Garden House

Our Garden House adapts and reinvigorates a dark and inward facing brick bungalow to create a bright and functional family home.  Our brief was to accommodate the family’s changing needs as their daughters grew older.  We were asked to provide space for the girls to hang out, room for our client to work without disturbing the family and spaces for family and friends to come together.

The original house has been renovated and reworked using its inherent solidity and darkness to create gentle, calm and enclosed private spaces.  These contrast with the bright and open shared spaces of the new pavilion, which is as much a part of the garden as it is the house.  The strong exterior connection sees the light and atmosphere of the rooms shift through the day, creating ever-changing moments of delight and picking up the natural properties of the interior finishes.

We chose to treat the existing heritage listed house lightly by creating a simple, separate living pavilion in the garden.  The new addition has a single interaction with the old, through a glass link hallway, accentuating the sense of stepping out of the old building and into the new.  By separating the pavilion from the orientation of the house we were also able to maximise exposure to the garden and northern sunlight.

Materiality for the project is inspired by the original brick and timber construction but differs in colour selection to differentiate old from new.  The restrained palette is a backdrop to the lives of the client and the beautiful plants inside and outside the building.

The design relies on subtle texture, careful material choices and a complete integration of interior design and architecture to create a sense of balance between all its elements.  While the building is visually calm and simple, careful use of spatial volume, natural light, materiality, and beautiful craftsmanship provide a tactile and engaging home.

This design is quiet, restrained and responds to the needs of our clients.  It envelops the rituals of their lives and has prompted new ones, such as the girls spending summer evenings together on their back deck.