Editorials

The very high ceiling at the entrance creates a vast space.

To the right of the entry and the stair are the home’s living areas, which include an open plan lounge, and an adjacent dining area.

All windows have wooden venetian blinds, there are modern light fittings and sliding wood framed windows out to the garden.

The rounded shape of the stairs and the design of the kitchen means that the cook can see out but kitchen mess does not confront diners.

The kitchen has ginger burlwood cupboards and granite benchtops.

There are white tiles on the diagonal from benchtop to ceiling, modern stainless steel appliances and a window overlooking the courtyard.

Sliding doors go out to the entertaining area, which has a pullout canvas canopy.

There is a surprisingly big laundry adjacent to the kitchen and a separate powder room.

The staircase to the first floor is both artistic and functional.

Too many stairs in modern homes are congested, awkward to use and even dangerous — but not this one.

It flows well and has jarrah stairs and a black wrought-iron balustrade with inserts of copper.

The first floor has jarrah parquetry and plastered walls and there are decorative cornices and door mantles throughout which give it a classic appeal.

There are two small bedrooms — one with sliding doors out to a small balcony overlooking Cowden Park, which is just a stone’s throw away. Both this and the adjoining bedroom have built-in robes.

The family bathroom has white tiles to dado height and a floor with aqua tiles.

THERE is a corner bath with a shower above it and a basin set into a vanity with an imperial green marble top and ginger burl cupboard doors. There is a separate toilet.

On this level is also an open-plan office, a wrought-iron balustrade and the main bedroom. This room has sliding doors out to small front balcony which overlooks the park and a back balcony which has views of Lake Monger, the city and what seems like half of the Perth suburbs.

The en suite tiles and cupboards match those in the family bathroom. It also has a big glass-fronted shower.

The whole building has been virtually gutted. Only the steel beams, skylights and outer brick wall have been retained.

In the entrance, a tiny waterfall trickles down on to smooth pebbles, its backlit backdrop having been crafted from scaffolding planks and painted charcoal-grey.

A massive 300kg front door is hung on industrial hinges which makes it a breeze to use. Upon entering, the first impression is one of incredible space.

Works of art line the wall, which also doubles as a screen for an unobtrusive home theatre.

Two 400-year-old Chinese chairs contrast smoothly with the apartment’s modern lines.

A huge dining table by Drage Furniture’s Mark Drage and a black bean coffee table by Steven Tabor complete the picture.

Once inside, the sheer magic of the home becomes fully apparent.

A big courtyard enclosed by the original brick wall houses a below-ground pool.

At night, its bluish lighting makes for a surreal atmosphere.

During the day, its ripples are mirrored in a reflection wall, angled to capture the sun.

The kitchen is also like a work of art, although its essence is purely practical.

Throughout the home, Jean-mic, with the help of tradesmen and artisans, has trialled several unconventional concepts.

Most revolve around industrial materials which have been used and finished with an artistic touch.

The kitchen is a prime example. The seamless, stainless-steel benches and splashbacks have been made from one piece of metal cunningly folded into shape.

As well as doing away with the need for a timber shell the effect is slick and different.

A mellow green glass sheet, which folds into the wall, can be easily wiped from both sides and does away with tiles which the couple detest.

Red and green are the main contrasting colours to the grey walls.

The entire house has a minimalistic feel and boasts a warmth not expected of such a large structure.

The temperate feel can be attributed to a flooring concept developed by the architect and two local firms.

The terrazzo floors throughout are an amalgam of marble and granite chips mixed with concrete to form a 100mm thick surface and polished to a fine gleam.

Plans show large, voluminous living spaces with ample wall space to accommodate art, along with state-of-the-art, large-format kitchens and bathrooms.

Entertainment areas, which include glassed-in decks, have been designed to accommodate at least 10-12 dinner guests and more for regular entertainment events.

Finishes and decorations are cutting edge, with terrazzo floors, three and four-metre ceilings and floor-to-ceiling glass.

Each apartment has its own gallery area for art pieces, while a miniature baby grand piano on floor plans gives a good indication of how big the apartments are.

Sculptures highlighted by low-voltage lighting, gas log fires and full mantle pieces are other features.

