Boulevard House by Albert Mo Architects is a study of authenticity, symmetry, and connection to the surrounding landscape. In this exclusive film series, presented in collaboration with Brickworks, director and principal architect Albert Mo takes us through a family home defined by its archetypal pavilion form—one that embraces the integrity of masonry, from the ground upwards, while reimagining this age-old material through a modern lens.
In partnership with Brickworks.
Engaged by clients who had lived in the leafy, community-focused neighbourhood of Ivanhoe East for seven years, the residents sought a future-proof home for themselves and their three children. Boulevard House by Albert Mo Architects has been designed to seamlessly blend architecture with landscape, embracing its local surroundings and leaning on borrowed views of the adjacent nature reserve and golf course. Built to respond to the site’s dramatic slope, the home meets the needs of the growing family of five.
The home unfolds as a series of terraces across two vernaculars, blurring the boundary between inside and out and the built form and nature. This approach by Melbourne-based Albert Mo, allowed the home to settle into the land, creating a direct bond to the native outlook beyond. “Understanding the need for the growth of the family, we started dissecting the human context of the home and giving the children and adults the ability to have their own space and communal space. This is how the two pavilions came about,” explains Mo.
The architectural composition is defined by two distinct pavilions; each with its own identity. A single-story black volume is dedicated to the parents and offers a private retreat with a seductive, modernist character. In contrast, a more compact, double-story white volume—playfully dubbed the “treehouse”—is conceived as an archetypal gable form, evoking the simplicity of a child’s drawing. This space provides a sanctuary for the family’s three school-aged children, with a round portal and open staircase to engage with the encircling treetops and play on natural light and shadow. “The idea of this treehouse for the children became quite compelling because of its playful notion of how the made-made architecture responds to the surrounding nature” adds Mo.
Materiality plays a pivotal role in shaping the home’s identity. The black pavilion’s crafted from GB Veneer sawn pewter clockwork holds a bold presence, softened by its fluid form and generous glazing, which frames uninterrupted views of the landscape. In contrast, the treehouse’s GB Veneer sawn in porcelain clockwork provides a screen crafted with meticulous attention to detail, filtering natural light while offering both privacy and a dynamic play of shadow throughout the day. “The white blockwork screen was a playful architectural move. We wanted to give the house a ‘corrector’ when addressing the street front,” Mo says. “Brickworks produce brick in the most traditional sense and it brings out the quality and handmade craftsmanship to an otherwise contemporary architecture.”
“Brickworks produce brick in the most traditional sense and it brings out the quality and handmade craftsmanship to an otherwise contemporary architecture.”
— Architect, Albert Mo.
At the heart of the design is a central circulation spine that dissolves the threshold between inside and out. This axis fosters a sense of movement through the home, enhancing the experience of transition between spaces. Expansive sliding doors further reinforce the connection to nature, inviting light and air deep into the interiors.
Boulevard House reveals contrast and cohesion—where both bold and humble elements meet in the middle, where architecture and landscape go hand in glove, and where family life unfolds within spaces designed to grow with them. A reflection of material craftsmanship the home stands as an inviting sanctuary, effortlessly attuned to its surroundings. “It’s a simple build, but it has a special architectural quality to it and a real design intent” adds Mo.
The primary suite is framed with windows on two sides, and features the Oluce Atollo metal table lamp, Planette Wall lights in brush brass, and the Circulus Rug by Linie Design.
