Topo (place) ology (study)

Topology Studio was founded in 2012 by Darren Kaye & Amy Hallett on the lands of the Yalukit Willam People of the Bunurong Boon Wurrung and wider Kulin Nation. We are a creative architectural practice based in Albert Park with projects in Victoria and interstate. Our award-winning work has been published extensively both locally and abroad.

Our body of work includes residential, muti-residential, hospitality and public projects largely in coastal and heritage contexts in both urban and rural locations.

Sustainability in
Practice

Environmentally sustainable strategies are integral to our practice and at the core of our architecture. Materials and services are selected with longevity in mind and with careful consideration of their environmental and social impact. We seek opportunities for adaptive reuse and the thoughtful integration of locally sourced, recycled and vintage materials.

We strive for a delicate balance between the functional and the poetic and revel in unique and complex projects. Light, proportion, materiality and efficiency are both our tools and our signature.

Contextual Design

Topology Studio’s designs are informed by the unique attributes of each site: the natural, cultural, urban and social landscape. Consideration of the existing context ensures each project is uniquely tied to its site and results in bold and meaningful places.

In a rigorous design process a wide range of possibilities are explored, developed, and refined as we seek to define the essence of each project.

Collaboration

We work collaboratively with multidisciplinary design teams and understand the value of clear communication, transparency, and a design-intensive approach to achieve distinctive architectural expression. The design community of Melbourne creatives is diverse and highly talented and we embrace opportunities to collaborate.

Topo (place) ology (study)

Topology Studio was founded in 2012 by Darren Kaye & Amy Hallett on the lands of the Yalukit Willam People of the Bunurong Boon Wurrung and wider Kulin Nation. We are a creative architectural practice based in Albert Park with projects in Victoria and interstate. Our award-winning work has been published extensively both locally and abroad.

Our body of work includes residential, muti-residential, hospitality and public projects largely in coastal and heritage contexts in both urban and rural locations.

Sustainability in
Practice

Contextual Design

Topology Studio’s designs are informed by the unique attributes of each site: the natural, cultural, urban and social landscape. Consideration of the existing context ensures each project is uniquely tied to its site and results in bold and meaningful places.

In a rigorous design process a wide range of possibilities are explored, developed, and refined as we seek to define the essence of each project.

Collaboration

We work collaboratively with multidisciplinary design teams and understand the value of clear communication, transparency, and a design-intensive approach to achieve distinctive architectural expression. The design community of Melbourne creatives is diverse and highly talented and we embrace opportunities to collaborate.

Sustainability in

Practice

Environmentally sustainable strategies are integral to our practice and at the core of our architecture. Materials and services are selected with longevity in mind and with careful consideration of their environmental and social impact. We seek opportunities for adaptive reuse and the thoughtful integration of locally sourced, recycled and vintage materials.

We strive for a delicate balance between the functional and the poetic and revel in unique and complex projects. Light, proportion, materiality and efficiency are both our tools and our signature.

Brunswick Galley House

Conceptual inspiration for a house centred around a galley was drawn from the experience of our client’s life when they lived on board a narrowboat in the UK. Our clients loved that every aspect of their boat was highly considered, every space utilised.

This project speaks to two types of home-coming. The macro, coming home from living overseas with a broader perspective and experiences, and the micro, the daily rhythms and flow of coming and going from home.

Environmental consciousness starts with an understanding that the easier it is ride, the more we do it and this home is planned specifically to facilitate this. Ensuring every centimetre is utilised, avoids excess. Reuse of original building fabric minimises waste. New materials were selected for longevity and recyclability. Active and passive measures include solar and rainwater harvesting, considered orientation and ventilation.

This home is designed to expressly connect with our community through carefully graduated external and internal spaces. The design supports everyday interactions with the neighbourhood as a reminder that we are part of a greater whole, encouraging us to look outside of ourselves.

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Topology acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which our studio stands. The Yalukit Willam people of the Boon Wurrung and the wider Kulin Nation. Each of us pay our deepest respects to the elders past, present and those emerging. We pledge our commitment in caring for this land and its first people. We promise to respect its history and continue to speak the truth.

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Lantern House

Albert Park

On the lands of the Bunurong Boon
Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation.

Our Client’s Victorian terrace overlooks Nairm, Port Phillip Bay. Some mornings the bay is still, the lilac hue punctuated by bright jerseys of cyclists and lamps along the pier. This is Beaconsfield Parade at its most peaceful before the promenade fills with people strolling, paddling and driving. Later the wind rises, throwing waves onto the pier and foam onto the shore. At night stillness returns and lights of the shipping lane guide ships through the rip.

The brief was to reorganise the plan to improve light and outlook to the garden whilst providing a sense of entry from the lane. A single-storey, north-east facing pavilion is inserted below the existing building between the brick walls of the neighbouring terraces.

A stepped masonry wall forms a kind of lantern adjacent to an existing brick wall. Inside the plywood ceiling sweeps up, enabling light to fall deep into the floor plate. The volume created provides a high gallery wall whilst the rest of the addition is level with the adjacent boundary walls.

The lantern is the only part of the addition visible from outside of the property. This discrete intervention has improved the environmental performance of the home without compromising the heritage values of the place. The lantern is a welcoming engagement with the lane and surrounding built landscape.

Commendation – Residential Dwelling: Alteration/Addition
The Design & Development Awards, City of Port Phillip, 2022