[Image: Night few of the Tattoo House - a kitchen+living space addition]

I should start by saying that Andrew Maynard - with the lofty goal of ‘complete tyrannical world domination‘ [sounds familiar…] - has already reached 9th dan ninja status, and I’m pretty sure he’s not even thirty [so in architecture terms, he’s basically a child]. The Aussie architect has a unique and thoughtful approach to design, and should be watched closely by all those interested in quality, green, and seemingly low-cost buildings.

Here we have the Tattoo House - an addition to an existing 3 bedroom home in Fitzroy North [a suburb of Melbourne] providing the current residents with new living and kitchen space, opening onto a new deck.

[Image: Close-up of the house’s ‘tattoo’ and the shadows it creates]

Many of the design decisions behind the Tattoo House were based on the budget, along with local building requirements - truly using the project’s restrictions to drive the design. The addition is therefore simple square - where each element serves multiple functions for ‘maximum return’. More design for your buck.

[Image: View of the kitchen - in particular the counter in the back as it becomes the landing for the stairs to the second level]

The new kitchen, located on the ground floor, is an open plan with large sliding glass panels that allow the space to be opened to the outside - merging with the deck to form an even larger interior/exterior room, which is accentuated by the double-height area created along the exterior wall.

[Image: View of kitchen/dining area’s double height space, which opens onto the deck]

Above, on the second level, a new family room overlooks the kitchen’s double height space and is given a nice level of privacy by the house’s ‘tattoo’ - UV stable stickers in the form of tree supergraphics, based on images of trees from a local park. More than a simple decoration, the tree graphic is a response to the local building council requiring that the second storey spaces be at 75% opacity. The solution screens the inside - eliminating the need for curtains, reflects heat and glare away from the expansive windows - controlling solar heat gain, and [last but definitely not least] creates an incredible play of light + shadow on the additions interior surface. Pretty siiick.

[Image: View showing kitchen opening onto exterior deck, forming a new, large open space]

Head on over to Andre Maynard Architects’ website for more images [pages 1, 2, 3, 4, sketches + info on the ‘tattoo’] and an array of noteworthy projects.

::Images courtesy of Andrew Maynard Architects - photography by Peter Bennetts - originally posted on AMNP::