Based in Perth, Western Australia, Mike Edwards Architecture is a contemporary architectural practice with an innovative and client-centric approach to design. Their portfolio encompasses projects ranging from small-scale to large-scale, residential to master-planning. The firm is committed to producing design solutions reciprocating to the site context, topography, orientation, and the client budget. An environment-friendly design with careful consideration of the interior as much as the exterior spaces, minute attention to details and incorporation of solar-passive design processes with sustainable building materials are integral to the design philosophy of the firm. The award-winning modern architectural firm aims to create exceptional designs by metamorphosing the client’s vision to reality.
The below-mentioned list of 15 projects is a compilation of the numerous works undertaken by the firm and an acknowledgment of their contribution to the close-knit world of architecture.
1. Yallingup House
Located on an astounding inclined site in the Millbrook Estate, Yallingup, the luxury home for a family of six (parents and four kids), is a sight for sore eyes. Beautifully submerged with the encircling landscape, the contemporary building design makes comprehensive use of its west-facing frontage by setting the living areas on the upper level and bedrooms on the lower one. An L-shaped open-plan layout provides practical utility along with a capacious design.
Drawing inspiration from nature, the materials used are midland bricks, granite stonework, and Caesar stone. A built-in kitchen with an alfresco deck connecting directly to the library and retractable blinds on the west-facing windows are some design features of the extravagant family holiday home.
2. SOLA 1
The proposal is a part of a series of solar-passive eco-home designs under development at the firm. The design is best-suited for a narrow, east-west loaded plot with a frontage of over 9m. The double-height void with windows allows penetration of abundant sunlight during the winter months, thereby, making the design applicable for duplex or triplex houses. Incorporating adequate solar panels to generate electricity for the house, the design is simple with naturally-lit spaces and untroubled interiors.
3. Cape Peron WWII Coastal Defence Museum
With a breathtaking site located on a narrow island off the coast of Western Australia, the building design consists of two fluidic arching forms offering picturesque views of the Garden Island. A small cafe and a museum space accompanied by a generous deck comprise the functions of the building. The bold and smooth curves take inspiration from the structures found in coastal defence services as well as the captivating coastal topography subsisting of rocks, caves, coastal dunes, vegetation, and the soothing curvature of ocean waves.
4. Ardross House
Located in Ardross, a rural area in the city of Perth, Western Australia, this comfortable two-storey house is well-designed with minimal architecture. Consisting of 4 sizable bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, the house grants views of the Perth skyline from its upper floor retreat area and terraces. This family home is perfect with a retained swimming pool, yard, and an open-plan layout. The wow-factor of the design is its timber and steel staircase with a cable railing and a stone-clad wall in the backdrop.
5. Kenilworth Designer Dunny
A competition entry, the self-explanatory, resolute, and efficient design was derived by solely understanding the competition objectives and interpreting them into a functional design. The cubist form, raised above the ground, is accessed via a looping ramp with soft curves. The emboldened black and white illustrations immediately attract one to the built form, making the structure’s purpose very obvious- a male, female, and handicap person toilet complex. Another parallel explanation for the over scale black and white graphics is the abstracted representation of a cow, symbolizing the town’s dairy background.
With an elementary design, the flexibility to provide multiple utilities (baby change room), and resilience to flood and other calamities, the proposed built form is a noticeable modern structure with a buildable and cost-effective design.
6. Aubin Grove Station
The firm was engaged by the city of Perth to design the concept design and 3D visuals for the Aubin Grove bus station project with a limited brief and a deadline of a few days. Consisting of a major rail station and a bus terminal with a car parking facility of 2000 cars, this is the largest ‘park and ride’ facility (incentive parking) in the entire rail network. The winsome graphics by the firm make the design appealing for the public and deliver the city’s message flawlessly.
7. Perth City Link
A redevelopment and urban renewal project in Perth, Western Australia, the project aims to connect Perth’s CBD to Northbridge Precinct. The firm was tasked with developing the preliminary concept for an iconic built form by the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority. The project involves immersing a bus station and railway line and subsequently redeveloping 13.5 hectares of reclaimed land to be used for multiple purposes—mixed-used development, improved public transport terminals, attractive public spaces along pedestrian walkways, and linkages.
