Australian architect Andrew Piva’s urban retreat showcases his material-driven approach to designing an enduring family home with a nod to his Italian heritage.
Tucked away down an urban laneway in Melbourne’s Malvern East, Casa Piva unfolds as a functional yet timeless sanctuary. Andrew has crafted a thoughtful home that balances architectural restraint with rich, natural materiality, creating a space that feels grounded, warm, and deeply personal for him, his wife, and their two teenage children. Designing his own home offered the unique opportunity to find the perfect balance of materials and details with architectural rigor. “We also had the benefit of being able to look at our own Italian heritage,” says Andrew.
Guided by B.E Architecture’s commitment to enduring materials, Casa Piva embraces an enveloping palette of Italian travertine stone and Tuscan oak timber paneling, lending authenticity, quality, and moments of elevated drama within a calming atmosphere. The home’s pared-back forms and understated elegance allow these materials, along with selected soft furnishings from Cultiver, to take centre stage, while the considered layout and sweeping volumes draw in natural light, creating a harmonious flow throughout.
More than just a structural space, Casa Piva acts as a living gallery—a carefully curated environment of art, complementary furnishings in natural textiles, and sculptural objects that reflect Andrew’s dedication to craftsmanship and collaboration. Designed with an eye on the future, Casa Piva is intended not only as a family home for the present but as a lasting legacy.
In partnership with Cultiver
"There comes a stage in the project where your mind shifts from the architectural rigour and you start to look more to the internal spaces and the end result, how you're actually going to inhabit them, live in them."
– ARCHITECT, ANDREW PIVA
“One of the key things in designing this home was being able to find the right balance of materials,”
- ARCHITECT, ANDREW PIVA
