Roscommon House
ARCHITECT + INTERIOR DESIGN Neil Cownie Architect • PHOTOGRAPHY Jody D’Arcy + Jack Lovel + Rob Frith • STORY Elizabeth Clarke
Photo by Jody D’Arcy.
It is difficult not to fall in love with Roscommon House. Distinctive, filled with mid-century-inspired detail and tied to its garden setting, it feels as if it's always stood there.
Commissioned by a couple wanting a single-story family home with a connection to its gardens, they turned to award-winning architect Neil Cownie, who has established himself as a master for creating buildings, spaces and objects with a “sense of belonging”. Building a home that is specific to its leafy Floreat location was important to all and an opportunity for Neil to flex his creative muscles and pay homage to the area's strong mid-century history.
Originally designed with the purpose of creating a dialogue between the indoors and outdoors, mid-century houses allowed their owners to enjoy and interact with their outdoor environments through vast windows, sliding glass doors, and leafy patios. External areas, too, were built for living, with an emphasis on hardscape and the contentment of outdoor living.
The beginnings of this iconic sixties architectural and design movement are largely credited to the Bauhaus school of design, a German design philosophy grounded in the concept of form following function.
Neil looked to Floreat's legacy of existing modernist and brutalist buildings to ensure Roscommon House spoke to its location. Carrying out a photographic survey of the original buildings in the area, he discovered over seventy still standing from which he drew inspiration.
"I felt the responsibility to produce a design that served my client's needs and desires but was also in conversation with Floreat's ethos without mimicking or replicating the past," he says.
Single-level with a large basement and upper floor area that embraces a roof garden, the home is bathed in natural light from its banks of windows, glass doors and skylights. Expansive outdoor spaces, pocket courtyards, and a roof terrace garden designed by PlanE Landscape reference Floreat's garden suburb history and allow the family to shift between indoor and outdoor living with ease.
The timber-clad wall elements by Abodo Wood that weave throughout the home simplify the visual reading of its spaces. Photo by Jody D’Arcy.
In the living room, an inky blue quilted Moroso Redondo sofa from Mobilia sits near a timber dining table designed by Neil featuring rounded brass edging. Surrounding it are Mathilda chairs, also by Moroso from Mobilia. The artwork is by local artist Kate Elsey and trio of Stone Cow pendants by Rakumba. Photo by Jody D’Arcy.
The Gentry sofa in the reading room designed by Patricia Urquiola for Moroso is paired with a large floor lamp by Diesel with Foscarini. A pair of Showtime Loungers by Jaime Hayón for BD Barcelona complete the conversation circle. Both designs are available from Mobilia. The floor rug is by Nanmariquina and the curtains crafted in Pierre Frey linen with bespoke stitching are designed by Neil. The clear coffee tables are by Glas Italia. Photo by Jody D’Arcy.
Materials throughout the home were selected for their texture, modesty and patina. The timber used internally on walls and cabinetry is Abodo Vulcan FSC timber from Austim. The Oak Vulcano timber flooring Neil has used throughout the home is from Mafi. Photo by Jody D’Arcy.
The building's characteristics of clean simplicity and integration with nature are infused with distinct style elements and raw material choices. "The clients specifically wanted grey off-form board marked concrete walls and ceilings, which was an appropriate starting point for the house given the suburb’s history and its modernist concrete buildings, including Perth's first off-form concrete building, Memorial Hall at Hale Boys School, which is nearby," says Neil.
The interior's uneven concrete surfaces are in keeping with the Japanese aesthetic 'Wabi-sabi' where beauty is sought from imperfection.
Neil added balance and warmth layering other materials, most significantly timber wall and ceiling cladding, and applied brass to wall panels and edges for a harmonious thread that weaves its way throughout. "It's the consistency of purpose throughout its exterior, interior and contents that make this house unique," agrees Neil.
The fluid kitchen island bench with a floating stone top is inspired by Floreat's iconic beachside concrete kiosk. Miunn stools by Lapalma from Cosh Living sit on one side of it. The embracing shell shapes are made of wood and swivel with ease making them both a stylish and functional addition. Photo by Rob Frith.
The pendant lights suspended in the stair void were designed by Neil. Crafted in brass and blackened steel, they pick up on metals used elsewhere throughout the house. Casting a wash of light across the walls and ceilings, they bring the concrete's raw texture to life. Photo by Rob Frith.
Rich timber walls and ceiling cladding imbue warmth to various interior spaces while carefully balancing out purposely uneven concrete surfaces. Touches of brass via different hardware and edged trims add reflective texture and consistency. Photo by Jody D’Arcy.
A Diesel Moroso bed from Mobilia is flanked by bedside tables designed by Neil. Organic in shape, they are intended to appear 'animal-like' and echo shapes within the house. The artwork above the credenza by WA artist Stephanie Reisch. Photo by Jody D’Arcy.
An iconic Redondo chair by Moroso, inspired by 1950s and 60s American cars' upholstered interiors, resides in the corner of the master bedroom. Resplendent in plush navy velvet, its padded shell embraces large seat cushions while its sumptuous curves showcase its quilted detail. Available from Mobilia. Photo by Jody D’Arcy.
During the early stages of the project, Neil happened upon the South City Beach Kiosk that at the time was threatened by demolition. Designed in the early 1970s by architect Tony Brand, the structure's curved concrete walls and shell-like roof are a significant piece of Brutalist architecture, and Roscommon's curved forms and concrete roofs take their cue from this iconic building.
