Cars, creativity and collaborative design

Architect Bronwyn Litera of Litera Design on being in the driver's seat of her own firm

Before Melbourne-born, Sydney-based architect Bronwyn Litera founded her eponymous architect firm Litera Design, she was busy working on and drafting for super yachts, travelling Australia in a Kombi van and working with leading architect Bruce Stafford – not in that order.

The daughter of an A-grade motor mechanic-slash-racing car driver and a microbiologist with a passion for art galleries and the ballet, Litera says her work is equally informed by structure and creative expression. She's also a tale of many cities. There's Melbourne, where she grew up and studied architecture at RMIT; London, where she cut her teeth with Woods Bagot; the south of France, where she travelled with her then-boyfriend (now husband) as he repaired superyachts; and Sydney, where her studio is now based. Throw India, South America and Japan in the mix too, and a rich tapestry reveals itself.

 "I've always felt like you need to be in the world to understand architecture and design. It's that layer of exposure to things that maybe you wouldn't have seen or experienced otherwise: cultures, landscapes, cities. We sort of live in one world in one way, surrounded by similar and familiar things, and to get outside of that and be somewhere you're challenged and things are different and you think differently, that broadens your experience, your excellence in design, and exposes you to more things to inspire you and make you think about things in a different way."

 It started young: as a child, she and her older brother would sit in the back of a yellow "rattly" Kombi van as their parents drove across the Nullarbor, up to Queensland, over to Adelaide. It was one of many she recalls from her childhood, alongside the MG A her dad drove her to school in, her mother’s little red Alpha Romeo and the Monaro her brother bought when he turned 18 (which arrived mustard brown and quickly became Phantom Purple).

That love of cars hasn’t left her, and these days she has the best of both worlds: an older model Mini, which she and her husband Cam enjoy tinkering away on, and a new Mini, "because they're a lot of fun".

 "Minis are iconic. There’s not many cars – maybe the Porsche 911 – where the shape of the car has pretty much stayed the same, just been modernised, since it was first created,” Litera says. “That’s the layer of design that goes into that, that timelessness: it was doing something right, obviously, so many years ago. People loved it then and they love it now. That’s the ultimate goal, right? It’s not something that goes out of fashion or looks plain or looks like anyone else’s.”

Litera’s approach to architecture is less about a single design vernacular. She starts each project sketching by hand to find the flow of a space while giving clients a distinct sense of malleability, of involvement and of evolution.

"You've got to have a bit of flexibility to move and adapt. The whole thing has to be an evolution," she says. "I often say to clients that I'm not interested in building a monument to myself. There's no ego in it. I'm here to design them a beautiful home that suits them, because they have to live in it at the end of the day.

“Spaces really do have an impact on you as a person,” she adds. “Homes should be calm, functional; they should bring you joy every day and give you little moments of surprise and joy. We’re always looking for something that’s not just cookie cutter, that suits the clients personally. We want to create something they enjoy coming home to every day.”

Each Litera Design project is grounded in collaboration to craft spaces that reflect the client's unique identity, experience and needs with the highest quality materials and design expressions.

“I like working with builders and artisans and other people who are experts in what they do. I feel like I’m a bit of a curator of all of the magnificent people who are experts and I try to bring them all together and get the best out of them.”

At Lavender Bay House, the clients – downsizing parents who wanted an adaptable retreat big enough to accommodate the whole family – wanted the addition built behind the modest original streetfront heritage cottage to feel like a luxury cruise ship. Fluidity, spaciousness and structural ease deliver multi-purpose enjoyment of the internal and external environments. Curves replace corners to create an endless-seeming view, with the splendour of Lavender Bay framed by Vitrocsa windows.

“They’re invisible. They’re so incredibly boundless, which is what we were going for: that there was minimal, if any, interruption of the views,” she says. “It allows for the floor finishes to run through from inside to outside completely. The functionality of it is incredible; it feels beautiful to use; it’s super simple considering these are huge 2m by 2.7m doors. You can move them with a push.”

Sydney Harbour is framed across all three levels of the family home, with direct access to the pool on the ground floor. Every change in outdoor light and glittering water reflection is visible with the slimline system, which delivers sophisticated functionality with minimal architectural intervention.

“When you have a view like that, you want something that’s not going to fight it; you want something that’s going to celebrate it,” she says. “They’ve been doing this for years. They’re the experts. There wouldn’t be another system you could use there that would have that sense of uninterrupted, seamless connection to the harbour.” 

At the end of the day, Litera says, every project is different because every client’s dreams – and vision – is unique, driven by the essentiality of a well-loved, well-lived home. The details of how it functions for each client is always front of her mind.

“It would be amazing if there was just a recipe for a house, so you could just keep refining those details down to the millimetre to get that right, which you can do with cars because they’re mass produced,” says Litera. “But I’m about all those little things. Aesthetic is great but you want a great little handle on a car or a home, you want those things you can touch; the experience; the feel of it.

“You can feel the difference every time. When you get in a car and it’s smooth and streamlined and things work and the button’s exactly where it should be – all of those little things apply to houses as well.”

She deems it experiential architecture, “where spaces make you feel something” – something that endures, no matter where the road might take you.

"Architecture should make you feel good, and cars do that too, but it should stand the test of time. There's no insta-houses. They’re here for the long term.”

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Credits

• Litera Design – Architecture
• Anson Smart – Photography
• Riley Wilson – Interview
• Vitrocsa Australia - New Zealand – Sliding doors