1. Making sense of architectural styles – houses and handles
What style is that?
Making sense of architectural styles – houses and handles

2. What style is that?
Australia’s property landscape contains a rich mix of different architectural styles, having been developed over many centuries, with a diverse range of influences. To help you gain a better idea, Zanda has put together a list of the ten most common architectural styles, and what key features you should look out for. Also included are pictures of hardware that matches the same style.
This is Federation/Queen Anne
Federation homes borrow from the Queen Anne style, and the design celebrates the Federation of Australia with its lavish timber ornamentation to the external facade.  This architectural style was also designed to embrace the outdoor lifestyles of Australians.

3. What style is that? It’s Art Decor
Art Deco is essentially an ornamental style with its lavishness in a direct reaction to the austerity of World War I. It is an eclectic form of design which draws on many different architectural styles, most influential of which is Modernism. It has a strong base in geometric shapes and forms and relies heavily on the repetition of these shapes to create surface embellishment and motifs. Stark and contrasting colours are usually used in an interior palette with highlights of chrome and gold.
Art Deco. There is not a lot of it in Australia. There is some around the harbour in Sydney and the Lower North Shore, and the inner suburbs of Melbourne. Adelaide also has some.

4. What style is that? It’s Art Nouveau
This design style came about as a reaction to the heaviness and ornamentation of the Victorian era. As a result, a more uncluttered and simpler look was achieved in the interiors but by still making use of swirl patterns and curved lines instead of the rigid conformity of straight lines.
Villa I, by Otto Wagner in Vienna, Austria,

5. What style is that? It’s Gothic
This design style dates back to the Middle Ages. Typically this style is heavy and solid looking with greater emphasis on carved surfaces. Pointed arches, tracery, clusters of columns and flying buttresses were all typical of Gothic Architecture. There is a strong influence on the vertical, so as to gain a sense of grandness and proportion in interiors.
The Uniting Church at Narooma, New South Wales built 1914; Federation Carpenter Gothic architectural style

6. What style is that? It’s Georgian
Georgian interiors usually display a restrained wealth through expensive furnishings and mouldings. This style is fairly simple and less opulent than Baroque, for example, however it still maintains a wealthy elegance mainly achieved through subtle lighting, detailed wall panelling and mouldings. The use of filigree emblems were seen in fanlights above doors and general accessories in an interior.
One of the most famous landmarks in Sydney - Fort Denison. The tower was built to defend Sydney against a possible attack by Russian warships, which never eventuated.

7. What style is that? It’s Modernism
This design style dates back to the Middle Ages. Typically this style is heavy and solid looking with greater emphasis on carved surfaces. Pointed arches, tracery, clusters of columns and flying buttresses were all typical of Gothic Architecture. There is a strong influence on the vertical, so as to gain a sense of grandness and proportion in interiors.
Modernism. Adelaide Stock Exchange. Photograph courtesy of Mijo Consulting.

8. What style is that? It’s Post Modern
This design style came about as a direct reaction to Modernism. It tries to address the starkness and simple forms of its predecessor. It rejects the functional, minimal use of materials and the lack of embellishment represented by Modernism. As a result, Post Modern designs draw on past architectural styles to create a more eclectic aesthetic, often making use of unexpected and combined design materials.
Post Modern. Vanna Venturi House by Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, completed in 1964, has been described as the first postmodern building

9. What style is that? It’s Contemporary
Contemporary style (pictured right) can be defined as the uses and function of line. It is found in architectural details, the use of bold blocks of colour and the simplicity and uncluttered look of furniture. Interiors generally showcase space and not things, and this is achieved in a sophisticated and subtle manner. Focus on texture, colour and shapes enable a contemporary interior to remain sleek and fresh.
Contemporary – a typical Australian contemporary house.

10. What style is that? It’s Victorian
A Victorian design style is generally defined by highly embellished and intricately patterned interiors. Rich and warm colours were used to enhance patterns and moldings. Raised and varying textures were often used side by side to create visual interest and depth in an interior. Victorian furniture made use of carved and decorated surfaces and were fairly large in size.
The Crystal Palace (pictured above) designed by Sir Joseph Paxton was lavish with Victorian innovations - iron-frame construction, sheet glass, and integral heating. Its use of prefabrication and standardisation was a pointer to the future.

11. What style is that? It’s Retro
Retro design is a term used to describe culturally outdated or aged trends and fashions from the overall post-modern past, which have since made a resurgence within a contemporary context. These designs take their overall inspiration, shapes and colours from the mid-twentieth century when bright and bold furnishings were introduced. Rounded and curved edges and shapes of furniture are often used to achieve a retro look. The picture is an example of the style.
Retro. kitchen Retro design is a term used to describe culturally outdated or aged trends and fashions from the overall post-modern past, which have since made a resurgence within a contemporary context.

12. What style is that? It’s Classical
Classical design styles are based on order, symmetry and balance. Classical interior layouts usually make use of a focal point from which symmetrical balance is achieved. These are harmonious interiors which are often anchored in their style by the use of classical ornamental artefacts and motifs which are generally drawn from Roman and Greek influences.
Classical architecture began with the ancient Greeks, and was developed and elaborated by the Romans. In its purest and most familiar form, it is expressed by the temple, an oblong enclosure fronted or surrounded by columns. 

13. The end of What style is that?
We hope you both enjoyed and learned from this presentation! Australian architecture is a fantastic journey – one everybody should travel.
You can find out more by visiting and selecting the knowledge base tab.
You can even download our 100 page EBook called ‘The Architecture of Door handles – An Australian Perspective’.
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