Austin Design Associates is a residential interior design practice specialising in space planning, joinery and bespoke contemporary design, and sympathetic renovation to heritage properties.
Photography – Alex Reinders
An extensive renovation to an existing home located in an established inner East suburb of Melbourne, Kew House demonstrates how original features can be respectfully retained and enhanced alongside the design of new modern elements. A beautiful palette of warm colours, textures and materials has been applied to the custom joinery, bespoke lighting, fixtures and furnishings to complete the sophisticated spaces.
Photography by: Dianna Snape
Lorne House seamlessly connects with its coastal surroundings, integrating the outdoors through a natural material palette and sweeping views.
The client’s brief was to create a warm and cosy beach house that doubles as an entertainer’s paradise. Situated on the Lorne hillside, the house offers panoramic bay views while respecting neighbouring properties.
The ground floor provides a comfortable space for the client’s adult children and friends, while the upper level features a luxurious master suite, generous kitchen, dining, and living areas. Large glass doors and windows capture the panoramic views. Natural materials like stone, concrete, and timber are prominent throughout the house, creating a warm contrast with the white walls and ensuring a strong connection with the exterior.
Photography: Alex Reinders
Durrant House is a remarkable transformation of a Federation house designed to become the client’s dream home.
It features ample bedrooms, ensuites, a study, and break-out zones to accommodate the entire family. Additionally, there is a new guest and pool house at the rear of the property.
The kitchen design incorporates durable materials and a white and bright palette, creating a contrast with timber textures. A cleverly designed butler’s pantry is situated behind the kitchen, and adjacent to it is an impressive glazed under stair wine cellar, making efficient use of the space.
Photography by: Daniela Fulford
Esplanade House is a multi-level home that boasts stunning waterfront views in the historical seaport town of Williamstown.
The design focused on creating a practical and textural ambiance, with a particular emphasis on incorporating light timber tones throughout.
The architectural design of the Esplanade House was expertly crafted by Bassett Lobaza, and it was a pleasure for our team to work on the interior of this project. The clients entrusted us with designing their family home, with a specific focus on practical yet beautiful spaces and finishes. This included attention to every detail, from joinery design to furniture selection and styling, ensuring a cohesive and visually appealing result.
Photography by: SpaceCraft
Richmond House is a reinvented terrace located in the bustling streets of inner Melbourne.
The design of the house features a modern extension that creates a striking contrast to the existing traditional architecture.
The exterior showcases a rendered and modern rectilinear design, while the interior is characterized by concrete floors and cleverly designed cabinetry with intriguing lines. Steel windows and doors separate the main bedrooms from the open living area, which flows seamlessly into the green yard, creating a harmonious connection between indoor and outdoor spaces.
Photography – Derek Swalwell
Dutch Gable House is a sophisticated renovation, shortlisted for the Australian Interior Design Awards 2020. This project seamlessly merges the architectural features of the historic home with contemporary design.
The unique characteristics of the facade influenced the design concept and resulted in a dramatic and bold interior transformation.
To achieve a well-proportioned space for entertaining, a modern extension was proposed between the two main living areas of the house. Laid with continuous steel windows and doors, the extension maximises light and views out to the garden.
The adventurous clients were open to exploring bold and interesting materials, in particular with the Titanium Granite & Cote D’Azur marble. The design was then further enhanced with textural elements, such as timber battens and double herringbone oak floors.
Custom joinery was integrated into the design to satisfy the clients’ request for exhibiting beloved treasures from many years of overseas travel.
Photography – Alex Reinders
Cluden House was once a small home with minimal natural light, with a re-work of the footprint and a small extension, this home was dramatically transformed.
Our brief was to create a home that was striking and beautiful, without compromising on the practicalities necessary to sustain a busy family life.
With the extension and new floorplan the home now allows light to flow and create an ideal backdrop for a striking dark palette. Our clients were so pleased with the accomplishment of their brief, to create the perfect place for relaxed family time and entertaining friends. The practicality of the new plan is emphasised through the inclusion of a flexible Butler’s Party and Laundry space with ample storage.
Photography – Alex Reinders
Sandringham House is a true sun-soaked beauty. Working within the existing footprint, this renovation was the epitome of what a refurbishment, new joinery and furniture can achieve.