8. SOLA2
Part of the eco-home SOLA series, the solar-passive design is perfect for a north-facing lot with a frontage of over 12 m. In line with other designs in the SOLA series, the eco-home is equipped with adequate solar panels to generate ample solar energy. The affability of the design enables its usage in two or three-storied houses, or even multi-module developments.
9. Perth Cable Car
The firm produced a concept design and 3D visual for a proposed aerial cable car linking Elizabeth Quay waterfront to Kings Park in Perth, Western Australia. The aerial lift is conceived to be the signature attraction for tourists in Perth. With sweeping views of the river and the city, the gigantic pylons supporting the structure will be a majestic vision in white. The project has been in the pipeline for close to 30 years and is a promising experience boosting tourism and encouraging visitors to relish the city for a longer duration.
10. Mount Pleasant House
Designed in the year 1998 with some expansion in 2006, this architect-designed home has an ethereal feel providing a comfortable family home. The 250 sq.m. floor plate takes complete advantage of its whimsical location and accommodates the sloping contours of the site impeccably. A garage and carport with bedrooms located on the upper wing providing views of the landscape, cleverly placed openings allowing ventilation and adequate light, entertainment deck with unobstructed access to the pool, intricately designed roof providing a larger feel to the house, and the usage of bold, ambient colors/ materials sum up the relaxed holiday-like qualities of the home.
11. Frozen Dream
This design was done by the firm for the National Gallery of Victoria 2019 competition and exhibited in the Japan Architectural Renderers Association Exhibition 2019 held in Tokyo. Mike Edwards, well-known for his innovative ideas and creative visualizations, interprets a perplexing concept of the transition of lucid dreams to reality with a captivating model. A part reconstruction, the model explores the mechanism of wakeful consciousness through a pixel-inspired algorithm. The colorful cubical forms, juxtaposing with one another, express an approximation of surrounding reality, analogous to the distinct frames of a human mind becoming aware of the reality while waking from slumber.
The model endeavors to give a three-dimensional outlook to the theory of quantum mechanics and the way physical matter is perceived by us. The experience takes inspiration from the movie, ‘The Matrix,’ claimed to be based on a similar principle of dreams and simulating reality.
12. Rockingham Leeuwin Sector Plan
Mike Edwards Architecture was approached to create some visual graphics for the overall master plan of the Leeuwin sector plan of the city of Rockingham. In addition to representing the vision for the overall development of the neighborhood, the firm had to develop distinct conceptual proposals with the new building density codes incorporated.
13. Mount Hawthorn Addition
The project is an addition and remodel of an existent four-room cottage into a contemporary family home, with an economical outlook, for a couple and their two kids. The design incorporates multiple features, provisioning spaces for future expansion (addition of swimming pool, deck) as well. Keeping in mind the feasibility and practical requirements of the family, the house is a single storey layout with an open deck accommodating the site slope. A sizable garage, home office-cum-kids room, open-plan living/dining, substantial deck space with own kitchen, and high windows on the northern face welcoming the winter sun round up the characteristics of the design.
14. Sorrento House
The residence is located off the coast of Western Australia at Sorrento. The conspicuous design is an outcome of rammed concrete construction with brutalist concrete. The bold facade is inspired by the mashrabiya screens characteristic of Arabic residences. The three-storey house consists of living spaces with a spacious garage that can accommodate four vehicles, a courtyard with a swimming pool, an outdoor deck on the first floor overlooking the pool, and the master suite on the second floor offering expansive views of the ocean.
15. Perth Light Rail
Commissioned by the city of Perth, Western Australia to create preliminary conceptual images and subsequent 3d renderings for the project, the firm was engaged to convey the proposal for the light rail system running through the city to the people. The alluring 3D visuals and conceptual drawings are an apt representation of the rail linking the city via Hyatt hotel and proposed freeway bridges with the probability of further extension.