The Garden House project located in Fitzroy North is a beautiful renovation and studio project on a single-fronted duplex.

Our focus was to create an elegant and spacious dining area with a polished concrete floor and lighting. This created an open space connecting the existing rooms to the garden, studio, and northern aspect of the property.

The property is within walking distance from our office and a thriving community. The original Edwardian cottage was soundly built in the 1920s, requiring only minor refurbishment and maintenance works, which were primarily handled by the owner, we provided necessary advice and contacts as needed.

We remodelled the rear part of the house so the living areas face the garden, and built a small studio for guests and activities.

The transformation of this house in inner-city Melbourne has proven invaluable, providing a workplace, bright and spacious living areas, and beautiful garden during the COVID lockdown periods.

The renovation of this property extended the roof beyond the kitchen and indoor dining, to create an undercover outdoor entertaining space, and provide the internal spaces with some shade from the harsh summer sun.

Jackie McWilliam, of Avantgardner carefully designed the garden to maximise the space, creating green zones filled with low maintenance native grasses, and outside entertaining spaces.

The steel garden bed borders created raised planters, providing a kitchen garden to the house, without sacrificing on space. Trellises are also used to create an illusion of a wall of greenery, creating a feeling of a private inner city oasis.