Enter Presents 'The Knot House'... A Teaser.

[Image Credit: Shutterstock.]

The knot for us recently became a jumping point for design discussions in our office.

Faced with a site on Military Road here in Sydney, with breathtaking views out onto the water, and at the same time realising severe privacy issues the area has with its close neighbouring property boundaries ,Enter began a design exploration into the notion of public and private spaces within a 'home'.

This design process investigated spatial intimacy, and just as a scarf might layer and wrap the neck, the architecture and the spatial layout investigates the notion of envelopment.

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[Image: 'Military Rd House Sketch', Enter Architecture.]

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[Image: 'Military Rd House Axonometric', Enter Architecture.]


The Knot house studies this deep rooted overlap between the public and private moments and spaces within a dwelling. As we believe, there is no clear distinction but instead a blur, public and private spaces within the Knot house flow through one another, cross one another, and loop through one another. Through this encompassing gesture, the architecture wraps within itself courtyards.

These intimate courtyard moments allow for light and fresh air to wash through the interiors without sacrificing the privacy of the dwelling. The form begins to follow and express the fluidity of the layout as spaces shift into one another seamlessly as one moves and navigates around these central courtyards.

For the first time, we proudly present, The Knot House....

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[Image: 'Military Rd House Rendering', Enter Architecture.]

When Architecture met Ground...All in an Elevation.

As a Studio our investigations range from physical models to sketches to 3D models, etc. and often a project is truly kept alive and intriguing when it constantly traverses through these different mediums and is explored through different means. Hence when a simple Cad elevation was taken into Photoshop, a whole exploration began into how we would deal with the moment these Ribbon Geometries, meet the ground.

What we tried to tease out was an effortless logic for the ribbons such that every movement, bend, bevel they took was completely responsive to the workings of the planning arrangements and the orientation. The ribbons were at times able to split and skim the surface to seductively reveal the ground floor program, and at others were able to come together and hide …at times they became awnings, and at others seating….

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[Image: 'Bondi Project Elevation Rendering', Enter Architecture.]

The ribbon hence introduces itself as an engaging element at the groundscape bringing together as it moves through and past the interior, the exterior environment and the pedestrians...intertwining.

...The Secret Courtyard in Bondi....

[Image: 'The Secret Garden', 1st Ed. Written by Frances Hodgson Burnett.]

"Mary: It's a secret garden.
Dickon: Secrets are safe with me. "
Hodgson-Burnett, 1911

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[Image: 'Bondi Project Landscape Plan First Floor, Enter Architecture.]

There is a courtyard in the centre of the Bondi Residences. This courtyard is simply for the residents to use, and acts not only as access to all the individual pods, but forms communal outdoor spaces too.

Inspired by the art deco heritage of the area, residents walk through the main entry to ascend up a large staircase into the courtyard at the projects centre. And there, within the architecture, is a truly surreal hidden moment... and it engulfs you, as the ribbons skim past, and the light just reflects off the concrete bevels...the vines pour over the balustrades and over hang above...

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[Image: 'Bondi Project Section Expressing the Courtyard', Enter Architecture.]

The Bondi Residences was always about exploration. However it was not just about us imagining. Rather, it was about us trying to re-imagine how contemporary Bondi residents could perhaps live. It suggests a lifestyle about communal spaces, and introducing more ways in which the interior and exterior boundaries could be blurred.

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[Image: 'Bondi Project Roof Terraces Landscape Plan', Enter Architecture.]


There seems to always be a distinction between an 'interior' and an 'exterior'. I am not sure what decides it (and it could be a lengthy debate) though many a theorist have attempted to define it....is it a door, a wall, a roof, transparency, porosity, or......however the fact that there is a distinction, is fascinating. This distinction means that we can continually explore and play with that boundary.

"The light filtered through the leaves and pine needles above as if through lace, the ground spotted in shadow."
John Green, Looking For Alaska