A Periscope: Compact Melbourne Home Extension by Architecture architecture.

There’s a particular joy derived from designing a small house well. This seems to be especially true for Architecture architecture, Melbourne-based practice with a reputation for inventive spatial solutions that thrive on the challenge.

Located in a dense urban pocket of Richmond, on a site of just 84-square-meters, this residential project was particularly small. The architects looked to address three major pitfalls—space, natural light and vertical circulation—with one very neat solution: the ‘periscope’.

Showcasing their poetic flair, the project is captured by this accompanying passage. “A periscope, washed-up on the beach. The oceans must be full of them and yet this is quite unexpected: half buried with its ends poking out like a happy seaworm, chatting to its tail. The tides have washed it crystalline; mirrors bend the light to fill its buried chambers. A single sunlit passage, coursing through the sand.”

Park Life House in Melbourne by Architecture Architecture.

This extension sensitively celebrates the humble suburban Melbourne block, implementing an addition that beautifully adds to...

To combat the narrow site, a double-height void in the centre of the house lends a little luxury to the spaces that spill from it. Originally the darkest part of the building, now with a sky window, the full width of the property inundates light like a sudden sun shower. Here the staircase is orientated to offer the maximum natural light across levels.

Delightfully simple, a mirrored screen amplifies these effects—space, light and movement in a single gesture—drawing views through the house, from both the courtyard and sky.

This type of approach is indicative of the Architecture architecture team whose philosophy is underpinned by a firm belief in the potential of architecture to foster positive social environments.

Vivarium House by Architecture Architecture.

With an emphasis on reduced environmental impact and maintaining its characteristic street front, this revitalised Thornbury cottage reconnects to its surroundings...

[Images courtesy of Architecture architecture. Photography by Tom Ross.]