Location: Glen Iris VIC Client: Queensland Police Service Architect/Owner/Builder: Greg Epstein Austral Bricks products: • Elements Series clay bricks - Blue Onyx • Concrete blocks   NOVEMBER 2005

For over 20 years Greg Epstein has designed new homes and renovations, mainly in Melbourne’s fashionable inner eastern suburbs. When it came to his own home he had no hesitation: “I wanted to embrace modern design and building technology.”

Energy efficiency and therefore site orientation is central to Epstein’s design philosophy. Being northfacing to the street, the site “was challenging, but skillful design can turn a liability into an asset.”

Orientation dictated the placement of the outdoor living space to the front. The delightfully landscaped front garden is flanked by a tall rendered fence and overlooked by the north-facing living area. The sunny aspect of this indoor/outdoor area has a welcoming informality something like a holiday house or weekender. Two rendered panels of solid brickwork sit unobtrusively in the living area, further enhancing the building’s thermal mass.

The ground floor facade of the two-storey, three-bedroom house features Blue Onyx semi-glazed bricks. “I’ve always been attracted to dark bricks. Once I saw (Blue Onyx) I knew it was the way to go. It had the colour I was looking for and that nice reflectivity.”

The light mortar colour emphasises the bricks, further intensifying colour perception and contrasting with the light upper level. “The darker colour grounds the house, but the light colour lifts it.”

How does Greg Epstein feel now about his selection of Blue Onyx? “Bricks are a natural product and you expect their natural variation. It helps identify it as a brick rather than a more precisely-engineered product. I like that."