BONDI JUNCTION HOUSE

is one of the inspired features devised by architect Jeremy Bull for the redesign of his own home, which he shares with partner Tess Glasson, Alexander & Co marketing director, and their four sons aged five to 10. We purchased it as The site is spatially constrained with a due-west orientation – particularly brutal in the southern hemisphere! Shaped by the forces of a low budget, robust family utility, harsh sun and a constrained footprint, the result is idiosyncratic and specific to our needs. The home is an exploration of ‘the unfinished’ and the result of three alterations over seven years. As a scaffold for our growing family, its principal aims were to maximise spatial economies as a low-cost build, while exploring material expressiveness and the role of architecture as education. It was to explain to our children how it was built, to show its structural rhythms and demonstrate how materials could be added to one another and result in spaces that are honest and often surprising. Inspired by the works of Alvar Aalto and Louis Kahn, the home has a loosely modernist philosophy, while its exploration of locally available and low-cost pine structure and Carrara stone gives it an almost Scandinavian sensibility. It is a now a collection of volumes varying in scale and material, threaded together with a material narrative of bleached timbers and marble. It is lightly tonal, visually delicate yet hardy. Materials are expressive, while the planning remains highly rational: exposed beams, thick marble door thresholds, polished stucco and linen drapery all align within an architecture fixed firmly within modernity. The furniture and art need to tell the changing story of our family. We love colour – sophisticated and muted. We’ve collected timeless furniture pieces that in their simplicity and craftsmanship do the work they need to. The sunken lounge is by far our favourite area. I love the connection it brings and it’s the perfect place for the six of us to sit together and hang out. We love that our home has grown with us and each renovation unfolds as a new son arrives! It’s so specific to our family’s needs which makes living in it so special.