Forrest Avenue
Split-level living shaped by precision and restraint.
locationMarino
floor area508 m2
completion2025
Split-level living shaped by precision and restraint.
Designed for modern family living, this award-winning split-level residence demonstrates how thoughtful planning and carefully resolved design can elevate everyday life.
Returning to Adelaide after many years of living overseas in smaller apartments, the clients envisioned a spacious family home with generous internal living areas and multiple outdoor spaces that would allow them to reconnect with the garden and surrounding environment.
Responding confidently to its sloping site, this home won the Contract Home $1M to $2M category at the Master Builders SA – Building Excellence Awards 2026. Its contemporary form is defined by crisp horizontal rooflines, carefully proportioned volumes and a restrained yet unified material palette.
One of the home’s defining design elements is the use of three slender circular columns supporting the bold projecting roof above. Their delicate scale reduces the visual weight of the structure, allowing the roof to appear almost cantilevered while expressing the home’s balanced structural rhythm.
The exterior palette relies on subtle variation in texture rather than contrast, layering a series of complementary grey materials that reveal different qualities as light and shadow move across the building throughout the day. This restrained approach creates depth without unnecessary complexity, allowing the home’s distinctive form to remain the focus.
Natural materials are introduced sparingly yet purposefully. Feature stacked stone provides warmth and permanence, while timber detailing around the study softens the contemporary façade and creates moments of visual richness. The result is a home that feels refined, enduring and comfortably grounded within its setting.
The clients were happy to experiment with materials, with the primary façade formed from the timber composite panels arranged within a carefully considered shadow-line grid. The material introduces a depth and texture that complements the home’s restrained palette, while collaboration with the supplier allowed the installation method to be re-engineered to reduce visible fixings.
Behind this refined exterior, a fully ventilated cavity system improves the building envelope’s long-term management of heat and moisture while contributing to the home’s durability. Custom-fabricated flashings were designed and folded on-site to suit complex conditions, with particular attention to stepped transitions, window interfaces, and head flashing details to ensure the home’s durability and longevity.
The arrival sequence establishes the careful attention to detail found throughout the home. A sculptural curved detail in the roof frames the front entry while allowing more natural light into the adjoining study. Below this special roof detail, a fully welded steel portico mirrors the roof above, adding another layer of design interest, shelter, and craftsmanship.
Addressing a key part of the clients’ brief, the entry and portico incorporate a sitting area overlooking the treed park across the road, creating a welcoming place to enjoy the afternoon sun.
A stacked stone wall at the entry continues seamlessly from the exterior into the interior of the home, strengthening the connection between inside and out, and framing the entry’s impressive 3.8m high ceilings.
Inside, a generous entry hallway draws the eye towards full-height glazing overlooking the central living spaces beyond. Above, a timber-lined ceiling adds warmth while reinforcing the strong linear forms that continue throughout the home. The split-level arrangement is immediately apparent, with stairs descending to the undercroft garage and practical family drop zone, while a second flight leads upwards to a separate games room that also takes advantage of the site’s position to capture distant sea views and Adelaide’s western sunsets.
To the other side, a short, glazed hallway connects to the secondary bedrooms and study, where black-framed steel doors allow borrowed light to filter through while maintaining privacy. Floor-to-ceiling cabinetry in this side corridor conceals extensive storage behind a clean, uninterrupted façade.
Square-set ceilings, minimalist skirtings and carefully considered proportions allow the generous ceiling heights to take centre stage, creating circulation spaces that feel calm, spacious and highly functional.
Positioned at the intersection of the home’s circulation routes, the staircase combines practical family living with refined detailing. Solid timber treads are paired with slender black balustrades to create a minimalist composition that feels both warm and contemporary.
Descending towards the lower level, integrated storage plinths are incorporated into every second step, including concealed drawers that maximise otherwise unused space. Above, open risers allow natural light from the stair void to filter throughout the home, reinforcing the openness of the split-level design.
Reflecting the clients’ preference for a ‘shoes-off home’, timber joinery at the base of the stairs forms a practical drop zone reminiscent of a traditional Japanese genkan, providing seating, concealed storage and space beneath for everyday footwear.