The brief was to create a classic family home with suitable zones and space to keep up with evolving family life. A master suite was created, along with separate sitting and living rooms to house the whole family, leaving them spoilt for choice.
The soft and textural palette is enhanced by the natural light flooding in from the continuous windows along the curved exterior. The curved architecture is further enhanced with strategic furniture selection and placement. Space is provided for the entire family to gather around the show stopping freestanding fireplace.
Photography – Jack Shelton
Located in the heart of the Beaumaris precinct, Beaumaris House was a new build with an ode to Mid-Century architecture and design.
Featured in July 2019 issue of Home Beautiful magazine, Beaumaris House is layered with rich timber textures, from the floorboards to the natural American Oak cabinetry. Complimented with dark elements, all walls and furniture pieces were carefully considered to create this classic Mid-Century Modern palette.
Every wall and corner was carefully considered within this project, giving the result of a carefully curated mix of warmth, texture and practicality. With picture window views to the garden from the freestanding bath in the ensuite, there is a great presence of Zen within in this home.
Photography – Alex Reinders
This project was a renovation to a Federation style property in Hampton where the house, which had been renovated 20 years previously, did not really make the most of the large north facing rear garden.
The brief from our clients was for a family home, with good sized bedrooms for their two teenage children, two living areas, a study, master with walk-in-robe and ensuite bathroom, powder room, kitchen with butler’s pantry, laundry, an alfresco area and plenty of storage.
We explored the option of creating a second story, however, with careful space planning we managed to achieve a layout with all the required rooms on one level and still leave space for a large garden, pool and outdoor entertaining area. We combined the formal sitting room and study to save on space and make use of a large original front room complete with original fireplace. This room is now well used by all members of the family at different times of the day.
Our clients were quite adventurous with colour and, when a wall paper was proposed with dark navy and aqua colours, this became part of the colour palette for the house. The powder room and pantry wall tiles, designed by Patricia Urquiola, were a perfect match for the navy kitchen cupboard colour. New oak floors throughout, steel feature windows, and lots of storage have combined with a layout that has ticked every box on our clients wish list.
Photography – Armelle Habib
Originally a 1990’s Neo-Spanish, yellow rendered house with a terra cotta roof and dated interior, it has been renovated inside and out to become an elegant town house for a sophisticated professional couple.
Our clients purchased this rather dated home given it was well sited on the block and in a perfect location. Although dated the house was solidly built and had well-proportioned rooms.
Our client gave us an excellent brief – which inspired us and gave us the impetus and encouragement to really turn this house around. Externally, the house was painted a concrete grey and the terra cotta roof tiles were replaced with slate, a new front door was installed along with steel windows across the rear which gave the house a whole new aesthetic.
Inside, dark and fussy parquetry flooring was replaced with large, slightly limed pale oak boards and crisp white walls replaced the previous cream colour scheme. A new kitchen with a refined layout introduced Carrara marble to the black steel window, oak floor and white wall scheme.
In our practice when assisting clients with decoration and furnishing, we like to use a mix of original design classics as well as supporting local designers and manufacturers. For this project, we achieved a satisfying mix of local and European design for the furniture as well as incorporating some special family pieces which we had re-upholstered and restored.
We were able to make small but significant changes to the floor plan, to enlarge the kitchen and a create a butler’s pantry. We also added extra windows, enlarged existing window openings and created a window seat in the living room, which has increased the feeling of space and light.
Photography – Armelle Habib
A contemporary pared back family home where we worked closely with our clients to balance the practical requirements for a family of six with a minimal interior design scheme.
Our brief was for a timeless, peaceful, contemporary interior – clutter free and with plenty of storage to hide the mess of a busy family life.
We developed a finishes palette of white pale oak, pale grey and some black. We also worked with various textures including selecting tiles with a subtle surface texture. We explored new materials and used porcelain panels for the work bench in the kitchen as well as the butler’s pantry – which allowed our client could have her desired white bench tops but they were safe from her four children and their food preparation. We used this approach throughout the house – employing a soft and light scheme and balancing this with practicality. Custom designed joinery throughout the house – mostly made from a pale oak veneer with minimal detailing – has been carefully considered to make the home function efficiently and to have a storage space for everything required in the home.
Photography – Derek Swalwell
This project provided an ideal interior design brief in requiring internal space planning to upgrade the original part of this Victorian era home and to re-configure an added wing.
