Jury Comment
Garden is everything in this home by Studio Bright, where as much design attention has been given to external spaces as it has to internal spaces. Set on an inner-urban site in Melbourne’s north, this home is punctured by a series of eight yards, each with a different mood and function, some hardscaped and others softscaped. Working closely with landscape design studio Peachy Green, the architect has carefully choreographed the way each of these courtyards is experienced from within the home.
Connections are attuned to the nature of family life. Views to the pool area from the dining room enable child supervision without compromising a summer dinner party, while the sunken main living area connects to a flat and open space for kicking a ball or shooting some hoops. Quiet retreat from family life is also catered for, in the narrow study space that overlooks a calming, leafy courtyard, or in the main bedroom’s private pocket garden, which allows glimpses of the street’s activity through the undulating brick screen.
This is a remarkable home that genuinely establishes a connection between its inhabitants and the outdoors, in all weather and seasons. In a year that has seen a renewed appreciation of private open space and the need to prioritize wellbeing, it will serve its family far into the future.
The Award for Garden or Landscape is supported by the Australian Institute of Horticulture. See full image galleries of all the winning and shortlisted projects here.
8 Yard House is located in Melbourne, Victoria, on the land of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people of the Kulin nation.
Project credits
Architect: Studio Bright Project team: Melissa Bright, Robert McIntyre, Todd de Hoog, Maia Close, Pei She Lee Builder: Basis Builders Engineer: Meyer Consulting Landscape designer: Peachy Green Landscape contractor: Vogue Grange
Source
Award
Published online: 30 Jul 2021
Words:
2021 Houses Awards Jury
Images:
Rory Gardiner
Issue
Houses, August 2021
