Sculpted | Madeleine Blanchfield | 2026 | 澳大利亚
Sculpture allows you to deal with the world in a very direct way—with material, with mass, with gravity." (Antony Gormley)
Opposite Bronte Gully, nestled into the hillside, this home for an artist's family has been carved into the landscape with precision, distilling architecture to its essential expression. The design celebrates raw materiality: structural brick walls and concrete slabs remain exposed as final surfaces, requiring meticulous detailing and workmanship.
Having admired a previous MBA project on a similar block, the owner-artist and his family commissioned a second residence with a clear brief: create a space that nurtures family life while celebrating artistic practice. What followed was an intensely collaborative, resourceful process.
Inspired by the owner's ceramicist and timber works, we approached the home as a macro sculpture: interplaying with open air and sunlight against a backdrop of layered native foliage. This vision gave rise to our conceptual principle: a home with zero superfluous layers.
The absence of applied finishes and the use of locally made Krause bricks, concrete, and oak offer raw authenticity. By removing such finishes, the internal spaces expose the labour and craft of construction. Electrical and plumbing services are integrated within the brickwork rather than concealed behind plasterboard or render. This intensified collaboration extended to the client, who construction-managed the project on-site throughout the build, coordinating trades and elevating the craft to an exacting standard.
Krause provided a raw brick for the owner to hand-sculpt the house number into, which was then laid into the street wall: a quietly crafted detail embodying the project's minimal, material-driven approach.
Small moments, like gum leaf impressions in the poured concrete slab, become part of the story of this sculpted Australian home. Nature's accidental mark on a surface with no room for error as the slab is the finished floor became akin to a ceramicist's intentional stamping process. Such unexpected moments shape the home's atmosphere, reinforcing our understanding of architecture as experiential and relational—not just objects to observe, but spaces that evoke feeling, memory, and imagination. - The house is immersed in native landscape and feels like living outdoors when opened up. Light enters from all directions throughout the day, with the sun occasionally casting golden beams across the living spaces.
- Considered, waste-free planning creates north-facing views over a canopy of treetops, while the south is more intimate and private, opening to the rear garden. The garage conceals a generously proportioned sculpture studio: a working retreat for artist Aaron Crothers, whose ceramic works feature throughout the house.
Solar-passive principles underpin the design. The plan opens north with generous eaves and high-level windows that draw light into south-facing spaces and cross ventilation abounds. Thermal mass in the concrete floor acts as a heat sink. Photovoltaic panels and rainwater recycling amplify environmental performance.
The house demonstrates that rigorous planning, solar-passive design, and finessed detailing can transform a modest budget into a modern Australian home that is both sustainable and deeply rewarding and uplifting to inhabit.
“Sculpted" achieves richness through reduction, revealing form by removing excess. By stripping away the unnecessary, it reveals a home where every surface tells the story of its making, where materiality speaks honestly: a dwelling inseparable from the landscape that holds it and the creative life it contains.
“Our home’s design supports the way we live, creating a serene environment that encourages rest and wellbeing. Soft colours, layered textures, and a strong sense of privacy help us feel grounded and settled. A close connection to nature, light, and fresh air enhances how we work – fostering clarity, focus, and creativity. Our proximity to the ocean shapes everyday life and an active, outdoor lifestyle. The design appears effortlessly simple yet belies the complexity and consideration behind each surface and detail. Through thoughtful architecture, our home nurtures connection, balance, and the daily rhythms and rituals that matter most to our family.” (Aaron Crothers)
项目名称：SCULPTED
Traditional custodians: Gadigal people of the Eora Nation
Photography: Anson Smart
Styling: Jack Milenkovic
Team: Madeleine Blanchfield, Amber Lush, Nick Channon, Paul Counsell
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