The first impression of this house is not of a singular massing, but of horizontal volumes projecting outward to the street. The architectural push and pull in both the elevation and section was a response to the context of the site, which faces a public park with matured trees. The design challenge was how to relate to this situation: on the one hand, the greenery offers a good view, but on the other, there was the need for privacy.   

The firm’s answer was to raise the main living areas to the second storey. The swimming pool followed suit, becoming the intermediate space between the park and the house. The twelve-metre-deep plot allowed for this luxury. The living and dining, being elevated and set back from the front of the house, have complete privacy while enjoying the view of tree canopies. A large, operable gridded timber screen keeps the western sun out of these lofty spaces. The warm materiality extends to the cladding of the pool deck, the main gate, as well as the balcony of the master bedroom above. It is a choice decision, its naturalness merging the house with its verdant surroundings.  

Along the party wall, a pair of steel-and-glass canopies provide shelter and shade to the circulation spaces and pool terrace. This brings natural light right down to the foyer on the first storey, where planters rising in tandem with the staircase introduces greenery deep into the plan. Apertures in the elevation along this trajectory augment the porosity of the home.