We’re fortunate in Australia to have a great mix of architectural styles, and having lived in over 40 homes myself (long story!) and visited countless others, I’ve learnt a lot.
Here’s a quick overview and pictorial look at some of the different types of residential buildings which you would find in Australia cities, suburbs, and country and coastal towns, as well as some links for exploring more about Australian architecture…
A quick overview
Since European settlement in 1788, we’ve gone from fabric tents and wattle-and-daub huts of the early settlers, to “more British than the British” Georgian and Victorian styles, to the “amended Australian” styles of Californian bungalows and Federations homes and “uniquely Australian” modern beach houses, “Queenslanders” and outback homesteads.
Over time, many of our buildings have been concerned with the weather, adjusting traditional British styles to the extremes of heat and cold found across the country, although it’s the hot sun that has given rise to our love of wide verandahs, filigree shading detail, and love of backyard swimming pools.
Types of residential architecture in Australia:
- Old Colonial
- Palladian/Neoclassical/Georgian/Regency
- Victorian/Gothic Revival/Beaux Arts/Italianate/Second Empire
- Queenslander
- Art Deco/Art Nouveau/Streamline Moderne/Federation/Queen Anne Revival/Tudor Revival/Jacobethan/Arts and Crafts/California Bungalow/Spanish Mission Revival
- International/Modern
- Late 20th Century/Contemporary
Read more here.
Various incarnations of Chez Luscious…
Some of the apartment- and house-styles I’ve lived in include: 1960 flat roofed, brick veneer, timber and fibro cottage, triple front brick, warehouse conversion, Victorian terrace, weatherboard cottage, Old colonial, Federation, California bungalow, 1970s modern, farm homestead, steel framed, and Art Deco/Early Moderne. It’s taught me the value of bringing sunlight into a building, with large windows and doors which bring the outside in, but still protected from the elements.
Currently, we rent a typical suburban-coastal, two-storey, double brick, free-standing house with pool in Mount Martha on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, but I dream about building a black-and-white Bauhaus-inspired, modern-with-some-traditional-elements home, on a large piece of land in Red Hill, just down the road, and also on the Peninsula, equipped with pool and tennis court.
Red Hill combines both rural and coastal, by being full of farmland, vineyards and orchards, with views to two coastlines, just a few minutes down the hill, on both sides. The soil is rich and luscious, and we had a very happy couple of years living there in a previous rental home.
To see what’s currently being designed for residential and commercial projects as well as public buildings, check out these architectural firms: See PART 2 here: You might also like: Follow Luscious on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, Google+ and Twitter here. And don’t forget to check out the new LUSCIOUS SHOP! Cheers, Natasha People who have influenced the development of Australian style, across public, commercial and residential spaces:
www.myLusciousLife.com