Architects Woods Bagot and Hecker Guthrie unite for Elwood House

Woods Bagot and Hecker Guthrie, Piccolo have unveiled its sequel to the multi award-winning success of Upper House and The Garden House.

Set in bayside Melbourne, on the cusp of Elwood village, the recently completed Elwood House delivers 30 boutique apartments.

Woods Bagot and Hecker Guthrie were the design team behind Piccolo’s 2011 Carlton apartment project The Garden House, a winner of six major property and design awards.

Piccolo director Michael Piccolo said there had long been a desire to replicate the success and timeless design of The Garden House elsewhere, but logistics had proved difficult, particularly when the project’s architect and Woods Bagot Design Director Nik Karalis moved overseas.

With the purchase of the former Elwood RSL Club site at 2 Pine Avenue in 2013 – a site Piccolo had his eye on for years when living just around the corner – as well as the return of Karalis to Australia, the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

Located on the corner of Pine Avenue and Ormond Road, Elwood House features one, two and three bedroom apartments across four levels.

The building’s calming façade melds exposed concrete, slender profile brickwork handmade in Denmark and irrigated balcony planter boxes overflowing with greenery.

One bedrooms average a generous 50 to 80 square metres, while two bedrooms provide space to grow at 100 to 115 square metres and three bedrooms at 130 to a large 170 square metres.

The individual apartment interiors by Hecker Guthrie are entirely bespoke, with considered additions that surprise and delight.

Director Paul Hecker said the finest finishes include grey Aether natural stone floors and American Oak timber cabinetry adorns kitchens and storage areas. 

Created for Garden House, Apaiser’s ‘Piccolo’ bathtub sit in larger bathrooms.

The project also features two retail tenancies fronting Ormond Road, beauty salon The Skin Boutique and the latest offering by Sixty One Group, the team behind favourites including Prahran’s Tall Timber, Richmond’s Touchwood, Hawthorn’s Short Straw, Fitzroy’s Marquis of Lorne and Carnegie’s Left Field.

The Group’s as yet unnamed café, to open in the coming months, will offer breakfast and lunch seven days, also serving dinner a few nights a week.