House in a Garden repositions domestic architecture within a dense, cultivated landscape along the Birrarung floodplain in Melbourne. Conceived as an elevated layer within foliage rather than an object on a site, the project organizes living spaces around planted voids, filtered light, and a calibrated sequence of interior and exterior relationships that privilege immersion over outlook.
House in a Garden Technical Information
- ArchitectsEdition Office
- LocationMelbourne, Australia
- Project Years2022 – 2026
- Photographs© Maxime Delvaux
The house is conceived as a spatial condition within foliage, where architecture and landscape are inseparable and experienced as one continuous environment.
– Edition Office
Dwelling Within the Landscape: Reversing Figure and Ground
House in a Garden challenges the conventional reading of building and site by dissolving the primacy of the architectural object. Rather than asserting presence, the house is embedded within a layered garden condition, allowing vegetation to become the dominant spatial framework. The built form operates as an inhabitable stratum suspended within this environment, reversing the expected figure-ground relationship.
The elevation of the primary living spaces above the Birrarung floodplain is both environmental and spatial. It allows water movement and ecological processes to persist at ground level while positioning daily life within the tree canopy. The ground plane remains porous, structured by planting and topography rather than architectural enclosure. This approach re-establishes continuity across the site, avoiding the territorial imposition typical of suburban dwellings.
The project replaces a previously dominant residential structure that subordinated the landscape. In collaboration with landscape design, the site is reconstituted as a continuous garden field. The architecture recedes into this field, its presence understood not as a standalone object but as a framework that supports occupation within a living system.
Spatial Organization: Duality, Overlap, and Gradation
The plan is organized into two distinct yet interrelated wings, establishing a clear functional duality. One wing accommodates collective activities through open, interconnected spaces, while the other consolidates private rooms for retreat. This division provides clarity without rigidity, allowing the house to operate across different modes of occupation.
Curved geometries disrupt the predictability of a linear plan. Walls bend and slide past one another, producing sequences that expand and compress. Rooms are not isolated volumes but parts of a continuous spatial field shaped by gradual transitions. This produces a sense of fluid occupation, where boundaries are implied rather than fixed.
Strategically placed voids puncture the plan, enabling trees to extend through the building. These vertical openings introduce vegetation directly into the architectural core, dissolving distinctions between interior and exterior. Circulation routes weave around these planted voids, reinforcing a spatial experience that is contingent on movement and proximity to living elements.
Thresholds and Material Articulation
A continuous timber batten envelope defines the building’s outer layer, mediating between exposure and enclosure. Its density varies, allowing the facade to shift in appearance depending on light and viewpoint. At times, it reads as opaque and solid; at others, it becomes permeable and diffuse. This variability produces a dynamic boundary condition rather than a fixed edge.
The undercroft establishes a contrasting spatial register. Heavy structural piers support the elevated volume, forming a shaded terrain beneath. This space operates as a constructed micro-landscape, where filtered light, dense planting, and irregular pathways create a cool, sheltered environment. It anchors the house physically while extending the garden experientially below the primary floor.
Internally, material contrasts are carefully calibrated. Dark timber surfaces define walls and ceilings, giving weight and enclosure to interior zones. These are set against polished concrete floors that reflect light and extend visual continuity. Vegetation remains constantly present through openings and glazing, softening the material palette and reinforcing a layered sensory experience.
Phenomenology and Environmental Performance
The project prioritizes immersion over outward spectacle. Views are often filtered through planting or screened by timber battens, directing attention toward immediate spatial and material conditions. Light is modulated rather than maximized, producing interiors that shift in tone throughout the day. This inward focus enhances awareness of proximity, texture, and atmospheric change.
Environmental performance is integrated through both passive and active means. Voids facilitate cross ventilation, allowing movement of air between shaded and open areas. This reduces reliance on mechanical systems while maintaining comfort. Complementary systems, including solar energy and hydronic heating and cooling, provide additional stability across seasonal variations.
Seasonality is embedded in the daily experience of the house. Changes in foliage, light quality, and temperature are perceptible within every space. Acoustic softness, filtered light, and the presence of vegetation contribute to a domestic environment attuned to time and occupation, where architecture serves as a mediator between inhabitation and the rhythms of the surrounding landscape.
About Edition Office
Edition Office is an architecture and design practice based in Collingwood, Melbourne, Australia. The studio is recognized for its rigorous, concept-driven approach, crafting architecture that explores the relationship between built form, landscape, and human experience through carefully considered spatial, material, and environmental strategies.
Credits and Additional Notes
- Construction company: Comb Construction
- Landscape designers: Eckersley Garden Architecture
- Other contributors: Photography by Maxime Delvaux
- Other contributors: Interiors by Edition Office
