Project Feature:
Arli Homes x DKO
Architecture

Some ideas feel so clear and instinctive, it’s hard to believe they haven’t caught on in a bigger way. Case in point, Arli Homes, an award-winning home builder and their collaboration with DKO Architects proves that crafting design-led homes doesn’t have to feel elusive.

What makes Arli so different, and their homes rise above? Good design can be expensive, but rather than go through the process of finding an architect, then a builder, then other contractors and specialists, Arli offers a single dedicated team – from first sketches to move-in day. Contemporary interiors with thoughtfully selected palettes and materiality exceed modern display home systems by simply giving design the respect it deserves. Arli homes are tailored to the individual, to personal tastes and style, but by treating it as a kind of one-stop shop, Arli can deliver architecturally designed homes, specified with high-end finishes and details at an accessible price point.

“Our whole vision has always been about wanting to make architecture and interior design more accessible,” says Sharon Calleja, Co-founder of Arli Homes.

This new home - Project Banksia – nestled in sought-after Albert Park, a beachside suburb of Melbourne, is the perfect example of Arli Homes’ Custom series. Whereas the Collection range of homes is essentially a very well-designed catalogue of homes to choose from (albeit with a long list of options and possibilities), the Custom series of homes applies the same one stop mentality, while offering 100 percent bespoke, architecturally designed homes to suit your site, style and needs – at economically viable prices.

Details abound everywhere, but once inside the welcoming warmth of timber, brass ceramics is matched by the visually light steel doors and windows that bring the outside in, either by the wonderful embrace of a window seat or the garden and deck the doors open to.  With consideration and confidence, this is undoubtedly the premium offering of the brand - noted by the aforementioned doors - but seen in the ceiling cladding (Surround by Laminex Batten 25), porcelain tiles and high-end integrated appliances. There’s texture and tactility on every surface, gently emphasising the superior feel of the home.
 

Arli Homes, along with DKO, selected Laminex Austral Oak in TrueScale AbsoluteGrain, appealing to the company’s motto of quality along with design accessibility. The kitchen’s modern, minimal simplicity with its large, flat expanses feels like the right expression for Laminex Next Generation Woodgrains; reinforcing its no-repeat realism and authentic tactility.  At the window and sink, cabinetry has been finished with Laminex Outback Clay, a warm tone reminiscent of the native Australian landscape and complement to the remainder of the kitchen’s - and home’s material palette.

“It’s a game changer,” says Albert Calleja, co-founder of Arli Homes, about Laminex Next Generation Woodgrains. “We actually had our architect through, and he said, ‘oh, the veneer is beautiful’ and he's touching it and ‘he says, this is a really nice colour. I love the veneer.’ And then at the end I told him it's Laminex and he couldn’t believe it. It's unreal.”  

In a neighbourhood known for its bluestone and turn of the century buildings squeezed into rows, the feeling of openness has been enhanced by large skylights. Soft greys and textural finishes pick up and bounce the light in wonderfully subtle ways.

“By selecting a strategic combination of high-end and cost-effective materials, we can achieve a sophisticated, cohesive results within budget,” explains Sharon.
 

For Arli Homes, Project Banksia is all the conceptual proof one needs. Sliding seamlessly into Albert Parks diverse architectural offering, its contemporary façade sits harmoniously amongst its neighbours, feeling new, but without any whiff of display home. As it relaxes and ages next to the turn of the century cottages and mid-century blocks, the attention to detail and quality will become self-evident; good design, high quality materials with clever thinking really are the only way. Arli Homes puts the money in the right places by building responsive homes, ones that connect to the site while delivering architectural nous. 
“For us, the clients have responded. They're all in.” says Albert, “they're wrapped with it.”  

Take a look at how Arli Homes have used Laminex Next Generation Woodgrains on the Project Banksia home in Albert Park here.