Cart 
‘Ora House is very much a house for living rather than a showpiece,’ Archier director Chris Haddad says of the studio’s spectacular project in Caulfield North.
‘It’s the kind of place where the kitchen is busy from early in the morning, and the kids treat the garden as an extension of their bedrooms.’
But this inviting, effortless atmosphere of the new build has been created entirely by design. And it all started with the owner’s love of being outdoors.
The owners — a family of five — told the architects stories about their memories of camping, with their favourite spot being by the Howqua River near Mt Buller.
‘They talked about the feeling of being in the Australian bush, the calm of it, the sense of being away from distraction and asked whether that feeling could be brought into everyday life in suburban Melbourne. This was the emotional core of the project,’ Chris adds.
As the more practical parts of the brief focused on supporting multigenerational living and using passive house principles to create a more sustainable home, the decision was made to demolish the original dwelling for full control of the building envelope.
It also needed to house the client’s business, a Chinese medicine practice, at the lower ground level, with its own independent entry.
To reconcile these moving parts into one cohesive home, Archier gave precedence to the landscape in every architectural decision. The resulting house rejects the typical suburban floor plan in favour of three floors and two distinct wings, carefully arranged around the immersive gardens by Openwork.
‘We started with the idea of a modern ruin: a building that is gradually reclaimed by the landscape rather than one that asserts itself over it. That framing gave us licence to design a house that will look better in fifteen years than it does today, as planting climbs over it and the materials soften and patinate,’ Chris says.
It means every corner of the 1600-square-metre site encourages some form of interaction with the outdoors. The kitchen is a calming central oasis flanked by two island benches, with a hanging garden introducing greenery above.
Even the entry is nestled at the end of a bushwalk-inspired sequence, where the smell of Mentha australis (river mint) drifts up from under your feet as you take in the native planting.
‘The internal garden void off the rumpus room is hard to go past. It feels like an unexpected pocket of landscape drawn right into the middle of the house where ferns, stepping stones, and filtered light come together. Because it is visible from the floor above, it becomes a focal point,’ Chris says.
The clients’ appreciation for mid-century architecture was another defining factor in the material palette. Inside and out, bricks, exposed timber beams, clearstory windows and handmade tiles create a robust backdrop that feels modern, while offering nods to the past.
‘What I am most proud of though, is how the house has settled into the garden and then evolved over time. Each time I visit, the garden has taken over more of the built form, softening the edges, feeling more like the modern ruin we envisioned from the start.’
