Tucked well back behind an existing mid-century dwelling, with only a narrow driveway access linking it to the street, this quirky 500 square metre block once hosted a 1950’s cream brick speculative holiday shack.

Encircled by no less than 7 abutting properties, the site is completely landlocked and as a result presented many challenges through the design process.

The existing house sat awkwardly on the site, offering little usable outdoor space, it was poorly orientated and at odds with the pattern of neighbouring properties.

Our strategy was to rectify these short falls and in particular the lack of quality outdoor living space. To this end, we set about consolidating as much outdoor space as we could, into a single, central courtyard. This meant stringing as much built form as possible along the property boundaries in a horse-shoe arrangement around it. We positioned as many rooms as possible to inwardly face towards the new landscaped court and pool.

This has resulted in a pleasingly private home, with very strong connections to the singular outdoor space. All of the ground floor living areas are arranged openly, radiating from the court. The master bedroom suite commands prime position at the head of the new lap pool. All other bedrooms are similarly arranged around the courtyard at first floor level.

The design utilises every available square metre of space on the site, nothing has gone to waste. Importantly, it does not overcrowd, nor dominate the surrounding properties.

The success of this project lies in its simplicity. It is uncomplicated, functional and user friendly. It offers strong connections to an appropriately sized outdoor garden space, and thus plays out the original design intent.