Sustainable design is at the heart of this house without being overtly expressed in the external aesthetic. The house is designed with photovoltaic cells hidden on the roof, grey water reclamation, artificial lawn, and rain-screen facades to help thermal stability, flash hot water heating, bamboo floors and ponds of water to promote evaporative cooling in front of large expanses of glass.

Kelly Residence is an exploration of balance: between solid vs. void, formal order vs. intimate grace, private vs. public and stoic vs. playful, all relative to achieving a higher sense of spatial freedom within an architectural home.

The residence is articulated as "boxes", each finished in white plaster, and raised on steel pilotis. Instead of being complete four-sided objects, each "box" has one side which is replaced by high-density wood panels coated with phenolic resin. The panels, manufactured from sustainable products, are installed as a rain-screen and are punctured with stainless steel inserts, further articulating the idea that the cladding is non-load bearing.

The Architects divided the spaces into public below and private above. The house has a parent's side and a children's side, allowing each their privacy, with an umbilical cord giving form as a bridge between the two parts. Bedrooms are up in the air, while on the ground floor large expansive openings allow the garden to "run" under the house. The interior spaces are oriented to draw the garden in. There is a strong design language of solid versus void and formal order versus amorphous patterning.