![Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/06/dzn_Lyon-Housemuseum-by-Lyo.jpg)
Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons Architects
This building by Australian architects Lyons in Melbourne combines a family home with a museum.
![Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/06/dzn_Lyon-Housemuseum-by-Lyons-3.jpg)
Called Lyon Housemuseum, the project was built for the architects' own family and their art collection.
![Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/06/dzn_Lyon-Housemuseum-by-Lyons-2.jpg)
It is open to the public weekly for tours and research visits, and also hosts a program of events.
![Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/06/dzn_Lyon-Housemuseum-by-Lyons-1.jpg)
The family's kitchen doubles as a cafe and a room for video installations can be used as a home cinema.
![Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/06/dzn_Lyon-Housemuseum-by-Lyons-15.jpg)
Artworks are on display throughout the home and in two dedicated spaces, while certain rooms are enclosed and made private for the residents.
![Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/06/dzn_Lyon-Housemuseum-by-Lyons-7.jpg)
The names of the two streets on which the corner plot sits are emblazoned in two metre-high letters in brickwork on the boundary wall.
![Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/06/dzn_Lyon-Housemuseum-by-Lyons-21.jpg)
Photographs are by Dianna Snape.
![Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/06/dzn_Lyon-Housemuseum-by-Lyons-8.jpg)
Here are some more details from the architects:
LYON HOUSEMUSEUM
The Lyon Housemuseum speculates on the conjunction of art and living, on conventional notions of ‘public’ and ‘private’
![Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/06/dzn_Lyon-Housemuseum-by-Lyons-13.jpg)
and explores new relationships between art and architecture through the development of a new hybridised type – a ‘housemuseum’.
Drawing on historical precedents such as the Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice and John Soane’s Museum in London the Housemuseum displays art in a combination of museum and residential scaled spaces which are juxtaposed and intermixed.
![Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/06/dzn_Lyon-Housemuseum-by-Lyons-14.jpg)
Located in a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, the building accommodates the daily living needs of a family of four and the requirements of a fully functioning public museum housing a major collection of contemporary art.
![Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/06/dzn_Lyon-Housemuseum-by-Lyons-16.jpg)
The building is open weekly for public tours and for research visits by academics and students.
![Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/06/dzn_Lyon-Housemuseum-by-Lyons-9.jpg)
The Housemuseum also hosts an annual program of concerts, artist and architecture talks and other cultural events.
![Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/06/dzn_Lyon-Housemuseum-by-Lyons-10.jpg)
The juxtaposition of two seemingly conflicting programs presented unique opportunities and challenges for the design.
![Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/06/dzn_Lyon-Housemuseum-by-Lyons-11.jpg)
These were resolved not by demarking separate ‘private’ and ‘public’ zones but by juxtaposing and interweaving the two programs and types.
![Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/06/dzn_Lyon-Housemuseum-by-Lyons-12.jpg)
Spaces in the building are intentionally ambiguous in their typological readings – the family kitchen doubles as the museum café, the black box showing video art is also used as a home cinema and for family sleepovers.
![Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/06/dzn_Lyon-Housemuseum-by-Lyons-17.jpg)
The private study functions as a research library for visiting academics and students.
![Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/06/dzn_Lyon-Housemuseum-by-Lyons-19.jpg)
Internally, two large double height spaces - a ‘white cube’ and ‘black box’ - anchor the two ends of the building and are designed explicitly as public museum spaces.
![Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/06/dzn_Lyon-Housemuseum-by-Lyons-20.jpg)
Private spaces for the family, defined with enclosed boxlike forms, are dispersed across the two levels of the building.
![Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/06/dzn_Lyon-Housemuseum-by-Lyons-6.jpg)
Further spaces which are used by both family and visitors flow around and in between, creating scenographic spaces for the display of art.
![Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/06/dzn_Lyon-Housemuseum-by-Lyons-5.jpg)
These are interwoven with the domestic settings of the house.
![Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/06/dzn_Lyon-Housemuseum-by-Lyons-30.jpg)
Externally the building was conceived as a gable ended form (a primitive idea of ‘house’) which is extruded along the site as a long prismatic volume. A generous setback from Cotham Road and a re-entrant courtyard along the side street articulate the form through a series of volumetric shifts and deformations.
![Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/06/dzn_Lyon-Housemuseum-by-Lyons-31.gif)
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Side gables, a truncated chimney and deep roof overhangs add ambiguity and complexity to the hybrid housemuseum form which is tightly wrapped in a skin of dark zinc.
![Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/06/dzn_Lyon-Housemuseum-by-Lyons-29.gif)
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The building is contextualised within its suburban setting through use of corbelled brickwork on the street fences spelling out the names of the corner address – COTHAM and FLORENCE - in two metre high lettering.
![Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/06/dzn_Lyon-Housemuseum-by-Lyons-32.gif)
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As an experimental and speculative project, the Housemuseum uses a new hybridised typology to explore relationships between public and private, ‘museum’ and ‘house’ and the interrelationship of art and living.
![Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons Lyon Housemuseum by Lyons](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/06/dzn_Lyon-Housemuseum-by-Lyons-27.gif)
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Project Details:
Location: Kew, Melbourne
Size: 1100 m2
Architect: Lyons
See also:
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