Hedge and Arbour House
This is a house that lets greenery roam freely across its surfaces, wearing a gentle expression. There are no heavy doors, no enclosing screens—only a humble, open presence that lives in quiet harmony with the landscape.
Addressing a leafy Melbourne suburban street with a thick domestic hedge, yet connecting to a swath of native bushland from the creek below, the site offered the opportunity to consider the intersection of wilderness within the strict geometry & character of a typical suburban block. Split by these neighbouring conditions, the site became the mediator. Adding to the complexity of the context, sprawl has resulted in traditional suburban developments uncomfortably adjacent to the Australian bushland. The team saw this house as an opportunity to reimagine this juncture through humble, replicable design strategies focused on landscape.
Sitting within a classically suburban streetscape of double-fronted houses with low fences & ornamental gardens, the site already presented a different relationship - offering a tall, sculptural hedge at the street boundary with a carved arch to denote entry. The hedge serves as the primary elevation, liberating the house from its usual responsibility of a formal facade, allowing spatial & volumetric planning to prioritise landscape relationships. We borrowed from the success of this hedge ‘wall’ to insert layers arraying in plan, delineating space & mediating privacy through two built mechanisms - garden wall & arbour. Material selections for both were made to focus on robustness, economy & to minimize maintenance.
Much like the hedge, the garden walls define the transition & landscape experience as one traverses across & down the site. The first garden threshold is contemplative & buffered, as one crosses over from the street into the property bounds - it is surprisingly protected. The first built layer, composed of solid-face blockwork, defines the territory of the two gardens to the east & west of the dwelling. They mediate the site's topography, establishing a new level that defines the "in-between" spirit of the house—below street & above the treetops—and create a direct gateway into living spaces. A delicate screen forms an arbour that encircles the building. As vines entwine the structure, this final layer shields the house from harsh winds & is an embedded sun-shading strategy, providing a delicate contrast to the solid blockwork. In effect, the building becomes a landscape condition.
To prioritise landscape programmes, maximise northern light & shield against the neighbouring properties, the main volume was positioned to run east-west along the site's southern edge. A central perpendicular element holds living spaces to spill into gardens on either side. These passive design strategies paired with ceiling fans also serve to negate the requirement for mechanical conditioning. Bedrooms are efficiently planned with large sliding doors to the children’s rooms opening onto a shared corridor and study space, drawing the occupants out from behind closed doors. In collaboration with the landscape architect, Sarah Hicks, planting selections were made to acknowledge & disperse the suburban & wilderness characteristics. Wilderness was implanted to the front, welcoming visitors with a soft & loose native garden. Inversely, a small homage to the traditional lawn is given to the western edge, providing a restrained viewing platform beyond, which the site drops steeply. Here, instead of a cantilever disconnecting from the ground plane, the landscape clad building drapes to meet the ground, gesturing toward the parklands with deference & respect.
Design Team | Melissa Bright / Robert McIntyre / Emily Watson / Pei She Lee / Maia Close
Landscape Architect | Sarah Hicks
Landscape Contractor | Lucinda
Landscapes Engineer | Meyer Consulting
Builder | Guild and Frank (Victoria) Pty Ltd
Building Surveyor | Fotia Group
Engineering | Meyer Consulting
Character of Space | Residence
Location | Melbourne, Australia