The complex will offer on-site parking, and will be built by Diploma Construction.

“I have a personal passion for simple things that are meticulously done, such as this box,” he said. “The perfectness of the craftsmanship reminds me of how beautiful simple things are and the development is fundamental to that.”

The units range in size from 90sq m to 180sq m and prices start at $290,000 for an apartment up to $720,000 for a penthouse. They offer two bedrooms with a combination of one or two bathrooms.

The apartments are set apart from their inner-city counterparts by high ceilings, secure undercover parking, big indoor and outdoor living areas, Japanese gardens and top-of-the-range fittings and finishes.

Mr Drexel said this commitment to space was a major point of difference and had been well received judging by the response.

The development is on Hay Street between King and Milligan Streets.

“I only need to get in the lift to go to the gym, and if I want to go out, the nightlife is there on my doorstep.”

Designed by Leederville architects, Perrine and Birch, the people behind Subiaco’s Colonnade, the apartment has a decidedly zen feel.

Entry is up a set of old wooden stairs, with a spacious open-plan living area sporting both a bar and a dedicated space for a piano.

Glass shelves above the bar are suspended from stainless steel trapezes.

New polished terrazzo flooring now complements the original floorboards, while ceiling-high industrial glass doors lead onto an enclosed terrace with views of the city streetscape.

The apartment also boasts clever architectural features, such as a sleek yet practical kitchen which houses a nerve box controlling smart wiring for everything ranging from lighting to security.

Cupboards which can pull out and be changed years down the track for a new look are another plus along with seamless stainless steel benchtops.

The master bedroom has what at first glance appears to be a platform bed which architect, Jean-mic Perrine describes as an obelisk.

In place of a bedhead, a structural wall behind the bed is lit as a feature and also hides power points. The adjoining ensuite bathroom features an industrially-inspired design technique, the floor and tub being seamless.

Making it even more special is the material used to accomplish this.

Called corian, it is man-made, was once used only for industrial purposes, and is not only tough, but polishes up like marble as years go by.

“And I met a number of people who were closely associated with the building of the church and I met a number of parishioners who were also involved . . . . they were excited at the prospect of their church being opened and dedicated.”

The Archbishop said it was true that Catholics can gather for Mass in many locations such as in a hall or have a shopfront in a local shopping centre.

“But the people still want their parish to have its church,” he said, “to have its building, to have that central location which becomes their own.

“The dreams of so many people have now been realised; at least one person has been waiting for this day for 42 years.”

Archbishop Hickey said the parish’s priests, religious and dedicated lay people had never given up hope.

“Where they assemble is a symbol of that community and the twin spires remind those who pass by there is a living body of faith that is around this church,” he said.

“This is set aside as a particular worship place of God; this speaks about community, about prayer, about faith with the architecture that calls one to prayer; the spires almost reaching up, calling us to God.

“The church is the place where the Holy Mass is celebrated each day and on the weekends where all the community comes to worship together; the Sacraments will be conferred here.”

Archbishop Hickey said people could come to pray in the quiet and ask God to help them carry their burdens.

“You will not forget this church because you will be paying for it!” he joked.

“That is a real link with the church because you will own it.”

Archbishop Hickey said it will be a place of memories, happy and sad.

“All you here present, and your parish priest and the leadership he has given, produced this marvellous church in the praise and glory of God,” he said.

“By the work of so many people – the architects, and builders – this church of Mater Christi will be something you will continue to love and use.”

Thunderous applause broke out when Archbishop Hickey presented parish stalwart, Sr Emmanuel, with a gift in recognition of the ten years service to the parish.

Fr Rosling later told The Record the building and dedication of the church was a dream come true for Sr Emmanuel who had literally been praying on her knees each day for ten years for the building of a church.

Fr Rosling is the fourth parish priest, after founding priest Fr Peter Bianchini, who is currently overseas, Fr Tim Foster, and Fr Greg Donovan, who were both present.

Fr Rosling was appointed parish priest in October, 1998, and building commenced in August last year.

In November last year, the church foundation stone was blessed and laid and in February this year, Fr Rosling moved into his new presbytery.

