Garden Plans

An Architects Own House With a Tranquil Garden (House Tour)



Located in the northern suburbs of Melbourne and a short distance from the Yarra River, Arthur by Oscar Sainsbury Architects (OSA) is an architects own house that extends upon the ideas of family living and connection to nature. As the owner, architect and builder, OSA dances across the separate realms with ease in order to deliver a home that allows the family to grow in place. Following a desire to open up an architects own house to the outside, OSA uses contemporary methods of design, allowing for the family to easily manoeuvre about.

With the house tour of an architects own house beginning at the double-bricked façade, OSA has additionally maintained three of the original bedrooms, with two facing the street and one opening up to the rear decking. Designed to be the central part of the house, the kitchen is laid out to encourage flow and connection from the private quarters and into the public living spaces. Known to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, the owner and architect has incorporated functionality by allowing it to serve its purpose as well as be easy to live and entertain in.

As with most heritage homes, OSA faced the challenge of finding light within an architects own home. To fix this, the home is designed in a passive orientation, allowing for access to northern light as well as eastern and western sunlight. Saturated with natural light from morning to night, the home is given moments of softness and sometimes starker sunlight, depending on the time of day.

Focused on using timber as the championing material, OSA employs the material for framing, rafting as well as the pergola over the rear deck for added consistency throughout an architects own house. Chosen in part for its warmth, the timber was also employed for its robustness and user friendliness for the young family. Exuding a sense of ease, the house gives the owners a chance to live a relaxed way of life, with spaces that allow for contained living or expanded living as needed.

00:00 – Introduction to the Architects Own House
00:31 – Designing for Yourself
00:59 – The Initial Design Ideas
01:13 – Encouraging Usage of the Garden
01:33 – A Focus on the Garden
01:56 – The Original Double Brick House
02:12 – The Central Part of the House
02:58 – Challenges Designing with Heritage Homes
03:39 – The Materials Used
04:35 – Favourite Aspects of the Home

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Photography by Rory Gardiner.
Architecture by Oscar Sainsbury Architects.
Landscape by Amanda Oliver Gardens.
Structural Engineering by Keith Long & Associates.
Filmed and Edited by Cheer Squad Film Co.
Production by The Local Project.

The Local Project acknowledges the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Owners of the land in Australia. We recognise the importance of First Nations peoples in the identity of our country and continuing connections to Country and community. We pay our respect to Elders, past and present, and extend that respect to all First Nations people of these lands.

#AnArchitectsOwnHouse #Architecture #House

29 Comments

  1. The cinematography in these recent episodes seem to focus less on the architecture and more so on making these into aesthetic music videos. Macro shots on plants and products not unique to this house takes away from the story you are trying to tell.

  2. I'm kind of annoyed by people making reference to the tribe that settled the land before them. Like, if one of the descendants rings this guy's doorbell and says "I want the land back", is he just going to be like "All right, let me get the kids" and leave? No. He might invite the guy in for a cup of coffee, maybe offer him a few bucks, but in the end, this guy will not give the land back, and, if pressed, he will be every bit as nasty as his colonizing forebears. So, why bother?

  3. Im sure it does well for the algorithm, but i would honestly like a little more architecture and little less music video from this channel. I have virtually no idea how this house is laid out or how the spaces interact with each other, instead the time was spent editing chairs in and out of frame and showing his childrens Lego.

  4. A proper Family HOME! The use of timber and with a look to the future and how the space will mature. The gardens, the vines. Somewhere where nothing is too precious or overdone. Simple, clean, strong and full of quality and fun! Love it! Thank you for sharing. How a family home should be.

  5. I kinda like it when the the cinematography changes with the beat; don't overdo it though.

  6. I love the bench connected to the kitchen, except those chairs look too high and uncomfortable. Also, the song from Cheap Monk by the end fits really well in the video.

  7. Finally I can say it: this is my favourite content of The Local Project! I recognise what the true values of a home are: humble, essential and functional. For me, this is true luxury: having everything without having to prove anything. I would like more examples of this type… Extra-expensive, glitzy houses are anachronistic, they always have been. For me, this is the way to design a house based on people's real needs and not on their vices that are nothing but abuses of power, where they often end up consuming land.

  8. La casa es interesante y la forma de enseñar actual te hace dejar el video. Era mi canal favorito y ahora ya no.

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