Silver Linings by Rachcoff Vella Architecture. Washed up from the beach a robust and heavy mass sits on top of the rise, offering up an entry path through sand dunes, layered beach grass and aged timber planks. Below a heavily textured concrete rock shelf a recessive deep void invites one into a dark entry and the beginning of a sequence of silver lined spaces. Photography by Tatjana Plitt.

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Silver Linings rests on Melbourne?s bayside beach front unashamedly asserting its presence along the promenade of fishbowls overlooking the bay. A project of exploration and experimentation, of restraint and control, a project of patience and architectural endeavor.
The brief was very particular and one that required extreme discipline and restraint, a restricted but robust and raw material palette, to be limited in complexity but defiant in individual character and charm. Challenges come in all forms and RVA took the 5 year journey head on exploring, detailing, drawing, sketching, modelling, reviewing and researching to achieve an architectural outcome that would consist of 4 to 5 materials, a range of bespoke fittings and fixtures all handmade and meticulously sourced. The design intent was to ensure that nothing was left to chance. If it could be resolved through design and detailing, then that?s what was done. All attempts were made to make the most complex item appear invisible. What quickly became apparent was that the raw and ...