“From birth to maturity the parish has been nurtured by God’s grace,” Fr Rosling said while thanking everyone at the dedication, and added that it had been sustained by the patient and persistent vision of its people.

“In this Year of Jubilee, may our heavenly Father, from whom all blessings flow, be ever praised for bringing us to this joyous day!”

Fr Rosling also thanked Archdiocesan Financial Administrator Jim Thomas and Catholic Development Fund manager Brian Parry for their help in arranging finance for the new presbytery and church.

Jean-Mic says when designing residential homes he tries to reflect the personalities and aspirations of his clients.

“In the case of Wayne and Brima it is very much about their being private, very understated . . . but beautifully complex and relaxed on the inside,” he said.

“An important design element was definitely reflecting the fusion of the couple — they really do mix Western lifestyle with traditional Eastern influences.”

Most surprising about this abode is the spacious minimalist courtyard on one side of the gallery. The grey, paved courtyard and heated pool would put most traditional backyard gardens to shame.

A sumptuous reading or dressing room, accessed from the main bedroom, hovers over the pool.

Mr Perrine’s smaller Japanese courtyard was designed by renowned landscaper Ajji Morozomi . It beckons through generous glazed surfaces in the minor bedrooms and sitting area.

Together, the courtyards provide cross-ventilation for the living areas. Other features that moderate the temperature inside include 100mm-thick polished terrazzo floors and the heated pool, which transmits warmth to the floors.

The kitchen and bathrooms have top-quality fittings and fixtures including wenge timber cabinets, green glazing, molded stainless-steel benches and splashbacks, and marble vanities, floor and wall tiles.

Indirect lighting in all rooms operate with dimmer switches for different moods. The kitchen has trapeze task lighting.

Mr Perrine’s home has unpretentious style that creates a relaxed lifestyle without stuffiness.

Their current home is part of a duplex in a converted warehouse. Forrest St has as many commercial properties as residential and this home combines the best of both.

From the street, the facade is industrial, with double garage doors and a somewhat forbidding front door made of iron. Once you are buzzed inside there is another massive 3m by 4m iron door which pivots open with surprising smoothness. After such an imposing entry, the house is light and welcoming.

Jean-Mic has kept the original ceiling height and struts and used deliberately industrial finishes such as exposed bolts and rough renders. The cool palette of cement greys, white terrazzo and dark woods is interspersed with bright blocks of red and large artworks — many of which are Jean-Mic’s own.

“The exposed bolts were original when I did it (in 1998), and red used to be my signature colour, but I’ve had to stop using it because everyone is doing it now,” Jean-Mic said.

The lounge and dining area are in a long gallery space which is full of light thanks to clerestory windows on the eastern wall and a large courtyard on the south-eastern corner of the property. There is also a small courtyard on the western side.

Eiji Morizumi did the landscape design for both courtyards. “Eiji does the worst drawings and at first I doubted him, but he really understands plants and has a clear picture of what the garden will be like — three years on the garden is absolutely fantastic.”

A chinese tallow tree, camellia bush in a bed of grasses and stones are a beautiful soft touch in the otherwise minimal courtyard.

A pool and eating area make this the ultimate “outdoor room”.

There is also a private lounge area which can be shut off from the rest of the house and houses the TV and entertainment units. The three double bedrooms are large and positioned for privacy. The small courtyard separates two of the bedrooms while a bathroom and en suite buffers the master suite.

“The only problem with working in the city is I can’t wear my jeans to work anymore,” she said. “But that’s a small price to pay.”

Since swapping their renovated Subiaco warehouse home for a plush penthouse pad, the couple and their children – Adrian, 17, and Paloma, 11 – have been living on top of the world.

With a panorama of Kings Park and Parliament House, and close-ups of the QV1 building, sitting on their balcony is akin to enjoying live theatre from the front yard.

“The other day, all these black cars suddenly pulled in at the top of the carpark and a wedding party emerged,” said Jean-mic. “I think the saying is there’s never a dull moment.”

The Box apartments’ indoor gym and lap pool provide exercise close to home. And with the downstairs Box Deli, which this week took off two awards at the Australian Hotel Association’s awards night, it’s a bit like living in a swish city hotel.

