Edition Office conceived House in a Garden as a family residence immersed in dense vegetation above the landscaped floodplain of the Birrarung. Designed for a family with two school-aged children, the home gives the garden a central role in its spatial organization. Foliage surrounds every room, filters outward views, and records seasonal changes through variations in light and colour.
HOUSING
The project draws a thematic connection with artist Grant Nimmo’s paintings of forested environments. His work captures the emotional experience of entering a densely planted space, where trees frame partial views and natural conditions shape perception. Edition Office translates this quality into architecture through overlapping rooms, screened openings, planted voids, and pathways that move gradually through the site.
The house rises above the floodplain, placing its main living level within the tree canopy. Smoothly curved timber walls divide the central interior while retaining a sense of continuity across the plan. The architects organized the residence into two wings with separate functions. One wing supports shared activity through open and fluid living spaces. The other contains bedrooms and quieter rooms designed for privacy and retreat.
This division gives the home a clear rhythm. Family members can gather in broad communal spaces or withdraw into enclosed areas without losing contact with the garden. Timber surfaces, built-in niches, plants, and carefully positioned objects soften the interiors and establish smaller zones within the larger rooms. The spaces remain flexible while each area retains a distinct scale and purpose.
At ground level, substantial structural supports lift the residence and define sheltered pockets across the garden. Some supports extend upward and form vertical voids that allow taller trees to grow through the architecture. Others stop beneath the timber soffit, creating compressed areas filled with shade and low planting. These variations give the lower level a porous character and allow the garden to continue beneath the house.
A winding pathway guides the approach through the planting. The route slows movement and reveals the building gradually. From certain viewpoints, the exterior reads as a solid and clearly defined volume. From others, screens, openings, vegetation, and shadow soften its edges. The building changes according to position, allowing its relationship with the garden to remain active and varied.
A slender timber batten screen controls views from the upper level. The screen maintains privacy while allowing light, air, and fragments of vegetation to enter the interior. It also creates a contained atmosphere inside the home. Occupants remain aware of the wider site, though planting and timber elements gently limit long views.
Edition Office developed the project from the inside outward, shaping the exterior around the movement and use of the rooms. The plan carries a strong graphic clarity, while the interiors introduce softer transitions between functions. Curved walls direct circulation, planted voids interrupt the building mass, and layered spaces allow different patterns of occupation throughout the day.
The project replaces a 1980s Mediterranean Revival residence whose scale and character dominated the former market garden. The new house takes a quieter position within the site and restores the garden as the defining element. Edition Office worked with Eckersley Garden Architecture, Comb Construction, and Canterbury Landscapes to coordinate the building, planting, and construction.
Environmental systems support the relationship between the house and its setting. Solar panels generate energy, while heat-pump systems provide hydronic heating, cooling, and domestic hot water. Cross-ventilation between the internal voids offers a natural alternative and allows air to move through the residence.
House in a Garden treats architecture and planting as parts of one continuous environment. Its elevated living spaces, sheltered ground level, timber screens, and two-wing plan establish different ways to gather, retreat, and observe the site. Through these decisions, Edition Office creates a home shaped by the light, density, and changing conditions of the garden.
