Moat’s Corner draws on an inspired vision and a commitment to an established setting. Refined to a point of tranquil precision, forming an interactive haven, with which to experience the life and energy that surrounds it.
Project Name: Moat’s Corner
Firm Name: Vibe Design Group
Awards:
2019 Good Design Award Winner in the Architectural Design Category
2019 Melbourne Design Awards – Silver in Architecture – Residential – Constructed Category
2019 Building Design of the Year – Design Matters Building Design Awards
2019 Past Presidents Prize – Design Matters Building Design Awards
2019 New House over $3M Construction Cost – Design Matters Building Design Awards
Attribution:
Design – Vibe Design Group
Build – Icon Synergy
Photos- Jack Lovel
The site’s layered history began with a pioneering family, after whom Moat’s Corner was named. A gnarled cypress lined driveway is a historic cue to the first settlers on this rural property within the coastal town on Melbourne’s Mornington Peninsula. Next came almost 70 years of a gardener’s cultivating and collecting, resulting in a rambling and diverse array of flora across 5 acres of the 53 acre stretch. A new phase now and the owners’ commitment to create a home over the existing footprint set the tone for the design challenge – to respond to the integrity of its setting.
The elevated main level of the home observes the immediate gardens from a habitual perspective. Mid-canopy height, the glazed walls completely soak up the greenery that surrounds them. A deep, continual eave line both shields from a hot summer glare and embraces the warming winter glow. The northern length of the building is realised from the main living through to the master wing and back, with a sliding doorway the only possible disruption.
The west wall and entry elevation is one of protection, intrigue and interaction. From outside – insulated black panels spaced to a dual glass cladding guard for weather protection. But they are more appreciated at a sensory level, where on approach they completely fill with the reflected silhouette of the established west gardens. From inside – the panels take the form of bookshelves to the bedroom wing and bench top and storage to the kitchen, recessed and raised. They are framed with deep-set glass above, below and between ensuring nature’s moments are never missed.
Raw galvanised steel appears as an offset frame to the intermittent reflective panels, while floor and roof structures adhere to the depth tolerances that the steel members prescribe. A natural stack stone fin is the grounding element below a completely cantilevered bedroom wing, projecting the roots of the design inspiration – a mid-century modernist ethos encompassing honesty to materials, structural innovation and minimal ornamentation. The elevated band provides a look through to the landscape poolside, allowing vegetation to nestle gently under and around with minimal disturbance.
Private from the gym and golf room, a self-contained guest wing with it’s own outlook, to the pool level and to the east, opening up to rural paddocks where cattle graze at a pedestrian pace. The stone wall motif returns to frame the pool at one side and separate from the recreational area on the other. A raised roof structure affords ventilation and easterly light to the entry space, rumpus room and any centralised amenities.
Moat’s Corner is as much functional as it is observational. By virtue of the house design, to live in the home is to co-exist with the garden. Perched respectfully, the modernist inspired style opens itself up to the garden at every opportunity, equally important and equally celebrated. There is not a space within the home deemed principal or secondary that does not acknowledge the life that surrounds it, reflecting nature’s mood, unpredictable but always in a synchronised sway.
Vibe Design Group
Melbourne based studio, Vibe Design Group, was founded in 2006 by Principal Designer Michael O’Sullivan. Today, the firm comprises of a passionate team of designers working collaboratively to produce the high quality, unique designs VDG is renowned for.
Great admirers of the mid-century modernist movement, which the studio has travelled extensively to study, the very definition of this iconic architectural style is deeply rooted in key Vibe Design Group works. Every project is unique, and the studio embraces the opportunity to immerse in a variety of architectural styles while being honest to their given historical hallmarks.
The shared focus for all of VDG’s work is producing highly resolved designs for their clients. Achieving the ultimate balance and functionality that enhances daily living routines, with a generational quality in their appeal. Every Vibe Design Group project applies a high level of structural knowledge in their documentation to convey, wholly, the design concept.
The studio has completed award-winning projects across the eastern seaboard of Australia, with works that have graced the covers of international design journals including the lifestyle section of the New York Times. The team are always open to design triggers within the client brief or site analysis, which is the key to the unique design outcomes on every VDG project.
