Project Feature: Vine House by Fabrikate
Vine House by Fabrikate and Mountford Williamson Architecture is shaped by a close relationship to its hillside setting. Set into the landscape near Summertown, the home follows the natural contours of the site, opening to views across vineyards, valley and treetops. We spoke with Kate of Fabrikate about the thinking behind the project.
Founded in 2011, Adelaide-based interior design studio Fabrikate creates spaces shaped by story, people and place. Led by founder and Creative Director Kate, the studio takes a collaborative and considered approach to design, with a focus on natural materials, craftsmanship and spaces that feel warm, tactile and deeply personal.
Throughout Vine House, there's a beautiful balance between warmth, restraint and practicality. How did you ensure the interiors felt elevated while still supporting the everyday realities of family life?
Balance really was the brief. Our clients, a young family wanted to create a retreat, but they were honest with us from the start, they wanted a home, not a museum. So design decisions had to earn their place both visually and practically.
We designed the open living, kitchen and dining spaces to genuinely support the rhythm of family life, while the material palette does the quiet work of making the home feel elevated without feeling precious. Nothing in Vine House asks to be treated carefully. It's built to be lived in, and that's exactly what makes it feel calm rather than curated.
The interiors feel incredibly calm and grounded, with a palette that draws so naturally from the surrounding landscape. How did you approach developing an interior palette, that whilst contrasting with the exterior materiality, feels so connected to both the architecture and the landscape?
Vine House sits nestled into the hillside above Summertown, so the landscape was always going to lead the conversation. Our collaborators Mountford Williamson Architects designed an exterior quite restrained in its form, wrapping around the natural contours of the site, and we wanted the interior to respond to that rather than compete with it.
We drew our palette from the hillside itself — warm crown-cut timbers, soft stone, tactile finishes so even though the materials shift from outside to in, the tonal language stays connected. The layers of soft blues and greens throughout speaks to the vineyards and treetops beyond the windows but also brings in a bit of our clients' own personality. It was important the home felt like it belonged to them, not just to the site.
Inside feels rich in texture rather than contrast. Can you talk us through your process for selecting finishes, and how those tactile qualities contribute to the overall experience of the home?
We leaned heavily into grey oak veneers, oak, stone and concrete, and carried oak linings right through the ceilings so there's a real continuity of material as you move through the home. Rather than using contrast to create visual interest, we let the various textures speak. Every finish was chosen to echo the view outside, so the tactile experience of the home constantly reinforces that connection to place. It means the interiors feel rich but not busy.
The home transitions from more intimate, enclosed spaces to expansive views across the landscape. How did you use the interior design to reinforce that journey through the house?
We leaned heavily into grey oak veneers, oak, stone and concrete, and carried oak linings right through the ceilings so there's a real continuity of material as you move through the home. Rather than using contrast to create visual interest, we let the various textures speak.
Every finish was chosen to echo the view outside, so the tactile experience of the home constantly reinforces that connection to place. It means the interiors feel rich but not busy.
Furniture, lighting and joinery all feel thoughtfully integrated rather than layered on afterwards. How do you approach creating interiors where each element contributes to a unified whole?
It’s a conversation that starts early rather than resolving the architecture first and layering decisions on afterwards. At Vine House, the oak joinery and ceiling lining set the material tone, and everything we brought in afterwards had to sit comfortably within that language. It's a methodical process, lots of back and forth, but it means nothing in the home feels like an addition. It all reads as one considered gesture.
Decorative lighting plays an important role in shaping the atmosphere of Vine House, with pieces selected as much for their sculptural quality as their function. What role does lighting play in your interiors, and what drew you to the Mayu collection for this project?
Lighting is such a powerful tool in shaping how a home feels, not just how it functions. At Vine House, we wanted selections that would contribute to that sense of calm rather than announce themselves, and Mayu fitted that brief perfectly. It sits softly in the space rather than imposing on it, and the opaque quality of the light means it radiates gently rather than demanding attention.
Against the warmth of the oak and stone, that soft, diffused glow felt like the natural conclusion to the palette we'd built.
