House Tour Q&A with the Architect | Behind the Scenes of Lightwells House: Ian Bennett Design

Nice to meet you. You actually worked on the lower level when you were in a different practice. Yeah, when I was in a different practice. I didn't design it but I was a project architect on it. It was my first actual job running on site. Really? Yeah, so it was just this lower level. This was here but then we excavated behind that. Right. And propped the whole house up. Wow. And then put in bedrooms and stuff behind there. That was initially. And this, so this was not here. No, no, that was there. That was there. Okay. But not in this. Layout, yeah, okay. Since doing this, we actually came back down and just not touched anything inside down here. Yeah. But we repainted the walls, put brand new doors and windows in, put new lights on. Beautiful. Redid the balcony. Just so that it all tied in. That's just wonderful high contrast. Yeah, yeah. Wow. Just to tie it all in because it was a bit like, oh, what are we going to do now down here? Because it was like a pale brown color originally. Oh, was it? Yeah. So we had to sort of. Yeah, and then we ended on this. So you've come full circle. This was your first job. First. First job on site. And now you've come back to kind of, you know, finish it off with your own practice. Oh, I love it. And the gardens have been done? Yeah, that's been brand new as well. Gardens redone. This path is all new. So that's tied in. This is lovely actually. It's all recycled brick. I was going to say, where did you pick up the brick from? It's got a foot. Oh, it's wonderful. Yeah, did that. So this is all, it's all existing, but we redid all this. So that all tied in. This is new too, this terracotta herringbone. So this is, this is existing. Basically from this spot was from here. Wow. That was existing. Yeah. Not in this redone format. Yeah. It was existing. And then there was a little set of stairs that came up here. Similar. We even got a kitchen, but it was a lot smaller. Wow. Than this. So the idea was, how do we, how do you connect the old with the new? You actually separate it and you define the old and the new. I love that. The light one. Yeah, the light one. And their last name's Wells. Oh, is it? Wells. I love that. Yeah. Oh, beautiful. So that was the, that was how we, instead of just smashing something together like that, why don't we separate it? Let it breathe. Old, transition, new. Such a different landscape here. Oh, it is. Gosh, this island is something else. What's the length of that? 4.1. Oh my God. And this cabinetry is amazing. Oh, I love the colour palette. It was funny because I proposed this and the builder who I've done a lot of work with, and I'm still doing a lot of work with, he said to me, are you sure about green? I said, no, trust me, trust me. I was going to say, it is green, right? Yeah, it is. I was going to say, it's like a really, really pale, almost eucalypt or something. Yeah, that's it. It's a eucalypt green. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's very, very soft. And when you see it just as a sample like that, without anything around it, you think, he even made me double guess. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's all right, mate. Just trust me. And then we did it. And then what does he do? He wants to now do it at his, oh, he's just done it at his house. Really? Yeah, we've done his house. It's just such a warmer take on that kind of, you know. Yeah, rather than just doing white. Yeah. No, everyone does white. It's pretty boring. How do you just make this soft and blend in really nicely with the timber? It looks really good with the concrete as well. Yeah. To be honest, that's like, and it picks up on so many other tones in the concrete that you might not normally get. Yeah. It's a lot. Everyone that walks through here, I didn't realize that when we were shooting last week, I thought I brought my wife in. Yeah. And I think she came through the build, but I thought I showed her at the end, but I hadn't. And she walked in and went, oh, wow, this is amazing. This is just so calm. Yeah. And the photographers used the same word, but it's just got a really calming feeling about it. And look, it doesn't hurt that, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You've got a great outlook. That's phenomenal. Yeah. Oh, and I like that. I mean, you've got, it's quite light up here. Yeah, it is, yeah. On an overcast day as well. So it's kind of a different feeling almost to the exterior. There's a little bit, but that references that matte black when you go outside and see references