Garden House is a house of small and specific moments; moments of retreat, entertaining, bathing, music, living, connection to nature and landscape. The home was crafted to allow the clients to spend time together, and with friends, but also time apart, and to create moments of delight in the every day. The project was envisaged as a progression of spaces from public to private. The existing closed volume of the Edwardian cottage fronting the street contains spaces for guests, movies, work from home, and music.
The addition to the rear is a repeat of the existing volume, but deconstructed to provide better orientation, aspect to the garden and contemporary liveability. The addition steps down into a space of calm and retreat that is more connected to an idea of nature and landscape than the urban condition of the street. The form and the subsequent planning arrangement was derived from the action of unfolding the existing roof from the Edwardian cottage. This encouraged Garden House to unfold into garden and landscape, welcoming swathes of designed landscape to reach deep into each garden facing room.