It creates a continuous, albeit highly varied space in which the occupant can do a loop right the way around it by passing through the distinct parts of the domestic program. The arrangement and relationship between the parts enables virtually no corridor space. The house becomes a domestic circuit, the experience of which is differentiated through shifts in degrees of intimacy and privacy, compression and expansion, lowness and highness.

The Ivanhoe House draws heavily on a local Arts and Crafts tradition, in particular on the work of Harold Desbrowe Annear a key reference for this project because of his profound legacy on the architecture of Melbourne and most appropriately this suburb of Melbourne.

The black ceiling and Ash walls in Ivanhoe recall Annear’s work amplifying the verdant landscape/garden setting. In its experience, the House in Ivanhoe, achieves the desired amount of looseness, repose, intimacy and retreat that was sought in answer to the brief for accommodating family life within a robust and informal home.