"I introduced curved corners to voids, ceilings and cabinetwork and was inspired by Le Corbusier's use of coloured glass and primary colours too," he says. "It influenced my choice of indigo blue and contracting red to some of the walls."
Walls and ceilings are a sequence of oscillating planes and blocks of interlocking sculptural shapes. Services and lighting are discreetly concealed within, allowing only statement pendants to be displayed, including the custom lights designed by Neil that are suspended in the main stair void.
The home combines the holistic approach favoured by Neil with a handcrafted quality that echoes the work of the great modernists who moved easily between architecture, interiors, sculpture and furniture, allowing all aspects of the home to exist in harmony.
There are a number of Neil's own-designed pieces scattered throughout, including the heavy linen curtains, brass detailed dining table, upholstered bedside tables, floor rug and custom light fittings. It is this holistic design approach, he says, across architecture, interior design, product design, furniture, artwork and landscape that allows the house and its contents to work together as "one realisation".
"I felt challenged making selections between the built form and its contents that would ultimately sit comfortably together," he says. "With an overwhelming grey palette as the main backdrop, I chose vibrant fabrics for the furniture. The shapes and forms of the furniture also needed to work with the house, so I sought fluid or rounded shapes."
A melee of materials, including Self tiles from Attica, mesh carefully in the master ensuite. Photo by Jody D’Arcy.
In keeping with Floreat's 'Garden Suburb' history, the landscaping blurs the boundaries inside and out. The roof terrace garden is accessed off the master bedroom and overlooks the pool and alfresco areas. The yellow outdoor furniture were vintage finds by the owners. Photo by Jody D’Arcy.
Neil eschewed the modern infinity edge and sharp rectangular pool for an organic-shaped style that exudes retro fun and connects with surrounding outdoor living spaces. Photo by Jack Lovel.
The pool area is a generous composition of turquoise tiles, crazy pavers and outdoor living space that includes the Riva, a 3 seater garden sofa designed by Jasper Morrison for Kettal. It is available at Mobilia. Photo by Jack Lovel.
The partially sheltered pool area looks back to the house and roof garden. The outdoor chairs are by Kettal. Photo by Jack Lovel.
Thermal and acoustic insulation provides indoor comfort all year round. The home's site orientation and teased apart floor plan provide a northern orientation to living spaces and maximise opportunities for cross ventilation from southwest winds. The front roof conceals a 16.5kw photovoltaic array comprising 50 panels allowing the house to be self-sufficient. "The owners use less than 20% of the generated electricity during the day, leaving 80% for storage in batteries that will be installed in the basement within two years," says Neil. "From that point, the house will be self-sufficient for electricity, even in winter."
Roscommon House represents an old yet fresh approach to contemporary living. Its straight lines and sinuous character, mitigated with a range of natural materials used in bespoke ways, are reminiscent of pioneering buildings yet a reminder of how a new house can sit perfectly at home with its past.
5 Minutes with Neil Cownie
If you could own a single piece of furniture, what would it be?
I love the overlap of art and design, where buildings and objects not only deliver functionally but also have wonderful stories that have driven the design. I also love the mending and reuse of objects where their history and patina are celebrated. This wonderful overlap of storytelling and mending comes together in the limited-edition series of 50 embroidered sofas in the special collaboration between Icelandic embroidery artist Loji Hoskuldsson and Hay House, Copenhagen, where the 'Mags Soft Sofa' features embroidered embellishments in the artist's poetic style. The limited-edition series is titled 'An Attempt to Refine the Backyard'. According to the artist, the sofa depicts 'A spring cleaning day in the backyard of a building where all the residents set their arguments aside for a day in an effort to make their environment seem more appealing to outsiders' eyes.
What is a benefit of sustainable living many of us may not be aware of?
Creating a sustainable living environment is not simply adding solar panels and a water tank to any old design. To design a successfully sustainable building, initiatives must be taken at the very beginning of the design process where the right site should be chosen, and the basic design of the building takes passive environmental factors of wind and sun into account. With the push to achieve carbon-zero new buildings by 2030, every selected building material needs to be analysed to review its life cycle in the overall equation of achieving a carbon-zero new building. Benefits include a moderated living environment that saves you money in running costs and maintenance but goes further in contributing positively to the environment of the planet.
What is Perth’s most architecturally significant building?
I feel that there are architecturally significant buildings in each of Perth’s suburbs. I design each project based on being specific to my clients and specific to the local context of each site. In the relatively short period of European settlement in Perth, we have developed suburbs, each with its own character, history and mood that I seek to reflect in my designs. This means that there are important buildings in each suburb that tell the history and reflect the character of that area. Take, for example, the surviving modernist architecture of City Beach and Floreat, where buildings such as the fluid off-form concrete City Beach Kiosk building and the concrete of Memorial Hall at Hale school have significant influence. In Nedlands, the architecture of the UWA campus, particularly Hackett Hall, as are the 1930’s two-storey walk-up flats and the Inter-war Spanish Mission-inspired houses.
Your best two tips for anyone building a home from scratch in Perth.
I can’t express strongly enough that without prioritising good design, your investment in construction will never realise its potential with access to sunlight and ventilation, will cost you more to maintain and run and will not bring the delight and joy that comes with good design. Think about design first and building second, as you need to invest in good design before you commit to spending your hard-earned money on construction.
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