The beauty of less.
Inside an Architect’s Home That Balances Light, Shadow and the Garden
Can a darker interior draw your eye toward the garden? On a steep site in Coburg North, Sonelo Architects transform a modest brick dwelling into a family home where the landscape becomes the brightest and most defining element.
Earthy clays, terrain-coloured cladding and considered detailing anchor the exterior within its suburban setting. The cascading levels create natural moments to pause, gather and look outward across the site.
Inside, dark finishes and tactile materials sharpen the contrast with the garden. Light, shadow and texture work together to form a calm, connected home shaped by its landscape.
What happens when architecture steps back and lets the landscape lead? Reworking an original 1980s house by Dan Callaghan in Brisbane, Nielsen Jenkins shaped a home that sits quietly within its bushland setting.
How do you redefine a Mount Martha beach house? Wolveridge Architects takes a more inward approach, shaping a courtyard home that replaces ocean views with calm and connection.
Anchored by a mature magnolia, a contemporary extension to an Edwardian home is reimagined as a calm, light-filled family home of softness and durability.
With a palette of timber, stone and bagged brick, the home feels enduring and quietly connected to its coastal landscape.
Rooted in Shady Creek’s agricultural vernacular, this farmhouse is embedded in the working life of the property, being practical, durable and quietly refined.
Pop Architecture transforms a neglected Victorian in North Fitzroy by drawing on the layered history of the site, where a relocated entry, natural materials and garden-led spaces offer a grounded, enduring sense of home.
Faced with the challenge of a south-facing backyard, this thoughtful addition reorients the Victorian terrace around a central courtyard, drawing in northern light and creating a quiet dialogue between daily life and the garden beyond.
Behind a beloved family home, this compact laneway dwelling balances sustainability, density and ageing-in-place while pairing material honesty with spatial generosity.
Set against views of Wilsons Promontory, Fishharven is a study in simplicity, where corrugated pavilions, glazed links, and a warm, natural palette foster a deep sense of calm and continuity with the landscape.
Situated on a 45m² site in suburban Tokyo, this small vertical home reimagines city living.
Houses offer a different way of living, where two homes share a garden, and the space between becoming part of daily life.
Mid-century modern design, emerging in the 1940s/50s, revolutionised architecture, focusing on simplicity and innovation.
How do you achieve a sustainable home? Is it the orientation, materials, and all the technology, such as solar panels, or is it simply doing less?
Minimalist architecture and interior design receive a lot of criticism, with homes often referred to as hospital rooms, soulless, unhomely, cold, depressing... But is it possible to make minimalism more inviting?
What if you can experience the same emotions and benefits of being in a forest, but at home?