Green Magazine

Our annual theme of small spaces has broadened over the years. Rather than just a series of small houses, I’m finding that the task of densifying inner urban suburbs has resulted in fabulous infill projects and creative reworkings of original floor plans. In an effort to accommodate more in less space we have leaned heavily on architects who have risen to the challenge. In this issue you will also find a couple of projects that utilise the back laneway as a street frontage for new builds of backyard additions or subdivisions. Thankfully, this is now a well- established typology in our cities. We are also seeing an intentional drive to live with less in regional and coastal areas. One house on Victoria’s Surf Coast has kept within its sweet original footprint but expanded its outlook and made better use of space, no doubt enticing those inside out into the surrounding landscape. All of these efforts prove just how much we need and that we can, in fact, thrive in smaller spaces. Taking every scrap of land available to build up a garden in tight urban locations can also be a challenging pursuit. Take Andrew Moulton, a keen amateur gardener. His home hangs off an escarpment along the Yarra River. Beneath the house, he and his neighbours have removed the invasive plants and established a garden. On a tiny piece of weed-infested land there is now an oasis of flowering natives which attracts birds and adds enormously to the outlook. In the words of Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto: "Luxury is not about size; it is about the poetry of space."

editorial

Green Magazine

upfront

Repairing Repair • Designer, researcher and educator Guy Keulemans’s has two editions of his exhibition series Transformative Repair this year. His newly published book of the same name brings together decades of research into the joyful idea that broken objects can be reimagined and improved through repair.

Memory Box • On Victoria’s Surf Coast, an architect and builder starting their family eschew the usual ‘think big’ approach for gradual interventions that revive a tiny, ‘trashed’ rental, preserving its simplicity and memories.

With Time • A long time in the thinking and making, this family home extends into a space that honours the existing trees and prioritises small, value-driven design decisions over expansive ones.

Double Darlings • Filled with exceptional moments across two street frontages, the fine-grained nature of the inner city is mirrored in this Darlinghurst home. This is no ordinary building.

2 Good • Don’t be fooled by the laconic name – 2 Rooms is a beguiling heritage update by a builder and architect who understand the power of soulful interventions to transform, uplift and complete.

Laneway Leaning • This small addition to a house in Sydney’s Inner West proves that good design can make an impact, contributing a cheerful façade to a residential back lane.

Pooled Resources • When a municipal pool becomes superfluous to a town’s needs, put an orchard in it.

upfront garden

Perched • Elevated by a healthy dash of community, the trio of incredible views, famous architecture and a labour-of-love garden combine in this clifftop Melbourne property.

Catch & Release • This community-centred wetlands park is part of a larger project regenerating a creek catchment in the middle of Brisbane.

Kata Tjuta to Uluru • Five days immersed in this semi-arid environment with iconic monoliths as sentinels and timeless stories reverberating through the landscape.

designbook