard adjacent to a pool, hence creating an ideal environment for a holiday home. The brick masonry for the private spaces not only complements the material composition of the residence but also acts as an insulation to maintain the temperature.
3. Armadale Crescent Residence
The design has been cautiously executed to have two independent zones for the living area and the bedrooms, which are then integrated by introducing common outdoor activity areas within them and a waterbody slicing through the two building footprints. The semi-open and open spaces provided alongside the primary building blocks create an interplay between the indoor and outdoor spaces, also maintaining a visual connection throughout.
Though the form is irregular and distinct from its surrounding the interposition of the vegetation through the site and the adopted material and fabric assists in integrating the structure into its site. The confined yet befitting use of the colors and timber in the interiors makes it tranquil.
4. Rosalie Street Residence
The residence was originally a timber-framed cottage in the old suburbs of Perth city which was later extended and renovated by the Klopper and Davis Architects. Instead of demolishing the existing structure, it was transformed by adding openings and refurbishment according to the requirements. This not only let the structure comply with the setting it was existing in but also led to the amalgamation of the old and new characteristics, therefore, enhancing its contextual and historical value.
The variance in the materials ranging from the old timber façade, rustic clay bricks, steel framework, recycled jarrah flooring, the minimal intervention in the interior and the vegetation mediating between the composed white walls of indoors and the striking walls of the exterior, progressively constructs a process of cognition, comprehension and consequently, experience.
5. Penryn Avenue Residence
A holiday home for a family of four, the residence is a blend of an elemental form,
and composite materiality and textures, supplemented by symmetry obtained by the structural framework and functional correspondence. A double-height living room was designed, with a glazed façade and timber framing in order to generate patterns of light and shadow throughout the space. The elegant use of varying textures and minimal colors helps to sustain the serenity of the place.
A balcony on the first floor overlooking the seating area below with the pool adjacent to it and a formation of the symmetrical shadow of the slender columns over the semi-open walkway along the living area together creates a symbiotic relationship within the spaces with a prominent visual connect binding the activities.
6. Clifton Street Residence
The residence is in the form of a cube made from the bricks of the existing house hence giving it the raw look. The skillion roof passes through the brick masonry, therefore, providing uninterrupted living space, opening up to an informal seating adjoined by a rear terrace with a play area.
The contrast within the spaces mitigates due to the glazed walls and the timber frames, creating a strong sense of association throughout the space; the privacy being taken care by the raised compound walls of the residence and the natural
the slope of the site.
7. Waverly Street House
The house is an extension and renovation of a small bungalow from the 1920s. The design solution was to create a contrast between the existing and the new structure with varying materials and responding to the site factors. The front façade with broad openings tries to maintain an interaction with the neighborhood set in an urban context, however, the main entrance to the residence has been provided by the lane, amidst the two structures.
The pool and the garden are located on the rear side, alongside the double-height living area. The study and bedroom on the upper floor have their openings facing the garden however, smaller in size to maintain privacy. The interior is predominantly white in color with a few shades of green, retaining a correlation with the outdoors and the old structure.
8. Market Street Residence
An old milk man’s cottage transforming into a modern residential typology, the Market Street Residence is another example of Klopper and Davis’ exceptional Extension and Renovation projects. The residence is divided into three categories, the existing cottage, the new residence, and the link between the two. By sustaining the existing façade of the cottage and adding new openings and verandahs to the structure, it became possible to keep the structure aligned to its context with new possibilities.
The extension took inspiration from the existing in terms of framing, though it’s contemporary materials and elements evolved to be divergent. The folding windows were established on the façade to maintain privacy yet providing a clear view of the vicinity.
The element which acts as the linkage is a perforated timber wall that corresponds to both the structures; fetching an ample amount of light indoor through its openings however prevails to be enigmatic from the exterior.
9. Peppermint Grove Residence
The Peppermint Grove Residence is a contemporary housing project comprising material explorations of marble, travertine, glass, timber, and concrete. The residence consists of a living area, children’s retreat, study and drawing room, theatre, office, kitchen, formal dining room, courtyard, pavilion, and terraces. The use of glazed glass as walls facilitate the visual connectivity through these spaces along with the perforated wall adjoining the external façade which manages to act as a partition however the visual contact remains intact. The louvers and canopies at different levels of the residence influence the casting of shadow over the façade. The intermediary courtyards and vegetation within the house assists in associating various spaces by acting as constructive linkages.
10. Lake Street Residence
Located in Northbridge, Australia, the Lake Street Residence is a transformation of an old house into a home influenced by the Mediterranean context that it is sited in.
The bathroom and en suite of the new residence is the altered fireplace of the old residence. Though confined in its space and size, the interconnection of the indoor and outdoor spaces leads to spatial compatibility and comfort. The interior of the residence is a combination of fixed and temporary furniture, making it possible to have multi-functional spaces, especially in a confined space and the warm colors and wooden flooring further enhancing the aura. The timber-framed openings along the corridor and the living room, and the finned canopy together cast an intriguing shadow over the façade and the flooring.
11. St. Leonards Avenue Residence
The structure expands in two perpendicular axes, with an aim to create spaces that co-exist and co-relate simultaneously. The front façade barely reveals what lies inside, and it is only through a linear process of entering and comprehending the residence that one starts acknowledges the various aspects it presents. The concrete gives a raw finish to the façade with timber frames enhancing the openings and the doorways. The private rooms on the first floor are associated with the spaces through the openings facing the central courtyard and pool, and the corridors creating an atrium maintaining the visual contact and lighting to the living areas on the ground floor. The elevated swimming pool along the central courtyard contributes towards the landscape creating a cordial environment.
12. Northwood Street Residence
The residence earnestly contributes towards its site, by providing a pitched roof similar to the structures it is surrounded by and the raw textures formed by the materials used. The pitched roof resulted in the building block to become two-storeyed and the adjacent brick cladded building block to flush into it. Hence, the process resulted in an open plan with a central open space, where the swimming pool and outdoor dining area were introduced.
13. Beach Street Residence
The project aimed at transforming the existing 3 storeyed beach house with it’s living area on the top, to a residence with simpler spatial relationships and commuting. In order to do so, the external land was raised up to 3 meters to level it with the living area and create outdoor and semi-outdoor spaces promoting an association with the beach at the forefront.
Unlike Klopper and Davis’ other extension projects, this project consisted of incorporating the new elements of the design into the existing instead of introducing a new mass and thus sustaining an equilibrium within them. The fourth storey was later added to the structure to access the roof. The interior reflects cool shades of blue and timber along the beachside and warm shades of red and yellow on the rear end, with open terrace gardens in between, devising a distinct yet modest beach house residence.
14. Carr Place Residence
A modern house reciprocating towards its surroundings, the Carr Place Residence is designed such that it manages to be unique in terms of its responses towards the program and the user, yet complements its context through the material composition and textures. The rustic finish of the brickwork could be seen alongside the monotonous color palette accompanied by consistent timber framing throughout the residence. The partially visible connection between the spaces within and the spaces with the outdoors is evident from the rather wide openings.
15. Albany Highway Mix-Use Project
The projects aimed at the development and designing of an urban mass in East Victoria Park consisting of residential apartments above the commercial block on the ground. The comprehension of urban context and the pre-existing commercial background. Klopper and Davis also collaborated on urban artwork into their design.
The structure included balconies, a colonnade followed by canopies on the bays, entrance lobby along with a café, northern openings, outdoor spaces, and modest material conforming to the surrounding. The design addresses the significance of scale and ratio, followed by open spaces, natural light and ventilation, and interaction with the neighborhood.
