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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Architect Neil Durbach believes in the power of curves and their ability to make the most of the \u201cbeautiful aspects\u201d of a site.<\/p>\n \u201cWith curves, you can create a very relaxed kind of beauty,\u201d he says. \u201cThey have a gentle quality that\u2019s not oppressive or controlling.\u201d<\/p>\n Over the past three decades, Durbach and his partners, Camilla Block and David Jaggers, have designed dozens of acclaimed buildings that make elegant use of curves.<\/p>\n Last month, their firm, Durbach Block Jaggers (DBJ), won the Australian Institute of Architects\u2019 prestigious Gold Medal<\/a> for its \u201cintellectually rigorous, deeply affecting\u201d work, which is characterised by sweeping arcs, long spirals and precise arches.<\/p>\n \u201cCurves allow you to embrace, quite openly, the beautiful aspects of any site, whether it\u2019s a sea view, a garden view or a harbour view,\u201d Durbach says.<\/p>\n That embrace is not always possible with hard edges and rectangular forms, Jaggers says.<\/p>\n \u201cStraight lines try to impose an unnatural ordering system on a site or a view, whereas curves respond intuitively to the natural order of things.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s not to say curves should be used without restraint.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cIf you\u2019re not careful, curves just soften everything so that you feel like you\u2019re living in jelly,\u201d Block says.<\/p>\n For a recent house project on the Cape Byron coast, the trio employed curves sparingly.<\/p>\n The home\u2019s centrepiece is an expansive ocean-facing living room with a triple-vaulted ceiling. An oval skylight punctures the middle vault, drawing light deep into the room.<\/p>\n The scalloped roof creates a feeling of safety, Block says.<\/p>\n \u201cIn a sense, it is cave-like, and it feels protective. At other times, when the sea is calm, you feel like you\u2019re living on a plateau, with soft clouds above you.\u201d<\/p>\n Durbach says the vaulted forms enhance the room\u2019s sense of scale and echo the curvature of the waves below.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was an opportunity to make a single room feel quite complex and rich<\/a> while also creating the sense of being \u2018held\u2019 by the space.\u201d<\/p>\n Another recent home, in Sydney\u2019s Lavender Bay, features a gently curved ceiling that recalls the sail-like forms of the Sydney Opera House, which is visible through the windows.<\/p>\n \u201cCurves allowed us to frame these iconic Australian forms, the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, comfortably and naturally,\u201d Jaggers says.<\/p>\n Even when they\u2019re not framing million-dollar views, interior curves can enhance wellbeing, says Michael J Ostwald, professor of architectural analytics at the University of New South Wales.<\/p>\n \u201cResearch suggests that the inclusion of a few subtle curvilinear elements in a building\u2019s interior can evoke an inviting, relaxing or uplifting emotional response<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Related Article Ostwald says subtle curves can help inhabitants relax in a room while appreciating the exterior views the space frames \u2013 a spatial psychology concept known as \u201cbalancing prospect and refuge.\u201d<\/p>\n Like Durbach, Block and Jaggers, he cautions against the over-use of curves.<\/p>\n \u201cToo many curvilinear forms in an interior can create confusion, cognitive overload and even nausea,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n He praises the trio for their approach.<\/p>\n \u201cDBJ\u2019s restrained use of simple rectilinear volumes, connected or punctured by simple curvilinear elements, engages both the mind and the emotions in a positive, even therapeutic, manner.\u201d<\/p>\n One DBJ home, known as Holman House, does away with straight lines. But even it feels understated: the open-plan living area, which overlooks the ocean, extends as a long, loose curve, mirrored by the curvature of the kitchen island.<\/p>\n The house sits on a cliff edge which is not visible from the street. DBJ\u2019s aim, Block says, was to envelop its owners in the wraparound sea view as soon as they stepped through the front door.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are no corners in the Holman House, which allows you to come from the street and then move from one space to another, almost without being aware of your change of direction.\u201d<\/p>\n In the garden, an undulating swimming pool follows the curvature of the cliff face, enhancing the pool\u2019s connection to the crashing waves below.<\/p>\n \u201cThe entire site, but the garden especially, gives a feeling of being flung out over the cliff edge, and the curves amplify that,\u201d Block says.<\/p>\n DBJ don\u2019t only design houses: they have also created office towers, arts venues and university buildings.<\/p>\n But Durbach says their residential commissions have been particularly satisfying.<\/p>\n \u201cA house takes you on an adventure with a specific person who\u2019s trying to achieve something unique with you. It\u2019s a nimble process, unlike institutional and commercial projects, which are much more cumbersome.\u201d<\/p>\n He says DBJ\u2019s recent Gold Medal win was \u201cimmensely gratifying\u201d and an affirmation of their aesthetic approach, which the judges said \u201chas shaped the expectations and ambitions of contemporary Australian architecture.\u201d<\/p>\n Adds Block: \u201cI think they gave it to us because we\u2019re still together after all these years. We\u2019re like the Rolling Stones: we don\u2019t quit.\u201d<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/6dd969881199531060b09535df0ae329da53cd2f.jpeg\")
A Durbach Block Jaggers project in Sydney\u2019s Lavender Bay.Tom Ferguson<\/p>\n![\"DBJ\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/0edc57591f87c6402140f01929576efcc3446c8c.jpeg\")
DBJ\u2019s directors, from left: David Jaggers, Camilla Block and Neil Durbach.Daniel Boud<\/p>\n![\"20](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1781101934_482_3bb5020291ed398f80b6fc03d2fc365adeaaadf9.jpeg\")
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A\u00a0recent Durbach Block Jaggers project on the Cape Byron coast.Brett Boardman<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ba0a1911aaa2579aee48c9cc57bb4cf280afb178.jpeg\")
The scalloped roof in the Cape Byron project creates a feeling of safety, Block says.Brett Boardman<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/95b7874ea3e156ea5ced2e99e5142a8cc4b791ba.jpeg\")
A curved ceiling in the Durbach Block Jaggers Lavender Bay project.Neil Durbach<\/p>\n![\"Hotels](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/3d049cfa78c32960eec1992a05b724e69ab46d72.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Holman](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/7d6712356037631b0d426c2019cd176faa9b343a.jpeg\")
Holman House, \u00a0a Durbach Block Jaggers project, has an open-plan living area, which overlooks the ocean.Brett Boardman<\/p>\n![\"Holman](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/3c5bc02bf353d2b78420860f7211e914b14967c5.jpeg\")
Holman House\u2019s swimming pool follows the curvature of the cliff face.Brett Boardman<\/p>\n
![\"Dan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778191333_787_7452194fbc5832f7829d861b6e19dee717814ab95f59ab6ff73779af61c0e960.png\")