Will you be won over by soft brutalism?
Absence is the ultimate luxury for Adam Kane, who desires an empty space in which hecan clear his mind, relax and have fun. Seeking a peaceful weekend getaway from his hectic working life, the Melbourne-based architect found the perfect spot in the quiet little town of Daylesford, an hour to the north of the city. The climate is wetter and cooler, with European trees creating a year-round cosy, autumnal feel that calls for hunkering down and hibernating.
Adam purchased two side-by-side plots; one has a view, but the other is more secluded and this is where he chose to build his house, to enhance the sense of ‘not seeing anyone’. A builder friend completed his design, which he calls ‘an introverted house’. The monolithic concrete form sits well back from the street, up a steep incline at the end of a long approach.
Presenting an uncompromisingly blank façade to the world, it slowly reveals itself as you move through it, with tantalising glimpses of the surrounding landscape at every turn. Those vistas will only get more verdant over time –Adam planted more than 1,000 trees and shrubs on his half-acre plot, taking advice on what would grow best from landscape architects.
His meticulous planning, however, didn’t anticipate the interest of the local fauna: ‘Some kangaroos got in and have been eating the plants, so I’ve fenced it off and hopefully it’ll reshoot again in the springtime,’ he says with a resigned laugh.
His home’s restrained material palette is confined to concrete, steel and polished plaster, but if guests are anticipating something cold and sterile when they first encounter the space, the sense of warmth and a certain luxuriousness that they feel instead is deeply satisfying for Adam.
He puts this down to the subtle tactility of the finishes. ‘If it was just painted grey walls it would be a very harsh space, but there’s the sheen of that polished plaster and the softness of the stainless steel, which we achieved by hand-mottling it with a scouring pad.’
Those plastered walls and ceilings conceal all the functional elements of this building, making rooms both sculptural and spare. ‘We’re asked,“How do you live in it?” often,’ says Adam. His answer? ‘Easily, because everything’s hidden away.’
‘It definitely makes me slow down,’ he adds, acknowledging that, for him, a house filled with ‘bits and pieces’ would be too much. ‘This is relaxing, there’s no mess to clean up.’ That remark is even more impressive when you learn that Adam shares this space with his wife and their toddler-aged son.
‘It was designed before he came aboard,’ admits Adam. ‘We thought it would be harder with all the sharp corners, but surprisingly the design turned out to be relatively practical!’ For an introverted house, this quiet grey box is full of life. adamkane.com.au
