By Breathe
Warehouse Greenhouse is about the past and the future. It is a story of industrialisation and human occupation, and an attempt to reconcile these with the natural environment.
Designed for a quiet, tenacious family of guerrilla gardeners and artisans, of quiet intellect and determination, this project is about doing more with less. It signals the possibility of a simple, elegant path to a sustainable future.
Warehouse Greenhouse is a simple, contextual extension built out of corrugated Zincalume cladding. Remnants of the existing building are preserved and expressed revealing its imperfections and years of layered wear. The approach was to harness the embodied energy of the existing building; to keep as much as possible and add only what was necessary.
This project is an exercise in considered restraint. The clients care deeply about the environment and worked with us, meticulously, to build a handcrafted, beautifully insulated small footprint family home.
We are proud to acknowledge the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation, the Traditional Custodians of the land upon which Warehouse Greenhouse stands. We recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture.
Awards
Photographer by Tom Ross
Australia’s most awarded sustainable design firm, and its most dependable.
Our Approach
Breathe undertakes meaningful projects we can be proud of — those that align with our purpose and values.
Since we focus on maximising positive impact, many of our projects don’t fit the common definition of ‘architecture’.
We work to understand who we’re designing for. We strive to inspire, engage and support our clients and the broader communities we serve.
We prioritise social, environmental and economic sustainability in every project. We question the status quo to pursue outcomes that are informed by, and seek to better, those that came before.
Above all, we prioritise ethics along with aesthetics, and design without ego, to create the best outcomes for our clients and their communities.