‘Compact but big on space’

The West Australian, New Homes, July 11

A compact block does not presuppose a compact home is the design message of Dale Alcock’s rear-loaded cottage display, the Rokeby, at Ellenbrook’s Malvern Springs village.

Clever planning that makes maximum use of windows ensures that the home’s 192sqm living area if bright, airy, free-flowing and has abundant storage.

The feeling of unrestricted space owes much to the way the kitchen has been set to one side of the central living zone, allowing an unfettered 41sqm to be devoted to a lcing area with a recessed TV nook in the outher wall, and a dining area opening directly to the alfresco area.

Vertical cabinetry catches the eye in the kitchen, where handles are replaced by finger pulls on wall cupboards butting up fully to the bulkhead, and trendily finished in frosted Perspex in aluminium frames.

The kitchen has soft-close drawers and cupboard doors, CaesarStone benchtops, 900mm gas cooktop, underbench oven, and a special microwave recess in the island bench.

To increase volume in its small lot display, the Dale Alcock design team raised the entire side of the home to 31 courses, from the open home office at the front, through the main suite, living and dining areas o the alfresco area.

The extra space worked into the adjoining laundry is repeated in the outsized walk-in robe, relating as much to the ensuite as it does to the main bedroom, which has a sliding glass door to a small private courtyard.

Both ensuite and bathroom have semi-recessed vitreous china basins set into grey postformed Formica tops, and clear-glazed, semi-frameless pivot shower doors.

Like the office opposite it, the home theatre is open to the entry hall, but could be partially enclosed.

The Rokeby’s simple and timeless contemporary elevation makes it particularly suited to corner blocks.