In sway

Designed by Fiona Dunin, FMD Architects

From the architects:

Responding directly to its sloping suburban site in Melbourne’s established north-east, this residence was shaped around the owners’ desire for a home that could accommodate everyday family life alongside larger gatherings, while providing distinct areas for privacy and retreat. 

The owners sought a strong relationship with the elevated rear garden and mature eucalypts, with the architecture embedded within the landscape.

The site’s steep terrain, established trees and boundary height restrictions presented significant challenges. 

Rather than imposing a conventional volume across the slope, the design embeds voluminous and cavernous spaces within the layered terrain. 

Two mature eucalypts anchor the site’s frontage, their canopies drawing the eye upwards. 

Curved geometries emerge from the site’s boundaries – rooflines scooping and curving in deference to the established trees, while anticipating their future growth.

Double-height central volume

At the heart of the plan, the home unfolds from a double-height central volume, where in-situ concrete walls rise like tree trunks through a forest floor. 

This central space establishes connections between the home’s distinct zones, while movement is drawn toward lush, terraced gardens. 

An outdoor dining pavilion nestles amid the planting like a folly, its blackened steel structure in dialogue with the adjacent pool architecture.

Two distinct wings branch from this central volume. 

On the western edge, boundary height restrictions and the commanding presence of a eucalypt shaped a series of intimate, cavernous spaces – the homeowners’ private realm, comprising a cocoon-like bedroom suite and a living space overlooking the garden. 

Timber-lined ceilings connect with tree canopy

Timber-lined ceilings sweep upward toward the tree canopy, while tailored openings frame the landscape with intention.

In contrast, the eastern wing opens outward, with open-plan lounge, dining and kitchen zones embedded amongst the rising garden. 

The kitchen follows an unconventional T-shaped layout, with a blending of timber and stone in forms echoing the curation of the architecture.

Entry to this lower level arrives through a kitchen and bar, where a glass skylight topped by a shallow pond casts rippled, aqueous light across the surfaces below.

Subterranean dining area opens onto games room

Beyond, a large dining area unfolds for dinner parties, opening onto a games room. 

A broad swinging panel and sliding door forge a flexible division, allowing the space to shift between entertaining and family use. 

A small open-air courtyard marks the threshold into the wellness wing, where an infrared sauna, bathroom, gym and ice bath complete the programme.

Taking the stairs the other way, to the top level, the experience shifts towards light and outlook. 

The children’s bedrooms and bathrooms are bordered by a light-filled guest room overlooking the garden and a study addressing the front eucalypts directly. 

Across all levels, layered thresholds and embedded gardens reinforce the relationship between daily life, gathering and landscape, fulfilling the ambition for a sunken sanctuary within a suspended landscape.

Story by: Trendsideas