Mowbray

This house in the Melbourne beachside suburb of Brighton is an example of dedication to craft. Working with a number of specialists, RMA oversaw the bronze work of the front door and the window boxes, the intricate parquet flooring in solid oak and the herringbone brick work. “This residence has bespoke detail at every turn,” says Rob Mills.

Significant, too, is the sense of proportion, with soaring 3.4-metre ceilings and steel-framed doors, Art Deco in style, providing an elegant sense of transparency from one space to the next.

The three-storey staircase, something of a RMA trademark, descends into the basement, rendering the space there as valuable as that of the ground floor. “We located a movie room, a gym and a mechanics workshop in the basement as the client likes to tinker with cars,” says Mills.

The flow of the house has a clear sense of hierarchy, with a dining room and sitting room facing the street and, as you move through the house towards the north-facing rear, the rooms become more informal.

“I have used the device of a service corridor, in the tradition of the great houses, to demarcate the formal and the informal,” explains Mills. “This indicates that you are moving into a space of a different character through a utility space used for storage of glassware and crockery in purpose-built cabinets – hence it also has direct access to the dining room.” Rob Mills would like to acknowledge the collaboration with Interior Designer Bev Whalan on this project.