{"id":102072,"date":"2025-08-28T11:44:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T11:44:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/102072\/"},"modified":"2025-08-28T11:44:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T11:44:12","slug":"peter-besley-shelters-brisbane-home-with-walls-of-perforated-brickwork","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/102072\/","title":{"rendered":"Peter Besley shelters Brisbane home with walls of perforated brickwork"},"content":{"rendered":"

Perforated screens of reclaimed terracotta<\/a> brick and metal mesh<\/a> for climbing plants wrap the volumes of this home in Australia<\/a>, designed by local architect Peter Besley.<\/p>\n

Named Birdwood, the home on a sloping site at the base of Mount Coot-tha in Brisbane<\/a> was designed for a multi-generational family that wanted a dwelling where they could age in place.<\/p>\n

The uneven nature of the site led to Besley<\/a> dividing the home into separate volumes that were each created to have a unique feel \u2013 from a series of more insular bedrooms to a bright, double-height living area and library beneath a ziggurat-shaped skylight.<\/p>\n

\"PerforatedPeter Besley has completed a family home in Brisbane<\/p>\n

“The house is like a string of objects and volumes, with its blurred indoor\/outdoor nature allowing the subtropical landscape to be enjoyed,” Besley told Dezeen.<\/p>\n

“The site is steep – on the slopes of a mountain – and to achieve the aims of aging-in-place and multigenerational living I had to carefully work the sections in what is a complex plan,” he continued.<\/p>\n

“The separation of the volumes allows different things to happen. Moving about the house you feel like you are in several ‘worlds’. These nevertheless had to feel as one, a composition.”<\/p>\n

\"ViewPerforated brick was used across the home’s exterior<\/p>\n

Addressing the street, the home’s bedrooms are contained within a simple, white volume with a largely blank exterior, wrapped by a screen of metal mesh that will gradually become overgrown with plants.<\/p>\n

Tall, narrow openings in this block were sheltered behind sliding wooden shutters, mirrored by sliding doors that open onto an external, paved link that connects to the living areas.<\/p>\n

\"InteriorThe home’s spaces are divided into separate volumes<\/p>\n

In contrast, the volume at the rear of the site opens up to the landscape with a double-skinned exterior, comprised of an inner layer of glazing that is shielded by an outer layer of perforated brickwork.<\/p>\n

For both, the perforated brickwork, as well as areas of external tiling and paving, Besley used salvaged brick and terracotta pieces from a closed local brickworks.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Mygunyah<\/p>\n

Matt Gibson adds Arts and Crafts-style brick extensions to Melbourne home\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

A large living, dining and kitchen area occupies the ground floor of the living volume, with sliding, timber-framed glass doors opening onto a paved garden that ends in a small, deep plunge pool.<\/p>\n

Above, a more secluded sitting and play area sits next to a timber library mezzanine that hangs above the living area below, illuminated by a ziggurat-shaped skylight.<\/p>\n

\"MezzanineA mezzanine sits above the ground floor living spaces<\/p>\n

“This is lovely, experiential work: at one moment you are slightly in the earth, then you’re floating just above, then, before you know it, you’re really high and soaring,” said Besley.<\/p>\n

“To sit up there in the suspended library with a book and long views to the city and landscape is really special. But I also love the little pond-like pool. It’s tall and deep. When it gets really hot you can sink down to the bottom like a stone where it’s cold.”<\/p>\n

\"Timber-linedTimber is used across the home’s interior<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in Brisbane, the founders of Australian studio Zuzana & Nicholas recently renovated a former worker’s cottage to be their own home and studio<\/a> while local studio John Ellway updated a Brisbane cottage with a series of small gardens<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The photography is by Rory Gardiner<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Perforated screens of reclaimed terracotta brick and metal mesh for climbing plants wrap the volumes of this home…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":102073,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[449,458,459,64,63,74018,651,460,134,1573,462,61745,61746],"class_list":["post-102072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-houses","tag-brisbane","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-houses","tag-residential-architecture-and-interiors","tag-sectionall","tag-sectionarchitecture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102072\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}