Inside this Issue

House at Flat Rock –
Billy Maynard

The first impression of House at Flat Rock is not a house at all, but rather a densely planted meadow-like garden that spills out to the street. To the fore of the site, on the east, stands a group of mature olive trees and behind, to the west, the presence of Conjola National Park looms large. Linking the two, a narrow stone-paved path traverses the northern edge of the meadow. This arrangement defines the most immediate and prescient qualities of the context whereby the building – a discreet series of volumes strung along three edges of the site – is experienced. It is an abiding humility that informs each considered gesture and remarkable detail of a home whose appointed purpose is to create a complete immersion in nature.

Waterview –
John Wardle Architects

Two buildings companionably occupy a hillside at Waterview, a historic 540-hectare sheep farm on Tasmania’s Bruny Island. Though both were completed within the last decade – The Shearers Quarters in 2012 and Captain Kelly’s Cottage in 2016 – each is superimposed upon traces of what came before, some physically evident and others mere ghosts of memory. The much-lauded work of John Wardle Architects, the buildings embody the intersection of both the site’s layers of history and its contemporary evolution, as over the past 20 years it has been extensively revegetated and become something of a testing ground for the practice.

St Andrews Beach –
Woods Bagot

Carefully placed above the sand dunes of St Andrews Beach, the understated holiday home of Nik Karalis, CEO of Woods Bagot, was always understood as an incremental project that would evolve and grow with its occupants over decades. Almost 25 years since the first structure was built in 1997, the initial form of the house – two small volumes separated by a breezeway – has remained legible across three subsequent stages of development, which transformed the building from a simple shack to an expansive villa on a fragile, exposed coastal site.

Courtyard House –
Ha Architecture

Courtyard House by Ha Architecture is a transformational addition to an established bungalow in Hawthorn, in Melbourne’s inner east. Driven by a reverence for Japanese architecture, the design pursues a harmonic response, attributing space not only with an aesthetic dimension but also a liveable one.

Highlands House –
Other Architects

With a sense of playfulness and feeling of familiarity, Highlands House sits quietly in its landscape while simultaneously embodying its own character. Designed by Other Architects, the home provides the luxurious simplicity of living in a single volume, allowing the residents to enjoy the informality and flexibility of their country lifestyle.

Arcadia –
Architecture Architecture

To meander down a garden path is to engage in an experience shaped by the hour and the season. Walking the same pathway again and again, one becomes acquainted with each bend and blade of grass. Along the way, such familiar landmarks serve to ground and orient, even as glimpses of what lies ahead or changes in light, vegetation and climate pique a sense of anticipation. Architecture Architecture’s clients sought a home evocative of this experience – redolent of their childhoods in rural New Zealand and South Australia – within the urban context of Brunswick.

Berkeley Street Residence –
Workroom

Embracing the challenge of combining two buildings to create a cohesive and functional family home, Workroom drew on a holistic approach to unite and clarify the existing structures. While some would disregard the originals and start from scratch, Workroom recognised the potential – addressing Berkeley Street Residence with the same rigour and prowess that has come to define the studio’s work.

Mansfield House –
Robbie Walker

Nestled into a rocky outcrop in Victoria’s High Country, Robbie Walker has designed and built an off-grid family home with integrity, beauty and the grit to withstand the extremes of its surrounding environment. Balancing openness to the exceptional views against the imperative for shelter from the elements on the exposed hilltop, Mansfield House is a home of two halves. Part glass pavilion, part concrete bunker, the building responds to the dichotomous demands of inhabiting a place inhospitable and awe inspiring in equal measure.

Arakoon –
Shaun Lockyer Architects

Submerged and subservient to its surrounds, Arakoon sits responsive to the natural and lush setting it is immersed within, as planar gestures encourage an outdoor life. Referencing linear connections between climate and place, Shaun Lockyer Architects composes volumes that optimise the enviable siting of the home.

Balmoral Mid-Century –
Tecture

Balmoral Mid-Century illustrates the value of a softer architectural touch. As a house with ample character and original features, Tecture Director Ben Robertson and Head of Interior Design Lauren Foy knew their contribution would not be defined by what they could add, but by their ability to champion the existing building. Informed by their deep respect for the home’s heritage and an exceptional relationship with their clients, the result exemplifies a sensitive approach to Australia’s modernist legacy.

Netherby –
Neil Architecture and Megan Hounslow

Netherby brings a sense of clarity and resonance to its storied past, with Neil Architecture and Megan Hounslow combining to craft the foundations for the home’s coming chapters. Throughout the restoration and addition, careful intertwining of history with a contemporary relevance carves the ideal tempered balance between preservation and transformation.

AND MORE