Expert: Eckersley Garden Architecture | ArchDaily

House in a Garden / Edition Office

Pilar Caballero — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 07:00:00 +0000

There is something familiar in Grant Nimmo's paintings of lush, forested landscapes. The deeply enriching emotional response to being within the time, the temperature, the sounds, and the colours of the natural world. They depict, with a hauntingly beautiful degree of realism, the feeling of being within the complexity of spaces framed within a thickly planted landscape. Their existence today feels almost archival, as if they record an environment increasingly diminishing, still within reach, but only just. Spaces are connected, overlap, and peek out from behind trees. They shift and bend around the life and depth of the landscape. They are connected.

116 Rokeby Building / Carr

Hana Abdel — Wed, 03 Jul 2024 03:00:00 +0000

A breathing space - Seeing the potential of an urban industrial site in Collingwood and working alongside a progressive client, Carr has designed a project that pushes in a new direction of sustainability, longevity, and innovation in commercial architecture and interiors. Set within the ever-evolving pocket of Collingwood, 116 Rokeby by Carr takes cues from the fragmented industrial materiality of Collingwood with a rigorous approach to sustainability. The form is robust and tactile, expressing strong architectural repetition on the façade while bringing a holistic, inside-out approach.

No. 6 Sydney Street Apartments / Wood Marsh

Bianca Valentina Roșescu — Wed, 03 Jan 2024 02:00:00 +0000

A building structure carefully disguised as an organic sculpture, No. 6 Sydney Street is a collection of 15 residences within a skeleton, grounded in craft, and inspired by nature. Located within the inner-city suburb of Prahran, its form and positioning create fluid connectivity to the natural surroundings of the adjacent Orrong Romanis Reserve.

Zero Gipps Office Building / SJB

Andreas Luco — Thu, 12 Oct 2023 20:00:00 +0000

Zero Gipps is a unique workplace creating a ripple of quiet intrigue in historic Collingwood, Melbourne. A peaceful sanctuary set against the suburb’s industrial backdrop, this six-story building is far from a typical office space. The long and linear site presented an opportunity to open the building from the middle via the laneway rather than a prominent street address - a simple design move that resolved circulation issues, enhanced solar access and natural ventilation, and improved building connectivity. A small cafe and communal garden courtyard greet users on arrival as well as an outdoor staircase promoting active movement throughout the building.

Jay - Esplanade House / Eckersley Architects

Hana Abdel — Tue, 05 Sep 2023 18:00:00 +0000

Nestled in the charming neighborhood of Port Melbourne, Esplanade House is designed to create a bold statement amongst its natural surroundings. Its perfect location on a corner site adjacent to Edwards Park allows uninterrupted botanical views while creating the sense of security and privacy of an intimate home.

Fenwick Residences / Edition Office

Hana Abdel — Fri, 14 Jul 2023 06:00:00 +0000

The project is located on a remarkable edge of the Birrarung/Yarra River adjacent to Yarra Bend Park with northern vistas to the valley beyond. Perched on the edge of the escarpment with immediate views along the river as potent as the expansive horizon which unfolds to the north the site allows unencumbered connections to landscapes which are rare this close to the city. The site also sits within an area that has a high concentration of well-preserved 50’s and 60’s post-war houses, athletically meandering across the sloping sites adjacent to the river.

Light Scoop House / Molecule Studio

Pilar Caballero — Fri, 21 Apr 2023 01:00:00 +0000

The Light Scoop House employs a courtyard house typology planning approach in response to its elongated site. A barcode plan of alternating rooms and landscaped courtyards expands the impression of space within a narrow plan, bringing natural light and garden views into every room. Formally, the house is composed of two double brick walls on the side boundaries, which capture the roof elements between. Three taller pavilion roofs (housing the habitable rooms) employ a consistent taper at each leading edge, creating an aperture to connect with the sky.

Hawthorn House / Edition Office

Andreas Luco — Thu, 17 Mar 2022 01:00:00 +0000

Our primary design response for the Hawthorn House was to first recalibrate the entire project site into a large and singular terrace; one grand outdoor theatre for living which peels upwards at each title boundary to form a living garden backdrop that would appear at every viewpoint from the living areas of the home. Within this garden platform, the house is defined by a pair of heavily textured concrete shrouds, each with its own proportion and personality, linked together by a walkway and courtyard garden. The arched concrete shrouds evolved as a method of structurally supporting the house with its own skin; designed to be understood as protective cloak rather than as signifiers of support. These shrouds provide the framework for how the spaces within the home relate to each other and to the external environment. From the first floor the context appears denied, however these more private bathing and sleeping spaces are pulled away from the ends of the solid skin which allows each elevated pavilion to look out through full height glazing onto their own private courtyards full of plants, sky and tree canopy. At ground floor within the living, cooking and dining spaces the concrete shells provide clear connectivity with the entire landscape and a sense of unexpected lightness, while carefully concealing the neighbouring context.

