Lots of apartment buildings have underground garages, but not too many houses do. Even fewer houses have a garage that was inspired by the Batcave, specifically the one from The Dark Knight.
Nicknamed “The Wayne Residence,” a mansion in the Toorak neighborhood of Melbourne, Australia has some design elements in common with Batman’s secret lair. Architecture studio Molecule updated the 1928 house with some modern touches fit for a crimefighter.
Partners Anja de Spa, Jarrod Haberfield, and Richard Fleming decided to put the garage about 20 feet below ground and make it big enough to hold the homeowner’s car collection, as well as a 12-seat theater. While it’s not hidden by a waterfall, the entrance to the garage is still hard to spot, unless you know what you’re looking for. To park in the underground structure, which is lit by LEDs and has mirrored walls and tiled floors, the tennis court on top lifts up via hydraulics and the car travels down a concealed ramp. The whole process takes about two minutes: one to lift, one to lower.
“In a very well-mannered heritage house, this is the secret subversive element,” Haberfield tells Domain.
While the garage looks ultra-modern, the architects wanted to retain the house’s original details inside. “Everything from the wallpaper, the window treatments, the customised furniture and the joinery – including the walnut library shelving – has been very carefully considered and very carefully composed, because we were seeking timelessness in the scheme,” according to de Spa.
“The resulting fantasy world hovers between past and future – entirely appropriate for the contemporary renovation of a house with an important place in history,” according to Molecule’s site.
While the house isn’t up for sale, you can bid on the original Batmobile. Got a spare $4.5 million?