A finely detailed brass edge protects each timber tread while preserving the crisp lines of the staircase.
The kitchen reflects the home’s commitment to simplicity, craftsmanship and carefully resolved detailing.
A substantial stone island forms the centrepiece of the space, complemented by matching splashbacks and a restrained palette of American oak veneer cabinetry.
Continuing the willingness to experiment with materials established outside, fluted porcelain tile detailing across the island introduces subtle texture. A thoughtful combination of concealed finger pulls, push catches and simple black hardware maintains the calm, monolithic appearance of the joinery. A copper goose-neck tap serving the main sink further adds to the quiet refinement of the space.
A contrasting wall of black cabinetry discreetly accommodates integrated appliances. Beyond, the kitchen extends into a generous butler’s pantry where the primary preparation and cleaning areas are tucked away, allowing the main kitchen to remain uncluttered when entertaining.
Large-format limestone flooring continues throughout the open-plan living spaces, while minimalist timber door frames and discreet linear air-conditioning slots allow the clean lines of the design to remain uninterrupted.
The living room embraces a quieter scale that encourages everyday comfort while remaining visually connected to the surrounding entertaining spaces. A dark corner fireplace, anchored by a stone plinth and integrated storage, provides a strong focal point without dominating the room.
Generous glazing, operable louvre windows and carefully positioned highlight glazing work together to capture cooling breezes, introduce abundant natural light and encourage passive ventilation throughout the seasons. The result is a space that feels bright, comfortable and closely connected to its surrounding environment.
Large sliding doors dissolve the boundary between the kitchen, dining and living areas, and the expansive alfresco entertaining space beyond. Careful detailing allows internal and external floor levels to align seamlessly, creating a natural extension of the home’s everyday living spaces.
An outdoor kitchen, ceiling fans and integrated radiant heating ensure the alfresco remains comfortable throughout the year, while discreet drainage systems preserve the clean lines of the design without compromising weather performance.
Custom fabricated multi-columns supporting the alfresco roof minimise visual obstruction while preserving uninterrupted views between the interior, entertaining area and surrounding landscape.
Beyond the alfresco area, the pool and rear garden continue the restrained design language established throughout the home. Frameless glass fencing provides essential safety while remaining almost invisible.
Wide stone steps carefully negotiate the natural fall of the site, connecting the different garden spaces through a series of generous terraces. Light natural stone complements the home’s timber and stone finishes, while neat lawns introduce softness and create space for family recreation.
Together, these outdoor spaces demonstrate that durability, low maintenance and contemporary design can comfortably coexist, allowing more time to simply enjoy the home.
The bathrooms retain the home’s material palette while introducing greater contrast and luxury. Rich large-format porcelain tile surfaces provide dramatic focal points against otherwise minimalist detailing, creating practical spaces that feel both refined and timeless.
Within the master ensuite, a generous walk-in shower complements a sculptural freestanding bath positioned before a full-height feature wall. Warm timber accents, copper tapware and carefully integrated mirror cabinets complete a room that balances sophistication with everyday comfort.
A solitary asymmetric floating timber shelf is ready for plants or other personal touches to make the spa-like space truly the owner’s own.
Passive environmental performance was prioritised throughout the design of the home. Building orientation and generous operable glazing encourage natural cross ventilation and afternoon sea breezes, while highlight windows allow warm air to escape during summer and admit valuable winter sunlight deep into the living spaces. Overhanging eaves, energy-rated double glazing and heavily insulated 190mm external stud walls further contribute to the home’s long-term thermal comfort.
The split-level arrangement further assists natural airflow, and the fully ventilated cavity system helps the home better manage heat and moisture across the seasons. Multiple skylights and the considered placement of glazing reduce reliance on artificial lighting and mechanical ventilation.
A rainwater tank, dedicated outdoor clothes-drying courtyard, energy-efficient lighting and water-saving fixtures further contribute to the home’s long-term environmental performance. Embodied energy and future upkeep have also been considered with durable and low-maintenance finishes used throughout.
This project demonstrates how thoughtful planning, refined craftsmanship and enduring materials can come together to create a contemporary family home that balances beauty, functionality and longevity.
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