Fitzroy North House 02 / Rob Kennon Architects

Valeria Silva — Sun, 01 Aug 2021 15:00:00 +0000

This project is a contemporary response in a heritage context that learns from the vernacular. It puts forward an atypical site response that provides an experience of freedom and openness that is not often experienced in tight inner-city sites. In a quiet heritage street in Fitzroy North, this new family home presents to the public as an abstract silhouette of a double fronted workers cottage.

Garden House / Austin Maynard Architects

Paula Pintos — Thu, 18 Mar 2021 01:00:00 +0000

The average Australian house uses 19kwh of energy per day. Garden House produces 100kwh per day and has a 26kwh Tesla battery. A high-performing, hi tech, inner-city oasis, Garden House illustrates the future of sustainable energy - electrified homes, powered by the sun, powering our shared energy grid.

Two Sheds / DREAMER + Roger Nelson

Paula Pintos — Mon, 21 Sep 2020 01:00:00 +0000

Two Sheds is located on 25 acres of bush in the hills immediately to the west of the Lorne township, Victoria, Australia. It is a retreat allowing the clients to disconnect from the world of city, noise, and work as they come together to reconnect and begin a 30-year project to rejuvenate the surrounding bushland. The project uses a minimal material palette and a simple design language drawing from local cottages, agricultural buildings, and Australian vernacular. It provides a backdrop for cherished family experiences as the inhabitants slow down, notice and engage with the simple joys of living.

Cornerstone House / Splinter Society

Andreas Luco — Mon, 25 May 2020 21:00:00 +0000

Located in the north-side suburb of Northcote, the Cornerstone House emerges as an ode to the rugged beauty inspired by the project site itself, referencing the quarries that once typified the area. A stone quarry is an awe-inspiring place where raw meets refined at an impressive scale. The approach to the design is likewise to push the opposing notions into a harmonious balance that adds rich experiential qualities into the fabric of the building, ultimately creating an enhanced living space for our clients.

York St. House / Jackson Clements Burrows

Daniel Tapia — Mon, 23 Sep 2019 19:00:00 +0000

The project reflects a joyful take on the classic “box on the back” renovation. Its design embraces a nimble and sensitive response to a heritage context, while also meeting the specific needs of the client in creating a space that is a pleasure to live in. Transforming a previously dark and minimally ventilated house, the design breaks open the segregated floorplan (typical of this typology), to provide an engaging sequence of interlinked, yet not quite open-plan spaces, each with its own character to create a quiet haven - a suburban sanctuary.

Elwood House / Splinter Society

Andreas Luco — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 19:00:00 +0000

A carefully crafted renovation of a much-treasured Californian Bungalow, the Elwood House focuses on enhancing the original character of the structure and enriching the experiences in the house. Drawing on the owner’s diverse range of personal objects, interests, places of travel, this home is rich in both narrative and texture.

His & Her House / FMD Architects

Andreas Luco — Wed, 29 May 2019 19:00:00 +0000

His and Her House is a celebration of connection and coming together. The clients had each engaged FMD Architects for previous house designs and when the two embarked on this new project together to mark the start of their married life, His and Her House completed the reconfiguration of one of the projects and drew qualities from the other.

Halo House / Breathe Architecture

Andreas Luco — Wed, 22 May 2019 02:00:00 +0000

Drawing inspiration from the Halo Effect, this project takes the form of a faceted, textural “iceberg” from the outside, and a protected yet lofty refuge internally. Halo House acts as a provider and protector for its inhabitants, granting a young family with a sanctum in which to grow and thrive.

House in the Hills / Sean Godsell Architects

Daniel Tapia — Thu, 28 Feb 2019 20:00:00 +0000

The site was excised from a working sheep farm. It consists of 25 hectares of cleared and underworked paddocks. It slopes from its mid-length highpoint to the north and south - both slopes having spectacular views. An established windbreak of Cyprus pines flanks the west boundary and provides a degree of protection from the prevailing south-westerly winds which pummel the south slope, making it a less desirable location for a new house. In this part of Australia, the southerly winds are cold. In fact, the wind fundamentally dictated the design of this building.

The Clubhouse / Wolveridge Architects

Andreas Luco — Thu, 14 Feb 2019 17:00:00 +0000

This home, overlooking the fairways and surrounds of Sorrento Golf Club was designed for a couple planning to return to Australia after many years overseas. One of the clients grew up in an old Merchant Home on the site and holidayed there during childhood. Our response was to effectively create a luxury suite at the upper level, including an elevated garden and cantilevered pool. The home is constructed deep into the hillside with outstanding views of the golf course and beyond. We describe the architecture as a kind of sophisticated beach house which incorporates the kind of modern expectations, however, at a very basic level –this is a beach house, that incorporates cross ventilation pathways through it at both levels, with framed garden outlooks and a significant focus on the experience of natural light. Protected outdoor spaces are offered and emerging around the building is a landscape that extends the coastal dune flora typical of the area.