Design notebook: Q&A with Julian Guthrie
This is a big home – how do you maintain architectural control on a large canvas like this?
Space is the greatest luxury, but the success of a large home is to create connection between all the parts of the house, both horizontally and vertically, and an easy circulation.
How did you want the interior spaces to feel? And what makes a successful interior for you?
In this home we wanted the interiors to have a calm, contemplative quality with a subtle but rich material and textural palette. I think a successful interior is true to the architecture of the building and of the people who live there. The best interiors develop over time and transcend passing fashions.
What are the three things about the house that most please you?
The timber grain in the concrete, both from rough-sawn timber and plywood formwork, has given a beautiful character and patina to the concrete surfaces. I love everything about the kitchen – not only its materials and details, but also its relationship to the exterior courtyard and the feeling of being under the suspended concrete form above. And my greatest reward is the feedback from my clients of how wonderful the home is to live in, and to have won the children over from their fear of moving into a concrete bunker!
