FOREVER HOME

Contemporary elegance meets heritage cues – design practice Biasol updates a spacious Spanish Colonial-style home in Bayside, Melbourne.

VINTAGE CHARM

For Melbourne design practice Biasol, this spacious home was an opportunity to engage with the idea of creating a forever home tailored to precisely fit the busy family and lifestyle needs of model and designer Rebecca Judd and husband Chris. While Biasol has retained all the vintage charm and warmth of the original, Spanish Colonial-style architecture, it has layered in a contemporary and luxurious Melbourne-modern aesthetic and created various connected yet self-sufficient spaces for downtime, family fun and socialising.

exterior view of forever home's backyard with archways

Project Type: Suburban Home

Location: Bayside, Melbourne

Design: Biasol

Photographer: Armelle Habib

ELEGANT & PLAYFUL

For Melbourne design practice Biasol, this spacious home was an opportunity to engage with the idea of creating a forever home that is tailored to precisely meet the needs of model and designer Rebecca Judd, husband Chris, and their busy family. Biasol has retained all the vintage charm and warmth of the original Spanish Colonial-style architecture while layering in an elegant Melbourne-modern aesthetic, and creating various connected yet self-sufficient spaces for family fun and socialising.

HEART OF THE HOME

The bright and vibrant kitchen is the gathering point and one of the most-used areas of this home. To maintain the aesthetic intention and achieve the functionality required by the family of six, the designers planned the space around a generous, furniture-like island and discrete butler's pantry, integrating appliances into the light, blonde timber of both areas. The Column Freezer and DishDrawer™ Dishwashers in the butler's pantry create an out-of-sight zone for the messier aspects of cooking, while the twin Column refrigerators integrated side-by-side in the kitchen cater to the needs of a busy family. The most visible appliances are the two Minimal style ovens. They were specifically chosen for their monochromatic design, which echoes the kitchen's black accents, and their lack of metallic finishes, which doesn't interrupt the cohesive material palette.

Outside shot of the home showing outdoor furniture with a pool in the background

CONNECTED ENTERTAINING

Given the family's love of hospitality and entertaining, Jean-Pierre explains, “it was important that there was a constant connection to food, drinks and entertainment...No matter what zone you are in, between the kitchen, bar or outdoor area, you can see through to another two areas. That level of visibility ensures you are always connected.” In the varied entertaining spaces, the same approach to product integration has been followed. While the kitchen is bright and spacious, the bar employs marble and dark joinery to create a deeper, moodier sense of sophistication. An integrated CoolDrawer™ ensures functional self-sufficiency and aesthetic cohesion – as it does in the club area with tennis court views. Nearby is an outdoor kitchen, with a powerful DCS grill barbecue positioned beneath the verdant arches.

ENHANCING FAMILY LIFE

In this forever home, even the more utilitarian spaces are treated with invention and consideration. “Each space is unique and fit for purpose, so the connection is in the detail – common elements such as the custom gold brass handle, for example, were designed to work across all joinery, walk-in robes and storage units,” explains Jean-Pierre. The consistent detailing approach and elements also extends to the laundry, mud room and storage units. The laundry, located adjacent to garaging, is streamlined for functionality, amenity and organisation, with twin front-loader washers and twin dryers providing abundant capacity for cleaning and garment care for all the family. The mudroom, with generous pouffe to sit on while removing footwear, contains lockers for everyone to keep their shoes and coats neatly stored away.