The Local Project’s feature, Designing Homes That Evolve, explores how a home can continue to support the people who live in it as their needs change. In conversation with Cadence and Co’s Design Principal, Michael Kilkeary, the article considers the role of thoughtful planning, natural light and a long-term view of family life.
For us, that conversation begins with understanding the everyday. Where does the family gather? What needs quiet? How might those relationships change over time? These questions help shape our architectural design approach, informing how spaces connect and where there is room to retreat.
Designing around the life within
At Melody House in Mittagong, music is part of the family’s daily life. A dedicated music room provides a more intimate setting for playing, while acoustic treatments within the shared living spaces support music-making together.
These practical details sit alongside the home’s response to its Southern Highlands setting. Seasonal light, the cool climate and the surrounding landscape inform the architecture and restrained interior palette. The result is a home shaped around both its place and its people.
Bringing architecture, interior design and construction together allows those personal priorities to remain central as a project develops. It is an approach grounded in how a home will be experienced each day, and how it can continue to feel right over time.