Kids Pod by Mihaly Slocombe Architects

ArchiPro Project Summary - Kids Pod is a contemporary pavilion extension in Merricks, Victoria, featuring playful spaces for children, innovative design elements, and sustainable materials, completed in 2011 and recognized with multiple awards for its creativity and functionality.

Title:: Kids Pod
Architect:: Mihaly Slocombe Architects
Category:: Residential/; Renovations and Extensions
Completed:: 2011
Building style:: Contemporary
Photographers:: Emma Cross

Kids Pod is a pavilion extension to an older project of ours, connected to the original via a glazed bridge. It is located on a vineyard on the Mornington Peninsula, with views across the vines and valley beyond. It contains a bedroom, playroom, and bathroom for our client's current and future grandchildren. It is a reinterpretation of how we once imagined our own childhood cubbyhouse to be: playful, theatrical, secretive, and robust.

Inside, a retractable wall and theatre-inspired curtain divide the rooms, permitting multiple configurations. They can be open and connected, or enclosed for privacy and rest. The corridor is many things: a playroom for toddlers; a reading nook for teenagers; a stage for performances. The plywood lining brings warmth and texture to the rooms and will absorb the mayhem of growing children with ease.

Outside, Kids Pod’s skin is a reinterpretation of the protective canopy of a treehouse. Timber boards run continuously across both walls and windows, CNC-routed into a pattern abstracted from our clients’ favourite Pinot Noir vines. Over the windows, customised steel shutters open like eyelids to permit light in and view out, then close again at night, the building glowing like a lantern.

A pavilion extension to Hill House, the Kids Pod is a playful reinterpretation of a cubby house.

“To our immense delight, all our expectations were not only met but superbly exceeded. The project was implemented with deft efficiency and professionalism and remained on budget and true to the brief. What more could we ask?” – Ruth & George, Kids Pod

Awards:

Houses Awards - Shortlisted Small Alterations and Additions - Sustainability Emerging Architecture Practice ArchiTeam Awards - Finalist Master Builders Awards - Winner (Renovation under $200k)

Location: Merricks, VictoriaTypology: Residential RenovationStatus: Completed 2014Builder: Elyte FocusDesign Team: Warwick Mihaly, Erica Slocombe, Jake TaylorCountry: Bunurong

Photography: Emma Cross

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Established in Melbourne in 2010, Mihaly Slocombe is an architecture studio with a growing portfolio of houses, schools, offices and public spaces.

Central to all our work is our relationship with our clients. We listen, ask and collaborate to make sure we deliver on both the big picture and smallest detail.

For us, design doesn’t just happen at the beginning of our process. It continues every step of the way, from our first sketches through to models, working drawings and construction. The result is architecture that belongs to its climate, connects to its function, and captures your aspirations.

Small or large, we believe that every project is an opportunity for great design. We create bespoke buildings that are efficient, beautiful and unique.