The clients had recently travelled to Sweden and were inspired by mixing classic and traditional architecture with contemporary design in a sympathetic way.
This was a challenging project in that we were dealing with several additions to an original Victorian home completed in the 1980’s and 2000. Staying within the footprint of the house, we had to contend with triple brick walls, numerous original features and existing window openings. The new floorplan included moving the position of the kitchen, laundry, study and family bathroom as well as the addition of new beams and major demolition. We presented our concept with the suggestion of new Oak parquetry floors and double glazed steel windows in the previously added on wing, to unify the various additions and maximize natural light.
The palette included Carrara marble – to complement the existing Victorian marble fireplaces – natural oak, black stained oak, a warm grey and white paint scheme and green carpet for the bedrooms. Our clients entrusted us with the task of proposing a totally unified scheme which included the selection of light fittings, curtains, and some furnishing.
Photography – Armelle Habib
A down-sizing town house near the beach providing casual living for empty nesters.
We have balanced a practical layout and design with an injection of mood and contrast through the use of dark joinery and walls offset with large windows looking out to a natural garden.
Our client’s brief was for a ‘natural and earthy house’ which they also wanted to be able to ‘lock up and leave’. The end result needed to be not too fussy and easy for owners to look after. Limited by the ‘design and construct’ building company design and the usual dual occupancy planning issues, we fine-tuned the overall space planning within these constraints to give the clients a generous kitchen with a butler’s pantry – as they have a large family and like to entertain. A small study with an outlook was important as well as an ‘open stair’. It was a challenge to combine a real wood fireplace with a TV in the space available, but careful selection of materials and the selection of the specialist wood burner, made all this section of the central wall in the living area function very effectively.
Large windows to the north and south windows with views to an existing feature tree meant we could have a ‘dark’ and ‘moody’ interior scheme as the living space is flooded with light. The dark walls and joinery make a perfect backdrop for the solid messmate timber used as a feature in the kitchen and powder room as well as the natural leather in the furnishings and the locally made brick tiles used for the chimney breast.
The innovative aspect of this home is the way the clients have not compromised on anything by down-sizing from their family home, in fact, if anything this house has more space where it is required in the kitchen and pantry and the illusion of space in the living, dining area and entry hall area.
Photography – Derek Swalwell
In this project, the brief required us to design a contemporary addition to a traditional Federation home and maintaining and enhancing the original features at the front of the property.
Situated in Melbourne’s renown Gascoigne Estate, respecting and enhancing the historic facade of the home was paramount.
The contemporary addition to the home was celebrated by creating a deliberate threshold from old to new at the end of the hallway, opening into the vast open plan living space at the rear where floor to ceiling aluminium windows frame the view to the garden and pool beyond. The result is a relaxing home that caters for everyday family life and casual entertaining.
This project was designed in collaboration with building designer Peter Jackson, with all joinery design, detailing and finishes created by Austin Design Associates throughout.
Photography – Derek Swalwell
A new house at Flinders designed to take advantage of coastal and pastoral views and northern light. The brief was for a simple, timeless and quality design to withstand the rigors of living near the beach.
The client did not want ‘cutting edge contemporary design’ but a simple and timeless house made warm with materials and furnishings.
The completed house has been designed to take advantage of the various site aspects – north light on one side, views to the surf break on the south side and views to the rolling hills in the west.
The house has been designed and detailed to age and to last, both inside and outside. Selected materials will age well and include locally sourced stone work, recycled grey ironbark pergolas, cross cut travertine marble bench tops and oak floorboards.
Photography – Derek Swalwell
The brief for this project was to keep the charm of the original 1920’s beachside cottage on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula and make the very original house work as a multi-generational family beach house.
An upstairs level was sympathetically added to take advantage of the panoramic views and to also create a parent’s retreat. Downstairs, the challenge was to keep the original style of the house but to add modern conveniences including new heating, wiring and lighting and a functional kitchen and bathrooms – all in the style of the original house.
Although the house still looks original – much of it has been carefully re-built, copying the original detailing. The house has been described as a ‘labour of love’ from the talented building team at Pop Building.
Photography – Jack Shelton
The brief for this second-generation family home renovation was to retain as many original elements with emotional ties as possible, while opening up small rooms to create a large open living, dining and kitchen area.