Tight security is another drawcard for the Perrines and other neighbours, including Malcolm Day and Bree Maddox, who live in the Box’s other penthouse apartment.

The Perrines’ apartment has a style that is simple yet sophisticated, contemporary yet intrinsically classic. Polished concrete floors are an ideal setting for the family’s cool, classic furniture.

A slick galley-style kitchen with Smeg appliances has plenty of bench and cupboard space.

There’s also a groovy library nook. No centimetre is wasted in a bid to provide a home with plenty of room to move.

Imaginative and versatile use of space was one of the architect’s main priorities when designing the 30 apartments, a mix of one, two, three and four-bedroom dwellings.

Now experiencing the reality of his own design, Jean-mic feels he has accomplished what he set out to.

“These apartments were created for people who love the city life, enjoy quality of life and still want a life at home,” he said. “Things like walls big enough to hang works of art, areas which could hold a piano – and a baby grand if you want.”

The owner said the home was built around the premise it be a serene inner-city sanctuary with a markedly contemporary look; its occupants could take advantage of the active cosmopolitan life outside its doors but still retreat to a sanctuary of peace and calm.

They had lived in the area for 10 years and liked the aspects of inner-city living and the proximity to the city, cafes and the many restaurants of Beaufort Street in Mt Lawley and Highgate; being close to Hyde Park. “We do entertain quite a bit —” .

Passive-solar design allows natural light to flood the home during the day, while ambient lighting at key points creates a dramatic effect at night.

Internally the vast, uncluttered spaces create a sense of peace and tranquillity, “she said” — created “with a lot of passion from both the architect and the designer”.

The kitchen is of paramount importance; the majority of time was spent designing the kitchen — “It took us a while to get that right. In general, it has been designed so there is a lot of usable space throughout as well as a big outdoor entertaining area.”

Designing the interiors was a collaborative approach with Mr Perrine, based on an animal-print style, using Italian decor and some furniture pieces the owner designed herself. Furniture has been custom-designed to fit the space and can be negotiated for sale.

“What I love most about the house is its clarity and its simplicity,” — the house makes an impression on guests, “they usually walk in and say, ’wow, what a beautiful space’.”

Main bedroom is upstairs and has 3m ceiling heights throughout , giving impression of volume; an 8sqm terrace with a northerly view. The guest bedroom, suspended over the rear courtyard, has two walls of glass and a wall of perforated aluminium — full-height glass a rare commodity in inner-city homes.

From the entrance in the building below, with its scrubbed silica bricks and exposed pipework, honesty of materials was central to the project’s design. This is carried through in the terrazzo floors and hard-wearing surfaces of the apartments above.

“Part of the urban consideration is building smarter for closer living proximities,” says Perrine. “All the Box apartments feature timber-frame, solid core doors and sound-proof plasterboard interior walls.”

Pre-cast concrete floors run throughout the apartments. When polished they have a grey/black industrial surface. This industrial look is also reflected in the kitchens’ benchtops, each pressed from a single sheet of stainless steel, and in the cabinetry, set on castors.

In an enclosed living space, issues such as ventilation need careful planning, says Perrine. The kitchens in the apartments all have their own exhaust emission ducts, thus avoiding the sharing of odours between neighbours that can happen with a common exhaust system.

“The creation of these apartments came about as a collaboration between tough materials, honest design and a need for strong ergonomic solutions,” says Perrine. “The feedback on the complex has been extremely positive. As an architect, there is no greater reward than the occupiers appreciating their environment for what it was intended to represent.”

Designing for urban life and small blocks is routine for many architects and designers these days, with urban infill redevelopments and changing lifestyles. But according to Jean-mic, only a handful does it well.

“It’s a real challenge these days to create a space that offers a sustainable lifestyle. There is an extraordinary failure rate of small block residences to be relevant. Most people can’t handle the confined nature of some designs — the lack of proportion, the lack of light, the lack of exaltation really,” he says.

“With this house, I continue my exploration of fifteen years on how to make urban spaces, small spaces, sustainable and spirit-lifting.”

