The moody cold month of May set the scene for a rare open house experience. View House, a Tasmanian home designed by Archier, became the stage for a series of intimate gatherings which invited visitors to linger within its lived-in spaces, environments shaped by architecture, materiality and furnishings.

Words by Alice Blackwood

Videography by Huemen Media

Photography by Huemen Media and Rachel Datson

Completed by Archier’s founding director and architect, Chris Haddad, some six years ago, View House dwells within the bushland landscape of Sandy Bay in Hobart.

Chris designed this home for his parents, who sought comfort and warmth from their home spaces. The views of course, became both the inspiration and frame of reference, for the life that would unfold within.

Chris has designed the home using natural materials – stone, timber, handcrafted Japanese ceramics and Italian terracotta. These architectural surfaces are as much a part of the architecture as they are everyday life – structure, functional and decorative.

Within this private realm, Artedomus was granted rare access, to present an Open House experience for local architects and designers in Tasmania. Over a week of small, intimate gatherings, people stepped away from the rush of responsibility, to make a special home visit, enfolded into a quiet, intimate world of architectural surfaces, materiality and beautiful design.

Nestled into the valley: View House.
Located on the second level, the outdoor terrace is enveloped in Cotto Manetti terracotta tiles. Full-height bi-fold doors transform the space into a cosy observatory, fully enclosed in glass to shelter from the elements. A New Volumes Echo Low table in terracotta adds a sculptural note.
A New Volumes Cove chair and Echo High table command the views on the outdoor terrace.
Spaces are zoned in such a way that they all remain connected and cohesive within a spacious floorplate.
"Chris has designed the home using natural materials – stone, timber, handcrafted Japanese ceramics and Italian terracotta."
On the lower level a self-contained kitchenette reveals the enduring beauty of Artedomus Vigo Lena natural stone.
An Agape Cenote Pedestal Basin brings new meaning to expressive functionality, its plinth-like form framed by views out to the ferned garden beyond.
Six years on, the main kitchen shows how beautifully a material like Vigo Lena natural stone ages over time. In the foreground, a New Volumes Sol vase brings a soft counterpoint to the kitchen's clean-lined design.
"Six years on, the main kitchen shows how beautifully a material like Vigo Lena natural stone ages over time."
The New Volumes Napoleon & Josephine mortar and pestle by Sarah King offers a distinctly sculptural take on this well-loved kitchen staple.
An Agape Casa Tres 3 Chair and New Volumes Hemera lamp find themselves perfectly at home in the main bedroom. Archier has cleverly integrated storage into the bedhead (left), with wardrobes and vanity quietly positioned to the rear of the room.
A moody stairwell pulls you up through ferny views to the upper level.
Majestic views from the main bedroom where you can watch the fog roll in over the hillside.
An intimate private vanity in the main bedroom is embellished with an Agape Spin Mirror and Agape Massicci Basin in transparent cast glass.
You can feel the embrace of the space in the downstairs bathroom. Here an Agape Normal Bath sits against a monolithic wall of Cotto Manetti terracotta tiles. An Agape Vis-à-vis stool in cork brings warmth and softened texture to this grounding environment.
Looking across the bedhead to the personal vanity beyond in the main bedroom.
"...Beautiful materials and objects could be viewed up close and experienced in situ."
A moment's pause in the main bedroom, where beautiful materials and objects could be viewed up close and experienced in situ.
The Artedomus team created a series of beautiful moments inside to complement the finishes already embedded in the architecture of View House.
The living room, seamlessly connected with terrace and kitchen zones, offered excellent views across the surrounding landscape.
Designed for indoors as well as out, Mutina Bricks blend the decorative with the structural. Here guests and the Artedomus team admire (from left) Tally, Bloc, and Jali.
"Just as comfortable indoors as they are out, Mutina Bricks blend the decorative with the structural."
Mutina Bricks Bloc and Jali.
Adam Goodrum's New Volumes Pitcher Table and Stools reveal the purity of geometry and mathematical balance with which they have been designed. A perfectly balanced equation of form against the soft, bushy backdrop of Sandy Bay.
In the entrance area we find the New Volumes Élan Console by Jordan Fleming, against a tactile backdrop of Inax Homura tiles. Both were hard to ignore, begging to be investigated up close.
"Guests lingered within spaces made for dwelling, shaped by architecture, materiality and furnishings.
From the terrace guests watched the fog roll in over the water and the valley, a soft shroud to the angular architecture of View House.

Discover more —

residential design Tasmania View House Archier Open House Architecture event Home design Artedomus Australian architecture coastal architecture

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