Folio No. 03

Noir - Exterior Architecture & Landscape

This new build project represents a bold collaboration between Rype Interiors and landscape architect Kate Nicolosi from Studio Greenhouse, bringing together two creative disciplines to realise a cohesive vision from the ground up. Noir is a striking residential build due to commence construction in 2027, with Rype Interiors leading the interior finishes. The exterior design explored here sets the tone for everything that follows, a home that is simultaneously dramatic and deeply liveable.

Design Approach

An all-black façade of dark board and batten cladding commands the streetscape while receding into the surrounding canopy. Arched windows with iron balustrades introduce a romantic classicism that softens the graphic silhouette, bridging contemporary boldness with enduring elegance. It's where the design finds its character.

The landscape responds in kind: same tonal language, but warmed through planting, texture, and handcrafted detail. Pale limestone paving and crushed aggregate surfaces provide a luminous counterpoint to the dark exterior, keeping the home feeling grounded rather than heavy.

Outdoor Spaces

The rear garden unfolds as a sequence of connected rooms. A generous entertaining terrace anchors around a custom curved concrete bench and Tuscan-inspired wood-fired pizza oven, built for slow evenings. Italian cypress, lavender, olives, and flowering groundcovers bring a Mediterranean sensibility that suits the Australian climate beautifully.

The pool garden is a moment of stillness: a rectangular plunge pool framed by clipped hedging, travertine surround, and a rendered arched shower niche in warm limestone. Quiet, considered, letting the materials speak.

Above, a rooftop terrace completes the picture, mature olives in oversized concrete bowls, a flowering pergola, and sage-green furniture that feels established and intimate rather than exposed.