The beauty of less.
St Andrews Beach by Aych Architects
How can a courtyard make exposure feel protective rather than vulnerable? At St Andrews Beach, Aych Architects answers through a home shaped around a central courtyard and the pressures of a rugged coastal site.
A square plan draws sunlight into every corner while maintaining constant visual and physical connection to the surrounding dunes. The design transforms constraints of siting, wind and solar access into a floor plan that feels both highly resolved and quietly generous.
Raw concrete block gives the home weight, texture and a grounded relationship to the land. Together, material and plan create a house that feels calm, enduring and deeply connected to place.
What does it mean for a family home to make life feel simpler, rather than more complicated? This home by Olaver Architecture responds with a design shaped by function, calm and a more deliberate way of living.
How do you build shelter in a landscape defined by wind, weather and wide open views? In the rolling hills near Fish Creek, Neil Architecture designed a home to withstand the elements while embracing the vast outlook toward Corner Inlet and Wilsons Promontory.
What does it mean to build shelter on one of Victoria’s most weathered coastlines? Along the Great Ocean Road in Fairhaven, LTD Architectural Design Studio conceived a home that responds first to wind, salt and exposure, rather than simply turning toward the view.
What does it mean for a house to tread lightly in a coastal landscape? At Point Lonsdale, Field Office Architects shaped a home that responds first to ecology, outlook and a sense of calm drawn from its surroundings.
Can an architectural home be achieved on a tight budget? At Fisherman’s Walk in Barwon Heads, this coastal family house was shaped by restraint, where clarity, efficiency and first principles guided every decision.
Can a “less but better” approach create a richer home? In Separation Creek, along the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, MGAO designed a 90m² retreat for his family where restraint and the essentials are not limitations, but the source of its richness.
Can a darker interior draw your eye toward the garden? On a steep site in Coburg North, Sonelo Architects transform a modest brick dwelling into a family home where the landscape becomes the brightest and most defining element.
What happens when architecture steps back and lets the landscape lead? Reworking an original 1980s house by Dan Callaghan in Brisbane, Nielsen Jenkins shaped a home that sits quietly within its bushland setting.
How do you redefine a Mount Martha beach house? Wolveridge Architects takes a more inward approach, shaping a courtyard home that replaces ocean views with calm and connection.
Set beneath a canopy of eucalypts, Jan Juc Studio is an architect's own home and studio shaped by openness and restraint.
Is simplicity the same as minimalism? Matt Ross Goodman, Director of MGAO, reflects on an approach to simplicity defined by restraint rather than reduction.
What is the difference between a simple space and a simplistic one? Antony Martin, Director of MRTN Architects, reflects on the ideas that guide his work: space, light and material as the primary tools of architecture.
Australia’s coastline has long shaped the way we live, offering moments of reflection and a quieter understanding of our landscape and history.
Situated on a 45m² site in suburban Tokyo, this small vertical home reimagines city living.
Houses offer a different way of living, where two homes share a garden, and the space between becoming part of daily life.