back to what we've done out here. I love this herringbone detail. Yeah, it's terracotta herringbone. That's amazing. Something different, but the color tone is similar to the floor. So it still marries in. It's not just a completely different tone. It's marrying in. And all the furniture, client did very well. They've furnished all this, and I don't have to move anything, furniture, or anything, which is amazing. How good is that? It's all Jardan furniture. Gosh, that's beautiful. Costcola rugs. Oh, I like your storage under your stairs. Yeah. So what was the, what did they basically say to you when they started? They said, we wanted to, as I said, there was this, there was existing living, dining, kitchen here. Yeah. It was tiny, small. No, it was really, felt really tight as well. It wasn't connected well. It was connected to this weird, narrow stair. There was a bathroom in there. And they said, well, we now want to do, this is our main living space because of this, obviously. So we want to do, redo this. And we'd like to, we'd like to get another bedroom in. Yeah. And their initial thought, and this happens often with clients, they think they sort of guide you. Oh, we'll do this here, and then we'll put the bedroom there. And I said, well, not really, because you're losing, you're losing this width. All of this. You know, how grand is this? That and that. Yeah. Could you imagine having a bedroom there? Yeah. And if you like the old, what they had originally, it was just very tight. So I said, no, let's just open this up. You just said, no, bigger. Yeah, it's proportionally bigger. Not just bigger for no reason, but let it work, let it breathe. And then let's go upstairs and put a master suite up there. They're an older couple, so they don't need to be on the same level as kids. Their kids are grown up and moved out. Yeah. They've got grandkids. So let's put a proper master suite upstairs. So you guys can have that. You've got brand new living, dining, kitchen space where everyone can gather. You've got another TV area down there. And then you've got your downstairs and all your other bedrooms. And then with that, though, now you've just got this huge frame. Yes. You've got this view. Yep. What you're seeing through there is Indian Head. Okay. So Avalon Beach is just around that headland. And then this is Bangali Headland, and that's Bangali Head up the top there. So it keeps sloping up. Yep. Interesting site. Yeah. Very exciting. Suddenly. Yeah, it would be. I think suddenly squalls come through here. So what's your exterior? It's aluminium, which we get a 50-year guarantee on rather than using colour bond or a steel because steel just degrades from all the salt. So aluminium exterior and brick. Don't have to do anything with brick. Yep. So it's just maintenance for everything. Because you live around here as well. So you're used to this kind of extreme climate and weather conditions you have to deal with. And part of what my design aesthetic is, is trying to do low maintenance builds. Yep. They probably cost a little bit up front, but it just saves so much time through their life. No one's got time these days to be maintaining houses. No. So where I can, I try and really push hardy materials that will withstand this climate and all these weather conditions that come through. Absolutely. Well, that's neat. And there's only so much maintenance you can do though. Compared to some of the weather you're probably going to get. You can do something that, I mean, this, for me, looks beautiful. And you don't have to do anything to it. Yeah. Oh, and he's tucked behind there. Oh, that's, I like that. That would be lovely as well with some of the, if you have the door open. Yeah, it's got a nice slide. A little bit of breeze. Oh, I love it. Oh, that changes it completely. Yeah, it just changes the mood as well inside. Yeah. Which is really nice. That's beautiful. And you get that flow. See, how nice is that? Oh, that's very dramatic. Oh, I love it. Tons of storage. Oh, it feels nice. You can never have enough. Did you know that? Did you design this knowing that they had this? Or did they put this in the space afterwards? I thought originally this was going to be a TV up here. Yeah. But they said, no, no, no. Is there a TV? It's down here. The original one. Oh, so the TV area is down there. I like that. This is for that. So this is just sitting for that. That's your plus mark. That's it. That's that side. And then the other side has the same. Oh, does it? Yeah. Oh, gosh, that counter is beautiful. Oh, I like this. Yeah, so that's the one on the stairs as well. Try and