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plan divided into two generously
proportioned wings, creating
dramatic garden rooms of both
informal and formal living space.
A self-contained additional living
quarter is located in the “elbow”
of the ground floor, catering for
shared living.
Private spaces upstairs including
smaller children’s rooms are
offset by a dramatic main
bedroom and bathroom, with a
continuous band of large sliding
windows opening on three sides.
The clearly articulated diagram
is an intelligent and publically
generous response to an unusual
site condition.
the upper level and the home’s
single bathroom. Private spaces
are minimised in order to
increase the family’s collective
shared zones. The house’s easy
connection to the street is
further celebrated by the lack
of off street parking. Instead
screened bicycle storage is
provided under the overhanging
edge of the floor slab.
With a palette of exposed
concrete, aluminium, plywood
and glass, this house is disciplined
in its materials and construction.
It is a classic modernist response
to separated material junctions,
with a vivid red screen wall in
the house’s centre providing a
moment of counterpoint.
This house is a committed and
successful exploration and
reinvention of an established
typology in the context of
temperate climate, and is a
remarkable achievement of
efficient and ordered planning.
Well calibrated to its location,
this substantial home exploits its
unusually shaped site to present
a modest face to the street.
Boomerang in plan, it’s design
prioritises outlook to landscape,
both for the house’s inhabitants
and its multiple surrounding
neighbours.
Positioned along a bend in a tree-
lined street, the responsive siting
has allowed for the development
of a large private northern garden
that visually combines with its
neighbour for the benefit of both.
At street level, this gap allows
passers by the benefit of reading
the distant terrain, whilst also
inviting them in.
Entering from the street through
a garden gate, one moves
along the edge of the building,
protected by a tall, upswept
roof that captures the north sun
and brings the garden into the
interior. The design is focused on
maximising light, with the ground
Rigorously challenging and
reinterpreting the terrace
house typology, Alexa-ndria
Courtyard House presents a
useful prototype for replication;
providing contemporary living
spaces within the envelope
of its adjoining street profile.
It assumes the volume and
alignments of its traditional
northern neighbour, but instead
of a generic masonry street
facade, this new home is
designed to be in chorus with its
urban environment, where the
needs of the inhabitants are not
prioritised over its neighbours.
The front yard is an extension
of the streetscape and on
approach there is an effect
of translucency, with no solid
cross-walls on ground level. The
presence of landscape pervades
with a rhythm of garden, room,
courtyard, room - right to the
back of the site - defining the
ground floor layout. The diagram
continues with bedrooms on
Photography: Michael Nicholson
Photography: Brett Boardman
Garden House
Tzannes Associates
Alexandria Courtyard House
Matthew Pullinger Architect
RESIDENTIAL ARCHITECTURE - HOUSES (NEW)
COMMENDATION
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