Located at Mossy Point is a garden sanctuary tailored to family-friendly entertaining and relaxation. With a focus on seamlessly expanding the home’s entertainment space, this project brings together natural materials and thoughtful landscaping to create an inviting outdoor retreat. Designed to reflect the client’s lifestyle, the garden now features a lounge area, a pool with sun lounges, a cozy fire pit, and a generous lawn for children to play. Our team balanced durability with elegance by emphasising stone and concrete elements, complemented by a lush mix of native and tropical plantings to cultivate a vibrant, welcoming atmosphere.

Designed by Ar. Deepak Guggari

Featured in Feb/Mar 2013 issue of Organic Gardening Magazine, this Boston-area courtyard functions as an entryway, parking space, driveway turnaround, and outdoor room. New York bluestone planks set into a sea of pea gravel can bear the weight of vehicles while allowing rainwater to permeate the ground, preventing run-off. Curving 7-foot-high green walls of shade-loving native plants create privacy and beauty, while native birch trees (Betula papyrifera) in the entry planters provide a handsome complement to the four-story Silver LEED-certified house by Wolf Architects, Inc. Landscape Architect: Julie Moir Messervy Design Studio Landscape contractor: Robert Hanss, Inc. Green wall: g_space Photographed by Susan Teare for Organic Gardening Magazine.

Courtyard - Sand Pit Beach House at Avoca Beach by Architecture Saville Isaacs Project Summary Architecture Saville Isaacs https://www.architecturesavilleisaacs.com.au/ The core idea of people living and engaging with place is an underlying principle of our practice, given expression in the manner in which this home engages with the exterior, not in a general expansive nod to view, but in a varied and intimate manner. The interpretation of experiencing life at the beach in all its forms has been manifested in tangible spaces and places through the design of pavilions, courtyards and outdoor rooms. Architecture Saville Isaacs https://www.architecturesavilleisaacs.com.au/ A progression of pavilions and courtyards are strung off a circulation spine/breezeway, from street to beach: entry/car court; grassed west courtyard (existing tree); games pavilion; sand+fire courtyard (=sheltered heart); living pavilion; operable verandah; beach. The interiors reinforce architectural design principles and place-making, allowing every space to be utilised to its optimum. There is no differentiation between architecture and interiors: Interior becomes exterior, joinery becomes space modulator, materials become textural art brought to life by the sun.   Project Description Architecture Saville Isaacs https://www.architecturesavilleisaacs.com.au/ The core idea of people living and engaging with place is an underlying principle of our practice, given expression in the manner in which this home engages with the exterior, not in a general expansive nod to view, but in a varied and intimate manner. The house is designed to maximise the spectacular Avoca beachfront location with a variety of indoor and outdoor rooms in which to experience different aspects of beachside living. Client brief: home to accommodate a small family yet expandable to accommodate multiple guest configurations, varying levels of privacy, scale and interaction. A home which responds to its environment both functionally and aesthetically, with a preference for raw, natural and robust materials. Maximise connection – visual and physical – to beach. The response was a series of operable spaces relating in succession, maintaining focus/connection, to the beach. The public spaces have been designed as series of indoor/outdoor pavilions. Courtyards treated as outdoor rooms, creating ambiguity and blurring the distinction between inside and out. A progression of pavilions and courtyards are strung off circulation spine/breezeway, from street to beach: entry/car court; grassed west courtyard (existing tree); games pavilion; sand+fire courtyard (=sheltered heart); living pavilion; operable verandah; beach. Verandah is final transition space to beach: enclosable in winter; completely open in summer. This project seeks to demonstrates that focusing on the interrelationship with the surrounding environment, the volumetric quality and light enhanced sculpted open spaces, as well as the tactile quality of the materials, there is no need to showcase expensive finishes and create aesthetic gymnastics. The design avoids fashion and instead works with the timeless elements of materiality, space, volume and light, seeking to achieve a sense of calm, peace and tranquillity. Architecture Saville Isaacs https://www.architecturesavilleisaacs.com.au/ Focus is on the tactile quality of the materials: a consistent palette of concrete, raw recycled grey ironbark, steel and natural stone. Materials selections are raw, robust, low maintenance and recyclable. Light, natural and artificial, is used to sculpt the space and accentuate textural qualities of materials. Passive climatic design strategies (orientation, winter solar penetration, screening/shading, thermal mass and cross ventilation) result in stable indoor temperatures, requiring minimal use of heating and cooling. Architecture Saville Isaacs https://www.architecturesavilleisaacs.com.au/ Accommodation is naturally ventilated by eastern sea breezes, but sheltered from harsh afternoon winds. Both bore and rainwater are harvested for reuse. Low VOC and non-toxic materials and finishes, hydronic floor heating and ventilation ensure a healthy indoor environment. Project was the outcome of extensive collaboration with client, specialist consultants (including coastal erosion) and the builder. The interpretation of experiencing life by the sea in all its forms has been manifested in tangible spaces and places through the design of the pavilions, courtyards and outdoor rooms. The interior design has been an extension of the architectural intent, reinforcing architectural design principles and place-making, allowing every space to be utilised to its optimum capacity. There is no differentiation between architecture and interiors: Interior becomes exterior, joinery becomes space modulator, materials become textural art brought to life by the sun. Architecture Saville Isaacs https://www.architecturesavilleisaacs.com.au/ https://www.architecturesavilleisaacs.com.au/

The long view through the garden from the bench seating. Image courtesy of Tom St Aubyn Photography.

Mr Melvin H J Tan

The front entry at dusk shows the exterior dining terrace to the left and the water garden to the right, separated by the natural stone entry path.Duffy Healey, photographer.

Through elegant simplicity, the Mont Albert residence offers a stylish new addition to Melbourne’s suburban landscape. Charged with completely replacing an existing 1950s property, AMG Architects seized the opportunity to create a modern, unpretentious classic. The juxtaposition of dramatic architectural features with simple, refined lines provides a space that asserts itself as an individual yet shows great sensitivity to surrounding homes. A Japanese-inspired gravel courtyard separates the distinct bedroom and living wings, yet creates an interesting link that draws the two elements together and out into the external areas. This relationship between the home’s elements and the external environment is further enhanced by the floor-to-ceiling windows and clever integration of the outdoor activity spaces into the design. AMG Architects’ attention to detail, sensitivity and commitment to artful design is exemplified in this modern nod to suburban living.

Albert Lim