Jolson Converts Red-brick Mechanics Workshop into the House of Bricks.

Between two revamped Victorian Terraces rests House of Bricks by Jolson Architecture and Interiors. Situated in Prahran behind Victorian shopfronts and offices, this former red-brick mechanic’s workshop is converted into a three-story home ready to welcome visitors. House of Brick features an exterior integrated tidily to complement the streetscape, and is a luxurious home that intertwines rich contextual elements with the client’s own, forming an unconventional touch to the industrial aesthetic.

The façade is poetic in its own right. The black embossed garage door is a “modern interpretation of the picket fence” and the northern recycled red-bricks façade is reminiscent of “the client’s love of travel through the Middle East and Asia”. The pairing materials adhere to the design brief of an industrial palette. The black steel interlaces throughout the house, found in the staircases, balustrades, unique angular doors, structural columns, and bespoke furniture. Meanwhile, the “tapestry of red-bricks” is exposed throughout, a continuation of the robust tones as requested in the design brief.

The house sits on a cul-de-sac at approximately 600 square metres, with a footprint thriving on open plan and strategically placed skylights to allow materials to delineate the space. The ground floor, decked in polished concrete floors holds two guest bedrooms, a bathroom, and a breakout lounge. Separating the top floor and the ground is a north orientated kitchen, lounge, and dining area, also sitting on polished concrete. The kitchen is the central focus on the first floor, ornated with a black steel island bench, eucalyptus veneer timber joinery and a porcelain bench. With a rustic fireplace awaiting to warm up the space, it offers a vibrant entertainment space.

The top floor, on the contrary, opts for a quieter yet texturally rich palette. Broad timber floorboards and white walls construct the private domain. Bright accents of yellow furniture are incorporated to provide an artistic element, transforming the intimate nook to a personal gallery. Still, the top floor remains connected to the other floors by the custom bookcase located on the first floor, literally piercing into the office space. It really is a brilliant stitching of industrial elements into the contemporary. Industrial and chic.

[Words by Kimberley Hui. Images courtesy of Jolson. Photography by Lucas Allen.]