An Inner-Melbourne Laneway Home With A Garden At Its Centre

The clients of this home came to Tom Robertson Architects with a rare opportunity to design a new-build in densely populated Richmond.

The site was a challenging 168 square metre block located at the end of a laneway and with seven neighbouring properties.

The site’s abrupt interface with the laneway — lacking the usual suburban buffer — led to an innovative response by Tom Robertson Architects.

Instead of placing the home centrally on the site with a surrounding garden, Tom and his team incorporated a garden at the heart of the home through a series of internal courtyards.

This unique arrangement not only optimises the owners’ privacy, but also forges a strong connection between the indoor and outdoor environments.

The building itself features a robust exterior that harmonises with its urban context.

Once inside, the somewhat austere and monochrome materials give way to a serene space highlighting timber and marble accents.

‘Once you pass through the robust entrance and street edge, you experience a surprise of emotions,’ says Tom. ‘Such calmness, lushness, privacy, and spaciousness is very unexpected.’

The unconventional floor plan positions the main living spaces on the top floor of the two-storey home to further maximise natural light and privacy.

The ground floor hosts all three bedrooms and the garage, separated by the internal courtyards, which were integrated into the project early in the design process.

‘They were composed to allow maximum impact on the interior and provide a lush and relaxing atmosphere throughout the property,’ says Tom.

Large pivot doors create a fluid connection to the outdoors, allowing the home’s interior to extend throughout the site.

The upstairs dining space is framed by a double-height metal shroud and a planter box, creating an outlook to the laneway outwards, but controlling views in.

Named ‘Life Down A Lane’ by the architects, the project succeeds in creating a calm and welcoming home for a young family on a tight inner-city block, showcasing the possibilities of under utilised urban land.