Materia

St Kilda, Australia

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Materia

St Kilda, Australia

Firm

Obsessive Architecture

Type

Residential › Private House
Commercial › Office

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2025

Materia was developed by a single force acting as client, builder, and architect. This convergence allowed for an open-ended exploration, creating a building that functions not just as a family home and architectural studio, but as a blank canvas for experimentation. It allowed us to not compromise, to push every concept to its limit.
The project was conceived as a laboratory for the "Architect as Maker." Rejecting the modern tendency for fast, disposable construction, Materia is an immersion in the craft of making. The site became a studio where hand sketches intersected with 3D modelling and rapid prototyping to manually cast hundreds of unique Concrete elements. This process erased the gap between the drawn line and the built form, treating concrete not as a rigid monolith but as ‘liquid stone’—fluid, tactile, and malleable. This respect for material extended to the site's history, with over 1,000m of timber salvaged and re-integrated into the home, grounding the new form in its past.
This obsession with precision extends deep below the surface. The philosophy of Materia is that the "construction under the skin" must be as resolved as the visible finish. The project targeted Passivhaus certification not merely for energy metrics, but as a rigorous quality assurance mechanism to create a structure that will last. It embraces the idea of the house as a "machine for living," creating a stable, well-ventilated environment that contributes to wellbeing.
Ultimately, individual design elements are only as powerful as their connection to the whole. The obsession of Materia lies in this synthesis—weaving the physical weight of the structure with the ephemeral qualities of light and atmosphere. This orchestration creates a rich, tactile landscape designed to evoke feeling, ensuring the result is not just a building, but a profound, sensory experience.

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Materia

St Kilda, Australia

Other Projects by Obsessive Architecture

Launch Lab

Materia

St Kilda, Australia

Product Spec Sheet

Collaborating Firms

Team