So does the house lift the spirits of its owners? “It exceeds our expectations,” Trish enthuses. “I am so happy with its light-filled, serene spaces. It feels fantastic.”

“The Perth City Council made building residential development commercially viable in the city by creating densities for commercial development,” he says. “The council is one of the most progressive capital city councils in the country.”

The future of the area, according to Perrine, is set to flourish.

“In the next two years, the West End will be really the only place in the city with soul,” he says. “There are 2000 or so apartments that will become part of the West End in the next two or three years, adding another 4000 people to the district. There is no place like it — where people can work, play, recreate and live.”

Much of the West End’s charm is its stylish European glamour set within the heritage precinct, but the West End’s diverse history comes from less glamorous days when the area was home to worker’s cottages, coal yards, blacksmiths and laundries during the 19th century gold rush, which has been preserved in the Victorian streetscapes.

And while it began life as a working-class district, it was not long before gold money saw it expand as a bustling area for small business, with milliners, shoemakers, dentists and chemists soon taking up a place in the area.

Warehouses and wholesalers who were supplying their wares to the Goldfields soon caught on to the West End’s appeal, due largely to its proximity to the railway line. A blip on the radar was the time when the area became known as a car centre, with all the major car dealers having yards there.

“After Box I wanted to work on something that was the antithesis of what people in Perth were doing on their blocks,” Perrine says. “The houses are getting bigger and bigger. I wanted to boil the house down to its most simple. Out of that came this idea of creating an object that you didn’t have to erect, just drop it there in a day.”

The “object” is made from pre-cast honed concrete, aluminium and glass on the exterior and honed concrete, reconstituted marble and stainless steel on the inside. The pod comes in white or grey and when the concrete is polished it looks like it is carved from a block of marble. “There are no joins at all, not even corners,” Perrine says.

All the interior fittings — kitchen, bathroom, cupboards and lighting — are part of the integrated whole. Perrine furniture can be part of the package. And, just like the iPod it resembles, it has a plug-in point where services such as electricity and plumbing connect.

It comes in three sizes — one, two and three bedrooms — and can be stacked up to 30 storeys high. It can also be placed on top of an existing building. The smallest pod will have a 6sq m deck and 45sq m living space, the next a 9sq m deck and 63sq m interior and the three-bedroom version will have a 12sq m deck and 96sq m interior. Additional verandas can also be plugged in. They will cost from $99,000 for a one-bedroom pod to $200,000 for a three-bedroom pod.

“All you will need is water and electricity. It really is a plug-and-play type building which can adapt to all climatic conditions and it is earthquake and cyclone-proof,” Perrine says. “The idea is that it is absolutely beautiful in space and detail with nothing more or less than you need. Housing trends have become like clothes — the look of now only lasts for three or four years. That isn’t sustainable and puts people under unnecessary pressure to keep up.

“The Perrinepod is the antithesis of that — simple design, beautiful materials, that will remain a classic.”

Where Jean-mic Perrine is large and expansive, wife Mercedes is a trim, quietly efficient woman. She has a banking background and handles the financial side of Perrine Architecture. She says her husband is as self-contained as the pods.

“I love the way that Apple products all have ‘Designed by Apple in California’. I would like to do the same thing with the pods — ‘Designed and made in Perth, WA’. I love that we can cut it in the design world.”

Mercedes says he took a calculated risk with the pods, which are now being manufactured in the Perth suburb of Henderson. Up to 12 a day could be produced. The first pods will go on display next month. Already several resorts in Margaret River have placed orders.

Eventually, Perrine would love to take his vision to the world — setting up manufacturing plants in places like the Mississippi Delta where the US Government has spent billions housing people in caravans and other temporary units.

If it takes off, the name Perrine will be much better known — both here and internationally. But even then it probably still won’t be on his office door.

“It is probably the most eco-friendly housing product there is on the global market. It has net carbon costs, the ability to be sustainable in terms of energy, it is almost entirely solar based and uses water-recycling systems. It’s just miles ahead of all the competition, a lot of which are still using 1960s compressed materials like MDF. This one is entirely designed and made in WA.”

