{"id":84213,"date":"2026-08-31T15:37:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T15:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/84213\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T15:37:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T15:37:08","slug":"an-urban-infill-by-llds-is-breaking-the-mold-in-melbourne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/84213\/","title":{"rendered":"An Urban Infill by LLDS Is Breaking the Mold in Melbourne"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"2400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/LLDS_005HOUSEGREEN_115_FULLRES-Paul-Loh-1600x2400-2.jpg\" alt=\"A person walks down a sculptural, curved wooden staircase in a modern interior with ribbed concrete walls and high ceilings.\" class=\"wp-image-124348\"  \/>Designed as the architect\u2019s own home, Northcote House embraces compact living through flexible, highly crafted interiors. The first floor houses an open kitchen and lounge, while the ground floor contains a library and two bedrooms. \u00a9 Paul Loh Courtesy LLDS<\/p>\n<p class=\"size-regular wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe wanted to experiment with how the tool we use to make architecture can also be used to make ornamentation,\u201d shares Paul Loh, partner at LLDS.<\/p>\n<p class=\"size-regular wp-block-paragraph\">To sculpt the scalloped concrete walls, LLDS used a V-shaped CNC router cutter for the dense foam formliner\u2014which was reused to insulate the roof\u2014creating a dynamic texture while remaining economical. On the roof, the <a href=\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/viewpoints\/construction-materials-and-technologies-evolving\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">construction process<\/a> continues to inform the ornamentation. In collaboration with TGA Engineers, the architects introduced arches to stabilize the timber structure while reducing material and creating an arresting, curved silhouette. And the facade trellis\u2014made up of 385 manually bent galvanized tubes\u2014was created with a hydraulic pipe-bending machine and aided by augmented reality\u2014a process that reduced on-site waste while enhancing the overall design.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/LLDS_005HOUSE_347_FULLRES-Paul-Loh-2400x1600-1.jpg\" alt=\"LLDS Northcote House: Small bedroom with corrugated metal walls, a large window, a simple bed with green and blue pillows, and a black blanket. Natural light fills the space.\" class=\"wp-image-124347\"  \/>\u00a9 Paul Loh Courtesy LLDS<\/p>\n<p class=\"size-regular wp-block-paragraph\">However, the site itself posed certain constraints. In the tight urban lot, the designers needed to maximize every inch of the 883-square-foot home for it to remain fluid and functional. \u201cThe constrained site created an opportunity for us to experiment with compact living in the city,\u201d explains Loh. \u201cWe deliberately created many ambiguous, almost unprogrammed spaces in the house, so it remained flexible.\u201d In this spirit, the car park doubles as a summer barbecue spot, the front staircase is widened to accommodate seating, and an elevated roof garden supports local ecology while reducing the urban heat effect.<\/p>\n<p class=\"size-regular wp-block-paragraph\">Designed as a case study for small-space city living\u2014and the architects\u2019 own home\u2014Northcote House demonstrates how design rooted in contemporary fabrication technology can open the door to new models for <a href=\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/projects\/where-housing-meets-humanity\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">urban housing<\/a>. With a clear architectural vision and dynamic details\u2014from the 13 roof lights that bring natural light down to the depths of the home to a stunning spiral staircase enshrouded in metal beams\u2014the project is a testament to the power that technology wields to shape architecture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Designed as the architect\u2019s own home, Northcote House embraces compact living through flexible, highly crafted interiors. The first&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":84214,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[16008,137505,41448,260,2975,137506],"class_list":["post-84213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-melbourne","tag-architecture","tag-digital-fabrication","tag-houses","tag-melbourne","tag-residential","tag-sophie-sobol"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84213\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}