The rustic nature of the original house was embraced with its exposed bricks and concrete floor.
New concrete elements were added such as the polished concrete floors and large kitchen island bench which became the centre piece of the newly opened up living, dining and kitchen area. Original bricks, doors, windows, feature wall tiles, light fittings, and even the original concrete laundry trough were all either left in their original positions or reincorporated into the renovation. The overall plan was reconfigured to create a children’s wing and a separate adult space.
Photography – Alex Reinders
Cole House
Another renovation to an original Federation style home. Our clients were keen for a very practical, hard-wearing and timeless addition to the rear of their home where the relationship between indoor and outdoor was critical, as they liked to entertain and enjoy the outdoors.
As they have a young family and two dogs, we selected a concrete floor with a hardwearing ‘Mentone Mix’ ‘polished’ finish. To add warmth and a casual ‘Bayside’ character to the new rear section of the house, we used a Messmate timber throughout for all the joinery. We combined the natural timber with natural concrete look ceramic panels for the benchtops and kitchen splashback (the new ceramic panels come in a large sheet size and thickness, are heat proof, hard wearing and stain resistant). Black was used as an accent colour for the large door frames out to the garden, on the kitchen and bar area walls and some cupboards, as well as for the dining chairs and bar stools to contrast with the timber and the floors.
Our clients were happy to explore new materials and products with us which allowed us to use beautiful hand-made tiles in the ensuite bathroom combined with bespoke Anchor Ceramic light fittings. We had a little fun in the powder room with an unsual hand basin and cloth wall paper. Our clients wanted to be involved every step of the way and we worked collaboratively with the builder and the client, to achieve a very detailed and considered renovation.
Photography – Armelle Habib
This period ‘inter war’ Tudor style home was in a great position with a large north facing rear garden, however the rear extension completed in the 1980 had several levels and only the study had the view of the garden.
We redesigned the rear of the house, filling in an internal courtyard and created a new living, dining, kitchen, butlers pantry all on one level – down four steps form the original art of the house. The previous kitchen is now a spacious study the whole family use.
An important part of the brief was to create the covered outdoor living area. Our clients wanted a large space for entertaining complete with open fireplace at one end and a BBQ, and fridge at the other end of the space.
Because the original house is traditional in style – we made the style of the new part of the house ‘soft modern’ with lining boards on the walls, wide oak floorboards and marble and oak joinery.
Photography – Jack Shelton
When our clients purchased this large double-fronted double story Heritage listed Victorian home it was like a museum, with dark wall papers, dark timbers, heavy antique furniture and traditional curtains. Over the years, the way people tend to live in older homes has certainly changed and our approach now is to ensure all the rooms in the house have a purpose and are utilised as well as preserving original details where possible. Because Victorian homes tend to be quite dark, we like to lighten them up and encourage as much natural light as possible.
This house is a large ongoing project. Our task was to get the existing house ready for our clients to move into and then, when they were settled, commence planning for a new wing at the rear with a new kitchen, butler’s pantry, living and dining room and alfresco. Planning is well underway for stage two, and stage one is now complete.
Our clients want to live a modern life in their old home, so we have specified contemporary furniture and light fittings rather than antiques (although a few older pieces fit in very well). We created a new colour scheme throughout – a soft grey for the walls with white ceilings and trims. The formal lounge had been given an ‘Art Nouveau’ makeover in the 1920’s so we removed all the arches, columns and cornices and replaced them with a Victorian style cornice (matched to the cornices in the other front rooms of the house). We had the floors sanded and repaired, and placed a simple herringbone patterned carpet runner on the stairs. Original hydronic heating panels were serviced and then sprayed black. Fireplaces were restored and n the chimneys were all swept. One of the upstairs bedrooms became a large walk-in-robe and when we renovated all the bathrooms upstairs the floors were dropped so they lined up with the original Baltic pine floors.
The function of some the rooms was also changed. Downstairs, what was once a formal dining room became the children’s rumpus room. A smaller sitting room became a library and a quiet adult space for reading. The large formal lounge became an elegant sitting room, perfect for entertaining. The billiard room has remained the billiard room – with the addition of comfy leather chairs, TV and storage for games etc. New light fittings, new furniture, artwork, linen curtains and shutters now all work together to create a light filled home where the architectural features and the proportions of the rooms are now visible and can be fully appreciated.