Pindan is opening a display for its HABODE this week at Jandakot airport. The homes are New Zealand-designed and made in China to Australian standards for $135,000 plus transport and installation. They pack into a 40-foot container, are delivered within three months and can be unfolded and assembled within three or four days. With polished bamboo flooring, Corian-look underslung benchtops, glossy black cabinets and glass cabinet doors, it is difficult once inside to tell you are not in a regular bricks-and-mortar house. The two-bedroom home covers 80sqm and comes with a seven-year warranty and five- to seven-star energy ratings.

“This home has many applications,” HABODE Australia general manager Roy Justice said. “It can be used by a first homebuyer to get them started … they can be used as temporary classrooms, accommodation for teachers in remote locations, public service accommodation in indigenous communities or as developers’ offices on new housing projects.”

Interior designer Ann Macliver and her architect husband designed their own prefab home Abode 1 three years ago to put on their bush block and have since refined it for mass production in WA. “These are not your standard pop-up house designed in the 70s and never looked at since,” she said. “They have all the contemporary features a modern home has — and they are waterwise and energy efficient. The good thing is, they look designed, they look functional and contemporary — all the things 70s prefab housing didn’t look — and they appeal to a different market.”

Ms Macliver said some local governments and developers were still resistant to prefab housing because of the hangover left from 1970s designs. “There is some beautiful stuff being designed these days, coming out of Victoria and New Zealand that you would never in a million years guess was prefab housing,” she said.

The British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver just opened an Italian restaurant in the business district, but the most stylish hangouts, located in alleyways once used for garbage, emphasize urbane grit. They bear names like Bobeche and Toastface Grillah, and devote page after page to elaborate cocktails. Ever since the city created a special liquor license for them in 2005, small bars have proliferated; you can spend practically every night in a different bar that, a century ago, was something else: a technical school (Bar Lafayette), a rag factory (1907), a cottage (the Old Crow), a residence and stable (the Stables Bar).

I dined at Print Hall, one of the city’s most celebrated new restaurants, set in an old printing press building and featuring soaring ceilings and a bright white atrium. The lower level is a coffee emporium, where you can find coffee roasted in-house, and the main floor is devoted to locally sourced fine dining and live oyster shucking. On the sweeping rooftop bar, ogle the view and sip a Bloody American — a Campari and blood orange concoction — or a New York Bee-Sting, a combination of rye, Cognac and honey. The mezzanine, wallpapered in Chinese newspaper, is the Apple Daily Bar and Eating House, serving Hong Kong-style yum cha. There, my glass of sauvignon-semillon and steamed scallops with soy rice wine dressing were served by a waitress with piercings and electric-pink lipstick. It seemed as if everyone in Perth was under the age of 30.

Changing hotels allowed me to experience the other face of the new Perth. Fraser Suites is a gleaming 19-story high-rise with floor-to-ceiling windows, opened in 2012 in the up-and-coming Queens Riverside area. New restaurants and bars are on the way in the neighborhood; there’s even a beach being constructed. After settling in my sky-high room, I tackled more neighborhoods, relishing rides on free buses or subways so immaculate they felt like toys.

Settling into a cobalt blue cabana alongside the serpentine pool crowded with gleefully tipsy vacationers, I spied the roped-off “enclave” section reserved for high-rollers and watched hungry masses line up for the lavish buffet. I could have been in Vegas or Dubai, really, but I didn’t mind. In the context of the progressive, user-friendly, oh-so-funky city that Perth has become, this little pocket of what it might have been beckoned with just the right dose of urban excess.

“It was an incredibly small site — the entire site is 500 square metres and I put two houses on it.

“Astonishingly, they look extremely effortless in the streetscape, so it shows what you can do on a small block.”

Other winners included Reed House by Beth George, Architect, which won the Peter Overman Award for Residential Architecture — Houses (Alterations and Additions), and Curtin University’s Midland Campus by Lyons with Silver Thomas Hanley, which took the Hillson Beasley Award for Educational Architecture.

Australian Institute of Architects WA chapter president Peter Hobbs said the awards showcased how architecture contributed to diversity, sustainability and innovation within the state’s built environment.

All WA winners will progress to the Australian Institute of Architects National Awards to be judged against the best architectural works in Australia.