maximize as much space as you can. What finish is this? That is that huge bronze. It's a bronze. It's from Broadway. Do you know Broadway? Yes, I do. Custom. Oh, not custom, but one of their metallic finishes. Beautiful. Yeah, it doesn't tarnish. A lot of their stuff tarnishes, but this doesn't. That's amazing. This is a really good size. And then we redid. Look, this was original. Yeah. But we just redid it. There was a hump in the floor here that the builder had to try and get out. We put a new concrete half in, new timber mantelpiece to mirror the rest of the timber. Yeah, yeah. And then just repainted it. New doors, new windows, blinds, ceilings, lights. That's beautiful. Oh, it's a lovely little pop-in, isn't it? Yeah. Gosh, that's quite dramatic. Wow. This is special. Yeah. Oh, I just love this. I love how open it is. You've just got this divide and open area. This feels great. Oh, my goodness. You can make a short frame in your head through that. Oh, you do too. This is your... Oh, OK. So you've got these external. So the privacy. Yeah. These are off the wall as well. Gosh, that view. Oh, wow. So it gives them full privacy when they need it. Wow. What did they say when it came to doing their master suite? What did they... Did they have any kind of wants or... Not... I mean, they wanted, yeah, the typical king-size bed, decent ensuite, and they've got separate walking roads in those floors there. Oh, wow. OK. So on a program basis, that's what they wanted, but it was more about how do we deal with this? Yeah. How do we deal with... You want the view? Yeah. But how do you get privacy? Yeah, exactly. So I'd seen this done before by another architect, and I thought... I looked into it and I thought, I think this is a good way, and I made sure to show them in my office just with Venetians. I said, you're not going to get 100%. Yeah. It's not just going to be an open view. Yeah. Are you OK with a filtered view? Because you can open these. That's their full view. There's something kind of graphic about it, though, that's so good. Yeah. Because you've got this kind of strong shape anyway. And you've got that beautiful branch of the Norfolk Island just framing it as well. Yeah. It is huge. Yeah. I'm assuming... So that was obviously all... That is massive. Yeah, you can't get rid of those. You'll see them dotted all around Northern Beaches. Are they all protected? Yeah, they're all protected, yeah. But you could trim, obviously, when you're building, you need to be able to trim. They wanted to get rid of that branch there, so now I'm going to get rid of it and open the view. But it's always better, I think, to frame... It's kind of nice, isn't it? Yeah. You understand, then, the context of where you are because of that tree as well. We do anyway for the Northern Beaches because these trees are dotted all around here. Right. So are these very signature for Northern Beaches? Yeah. Norfolk Island pine. Yeah, they're not endemic, obviously, because they're from Norfolk Island, but there were a plethora of them planted here. Yeah. And they're now protected. Oh, my goodness. Look at the size of this shower. Oh, my God. And that's instant. Yeah, that was at recess, yeah. I love it. And do you know what? I love that you've got the toilet so open. You need to have privacy. Yeah, probably. And they care if it's a master and it's lovely with that frosted beach tower. Yeah. Let's have a look at these ropes. Am I allowed in? Yeah, they're probably just messy. Oh, they're such a good size. Oh, my God. So it is a double. Yep. So that's hers, that's his. Oh, wow. That's beautiful. Oh, that's the shot, isn't it? Yep. Yeah, and they're not another colour. It's either black, brick. Yeah. I love that brick. To be honest, the brick softens it because it's such high contrast, especially when you're out the front, and the brick just kind of warms it up and it starts to then feel part of its environment as well because you've got a much older sort of, you know, the weatherboards and that kind of older feeling. So that brick really helps it. Box gutter detail that we came up with, custom box gutter to wrap all in that aluminium as well, the connection you can see. So basically that was a gable there, it's now a half gable, that roof. Yeah. So that's where we chopped and we had to detail all that in so that it looked like it was always there. Right, okay. So there's a lot of detailing just in that section to make it not look like, oh, obviously that's an add-on to that. Yeah, okay. It doesn't look like that. It looks like, oh yeah, that's how it is, that's it. That was meant to be. Yeah, yeah.