Garden House

A beautiful renovation of a mid-century home in Mt Eliza that, although with the 'bones' of this classic style, was very low-slung, of modest materiality, and enclosed. We shared our clients' passion for mid-century modernism and sought to restructure the form of the house to create a much more open layout and to create more openings in the north facade, where a breathtaking garden view and pool-side aspect beckoned. Our solution was to propose a new living room pavilion linked to the kitchen-dining area and restructure the bedrooms accordingly. The roof of the new pavilion appears to float above the linear form of the house, with highlight glazing on all sides bringing an abundance of natural light and a startling transformation to the dwelling. Furniture, joinery and the kitchen island benches are unique in style, elegant and slender in native hardwoods, floating on timber legs and open to the universal space created by the pavilion. The larger glazed screens slide back to invite breezes and poolside views into the home, and the old ceiling in the main part of the house is removed to expose richly-coloured original hardwood ceiling joists, which reaffirm the material palette of Australian timbers. Elsewhere white brick and deep green velvets are used in upholstery and rugs to mimic the deep garden setting beyond the house. YEAR: 2019 SITE AREA: 654m2 LOCATION: Mount Eliza, Victoria PHOTOGRAPHER: Shannon McGrath