Vivarium House by Architecture Architecture.

A design that aims to engage with rather than conquer the natural landscape, Vivarium House by Architecture Architecture is an extension to an existing Thornbury cottage. The new living areas are the landscape as much as they are the house, tangled through with greenery.
“In time, this house will be consumed by its gardens,” explain the architects. “Already the buzz of pollination fills the air: bees, blowies and butterflies. Nestled between three native crops, nature has the jump start.”

The brief called for a three-bedroom home with a new kitchen, dining and living. Minor modifications to the existing house reconnect the entry to a generous backyard, creating a ‘green corridor’ from which all living and retreat spaces extend. The extension is modest, taking only a small area for its occupants and allowing the rest of the site to sit in nature.

Playful in form, the natural environment spills into leisure and living areas, offering an ideal space for entertaining friends and family. With an emphasis on biophilic design, the large yard space allows room for social recreation and for house pets to roam freely. A carefully considered material palette caters to the client’s sensitivity to VOC and artificial finishes, ensuring health and comfort throughout all seasons.

Gently curved building edges and a central courtyard create a dynamic spatial experience, introducing abundant natural light to the building’s interior while maintaining thermal balance across the seasons. Playful in form, the natural environment spills into leisure and living areas, offering an ideal space for entertaining friends and family.

Park Life House by Architecture Architecture.

This extension sensitively celebrates the humble suburban Melbourne block, implementing an addition that beautifully adds to, and continues the legacy of one of the best-preserved early housing commissions in Victoria.

Wherever possible, products have been locally sourced, and materials have been selected for their low environmental impact. Low VOC finishes, stainless steel fixtures, the elimination of MDF carcasses, and Magnesium Oxychloride wall linings in lieu of plasterboard are used throughout, increasing the longevity and durability of the house. Additionally, the use of locally sourced, as well as recycled materials reclaimed through demolition reduces the project’s overall environmental footprint and embodied energy.

Passive solar and ventilation design principles improve air quality and thermal performance, while reducing overall utility costs and energy consumption. New concrete floors provide thermal mass for Melbourne’s winter, while deep eaves provide summer shade and strategically located windows ensure quality cross-ventilation.

With an emphasis on reduced environmental impact and maintaining its characteristic street front, this revitalised Thornbury cottage reconnects to its surroundings—a home amongst flourishing greenery, forever changing with the seasons.

Stories On Design // Built Into Nature.

Today we take a world wide tour of seriously incredible examples of architecture that not only address their context and interact with their surrounds, the sites they occupy form the key ingredient that architects have used in the overall design...

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