Husband-and-wife, Kathryn Robson and Chris Rak, founders of the Melbourne-based Robson Rak architecture and interior design practice, have recently completed their most demanding and ambitious project to date. It is a dream project in many ways as Robson Rak was commissioned to create not just the house but the interiors as well.

The dramatic Stone Soul House is a six-bedroom family residence partly blasted into the ground. It is approximately 900 square-metres (9,688 sq.ft) in size and covers three levels.

The House is massive, not just in size but in presence. At first glance, it brings to mind a fortress, a monument or an art museum. It exudes permanence and solidity. All of this is part of the brief as the family, consisting of a couple with four children, was looking to re-house itself in a home that reflects their current family-centered life and also meets their potentially multi-generational future needs. They wanted that sense of permanence and also a feeling of belonging to the surroundings.
We wondered how a family could have nothing they wanted to keep, that they could allow designers, no matter how suited to the task, to choose everything. ?Our clients had some sentimental items and art that is in the home but they had previously not really invested in beautiful furniture so now was the time,? Robson Rak told The Cool Hunter. ?It was also important to them that the furniture be the correct scale and complete the whole story of the design concept.?

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