“Glick House: A bold and award-winning example of Late Twentieth Century Functionalist design, this home reimagines the suburban model with an industrial aesthetic, designed and created by acclaimed West Australian artist Rodney Glick as a unique piece of art nestled in the heart of leafy Leederville.”
Original Artists Impression - 1998
The energy-efficient design of passive house principals accommodates environmentally sustainable living, reducing the running costs of the building and provides a distinctly local patina derived from the modernist design. The vertical arrangement of living and working space, separation of structure and skin, and expressive materials demonstrate the value of innovative design for tight infill conditions. Offering a 5.0 kW solar system and 3M Prestige window film throughout reducing UV by 99.9% and rejecting 97% of the sun’s infrared. Glick House is not only beautiful but also efficient and elegant.
The perimeter is a contrast of wooden panels, star jasmine and corten steel panels masterfully laser cut to blend into the surrounding neighbouring traditional picket fencing. With a monitored alarm system and external perimeter sensors, the residence is a safe haven and stronghold.
The first floor, perched amongst the trees, is light and airy and consists of dark polished concrete floors throughout. The entranceway is directly into a commercial-grade kitchen, offering ample storage and stainless bench tops. Two steps take you to the large sitting room, which is adorned with sculptured custom cabinetry by local Perth designer and furniture maker Adam Cruickshank. Another two steps lead you to the master bedroom to the east which is bathed in natural light. An ensuite with a sunken shower recess has double basins in front of a cast concrete feature wall providing a negative aspect to the external timber panels. The second bedroom is configured as a dressing room and floats amongst the trees like the treehouse of your childhood dreams.
The rooftop terrace has a reticulated lawn, a concrete table for six on a wooden deck, and a natural gas barbecue. Balustrades are pipe rails and add to the industrial flair. The terrace offers 360-degree views of the surrounding Leederville area and clear Perth city views. With an opportunity for rising sun salutations and sunset soirees, Glick House towers above the world below.
Heritage-listed Glick House at 18 Tennyson Street, Leederville, is an award-winning and striking example of Late Twentieth Century Functionalist style applied to an infill development. The 1999 Winter Edition of ‘The Architect’ describes it as ‘an engineered aesthetic’ and an ‘ambiguous and confronting house’
Glick House is a semi-industrial box framed within a rusting steel structure consisting of a stacked residence and studio with a workshop, garage, yoga studio, and pool. The house was designed for the notable West Australian artist Rodney Glick by architects Donaldson and Warn, with Jane Wetherall, in 1999 with the help of Rodney's remarkable and highly decorated engineering father, the late Graham Glick. Cited as one of Perth's most exciting residential experiments, it questions the suburban model and offers an inner-city retreat in the beautiful leafy green suburb of Leederville. In the book ‘Houses for the 21st Century’ Glick House shows how the “process of everyday living was to be elevated to a higher plane, lifted out of the mundane, becoming a celebration that offers a critique of convention” and Graham Glick states that “this home incorporates a workspace that is clearly separated from the living area” after all “you don’t want to mix work with living.” Rodney went on to say
Consisting of 350 sq metres of living space on a 480 sq metre block, the triple-storey box-like structure with wooden panels is set within an exposed steel structural exoskeleton and has a roof deck behind a horizontal clad corrugated iron parapet. Without windows at ground floor level on the street frontage, the residence offers privacy and security; meanwhile, rectangular aluminium framed picture windows at the first-floor level and a continuous horizontal band of windows set below a projecting parapet give lightness and a feeling of space and freedom. The façade to the Western side driveway comprises of steel decks at three levels with return steel staircases accessing all levels. The rear eastern area has a separate two-car garage, workshop, and yoga studio set in an established and expansive garden with a pool.
Contrasts are prevalent throughout – light and dark, light and heavy, frame and plane, transparent, translucent and opaque, ground deck and roof deck, strip window and boxed windows. The arrangement of domestic elements common to the neighbouring cottages – front porch, compact house, rear patio and office are stacked vertically, offering a unique living experience. Without internal stairs, there is a physical separation between the working and living space for the perfect work-life balance daily.
The Western entry opens from a secure two-car carport into an airy office space, followed by the lower third bedroom and the adjacent bathroom. The fourth bedroom entranceway is currently being used as a utility and sitting room, and the large laundry and utility space has dual washing machines, a tumble dryer and drying racks, and floor-to-ceiling storage cupboards. The remainder of the lower level consists of an expansive 67 sq metre studio with 3.5m ceilings for a perfect office setting and includes large double doors that open at the street level. A polished terrazzo floor and a concrete ceiling make for a light and quiet space bathed in northern light. The second kitchen compliments the barbecue area on the north deck and a ceiling-mounted projector, retractable projector screen, and remote electric blinds allow this space to convert into a theatre and entertaining area at the end of the working day.
The northern stepped decked corridor has a foldable Hills washing line amongst large trees, including an American pecan, lemon, coral, frangipanis and travellers palms. It opens out in an established garden featuring a curved deck and a long piano-shaped bar and table. A 1.6m above-ground stainless steel circular plunge pool nestles in amongst tall kangaroo paws and native grasses. The pool pump system is delicately hidden in the undergrowth and is heated by an inverter heat pump.
The double garage, workshop and yoga studio mimic the design of the main residence and are cuboid in structure. The yoga studio is the perfect retreat but can be reconfigured to an office hideaway or the fifth bedroom. The wooden panels above the garden and pool have vertical and opposing horizontal forms and blend perfectly into a vertically negative concrete slab. The yoga studio faces west and features double doors that open above the garden and pool. A lower secret window provides additional light and a unique view of greenery. A sizeable functional workshop adjacent to the double garage includes an extensive storage area and an attic loft space. A hidden folding garage door and remote sliding gate access the double garage, which are designed for the utmost privacy. Featuring a stainless rainwater tank; the double garage, workshop, and studio are insulated and airconditioned, and the parking area includes 3-phase power for fast charging your future electric vehicles.
Original Artists Impression - 1998