Designed nearly thirty years ago for pivotal INXS musician , Kirk Pengilly, this house is the result of substantial alterations and additions to a 1940s duplex with a most austere and predictable form.
Luigi Rosselli Architects was handed a squat, two-storey red-brick building, and the INXS guitarist was handed back a voluptuous, sensuous and meticulously detailed building.
Externally, additions to the front and rear of the property draw their inspiration from curved forms of 1950s Chevrolet cars and Kirk’s guitars; internally the fittings include custom designed decorative lighting, beds and baths.
Photographer, Justin Alexander visited the house last year to document how it has stood the test of time and though Kirk Pengilly no longer lives there, the current owner’s love for house shines through in how well it has been cared for in the intervening years since its completion.
Location: Cammeray, Sydney, NSW
Council: North Sydney
Design Architect: Luigi Rosselli
Project Architect: Ali Reda
Builder: Alvaro Brothers Building
Joiner: Tripoloni & Son
Custom Furniture: Linda Fineberg
Custom Lighting: Neoz
Photography: Justin Alexander
The entry panelling includes openings that provide small vignettes of the living room beyond.
© Justin Alexander
Custom designed door handles, detailed 1:1 by Luigi Rosselli Architects, open the dressing room robe doors, panelled in silver ash and featuring ventilation windows screened by brass meshing to keep out the moths.
© Justin Alexander
In the bathroom there is a sensuality of curves and deep blue Bisazza glass mosaics with a starry sky of hand inserted gold tiles for shower, which lies beneath a skylight in the ceiling, and in turn hangs above a Luigi Rosselli Architects designed, custom built concrete spa bath with a carrara marble edge.
© Justin Alexander
Low tech is designed to last, as this ultra simple wired glass hood with window fan demonstrates; an alternative to often cumbersome range hoods that in this case would obscure the view. The kitchen benchtops feature green marble, which is also used for the curvy splashback that takes its shape from the floorplan at the front of the house.
© Justin Alexander
The first house features a number of custom made furniture items including a bed designed by Linda Fineberg.
© Justin Alexander
© Justin Alexander
Peter Ellis of Neoz Lighting manufactured these lights, designed by Luigi Rosselli Architects especially for the project and still working perfectly
© Justin Alexander
Copper cladding to the open fireplace has softly tarnished over the years. The slot between the column and the chimney breast was designed to store firewood (log fires were still permitted back then), as featured on the cover of a 1991 edition of Vogue Living.
© Justin Alexander
Constructed of blackbutt timber, the central stair climbs to two upper levels. The walls feature a waxed finish set plaster, which is subtly tinted with a cupful of yellow oxide additive poured by Luigi himself into the 200 litre oil drum where the gypsum plaster and lime was mixed and blended with the tears of Tony & Tony the plasterers, who were both mourning the Italian football team’s tragic loss to Argentina in the 1990 World Cup.
© Justin Alexander
A Barovier & Toso light made in Murano overlooks the silver ash and silky oak panelled entrance, where the steel front door pivots over a custom crafted marble mosaic that features a “rose of the winds” compass motif.
© Justin Alexander
© Justin Alexander
Steel window frames have been a constant presence throughout thirty years of Luigi Rosselli Architects projects. At the time of construction for Cammeray Road, Bob Thompson was the only manufacturer of steel windows in Australia. At the time, Joe Dinallo was a young apprentice in their factory in Alexandria, he now works in Melbourne as a manager for Skyrange, while Bob retired to cruise the world. Manufacturers come and go, but we will always use steel windows in our designs.
© Justin Alexander
Twin garages frame the entry courtyard, which is secured with a woven flat mesh screen and gate. Stepping stones of concrete with mosaic tile inlays form the path to the front door. The striped façade of the house is constructed using alternating layers of split face Besser bricks and pink blocks with a polished face.
© Justin Alexander