Corbet Lyons and his family have been avid contemporary art collectors for over twenty years. When designing their home they wanted to effectively combine the program of a house and a gallery, providing a place to display, exhibit and live with their collection. Second Year design students were given the opportunity to visit this atypical residence to see how unusual elements can be combined in architecture.

To achieve the true integration of gallery and residence the residential program is arranged around two main gallery spaces; a ‘white’ and a ‘black box’. Each box measures 9 x 9 x 9 meters forming two large voids for exhibitions within the house. The ‘white box’ sits near the entrance to the house and the main residential program of bedrooms, studies and dinning room are arranged around this void creating an atrium through the internal windows connected with the upper floors.  The corridors which then form around this ‘box’ become smaller linear gallery spaces often leading to the more secluded or semi private residential program areas such as lounge rooms or studies. The private areas of the house are camouflaged from the viewer through hidden doors and entrances. Often the only indication that a space exists is due to the sense of missing volume which the rooms take up in the building envelope.

The ‘Black Box’ sits to the rear of the site connected to the main volume by a double height public room which functions as a small presentation or recital room replete with numerous chairs, presentation facilities and even an organ. The black room is designed for contemporary multimedia art with multiple projectors and lighting systems.

The goal of this building was to effectively integrate the program of the public gallery with a private residence. The house has certainly succeeded in creating spaces which function and feel like real public gallery spaces. Yet I felt like I was an accidental voyeur wondering into someone’s private space from an extremely public building. As if I was wondering through a public gallery, turn a corner and was confronted by a family kitchen, only to stumble through this space uncomfortably to arrive at another exhibition space. This comment may suggest that I didn’t enjoy the experience which is not true. When anything that effectively subverts the norm is created it inevitably invokes feelings of unease, but often this is exactly what is needed. If these feelings weren’t evoked it would just be another house which displayed an art collection and not a true integration of gallery and home.