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Rather than resisting the slope of this Balwyn North property, Clare Cousins Architects embraced it.
The result is a home that gently follows the natural fall of the land, with a series of spaces stepping down towards the lush reserve beyond.
‘Rather than impose conventional storeys, we allowed the house to follow the land,’ says Clare Cousins, director of Clare Cousins Architects.
‘Four principal floorplates and two smaller mezzanines are arranged beneath a single sloping roof, all connected by a long stair that forms the circulation spine,’ she explains.
It’s a quiet architectural move, but one that has shaped almost every aspect of the house — from its relationship with the garden, to the way the family moves through the home.
The homeowners, a family of four, had recently swapped the density of Hong Kong apartment living for the leafy streets of Balwyn North. While their new suburb offered plenty of greenery and a convenient location, the existing house on the site wasn’t quite suited to their new way of life.
There was little connection to the garden or reserve, the entry felt awkward, and the closely positioned neighbouring homes meant privacy was in short supply.
For Clare Cousins Architects, the new design became an opportunity to create a stronger connection with nature — not just at the rear of the house, but throughout it.
Internal courtyards, skylights, side openings and elevated windows introduce different qualities of natural light, while the northern garden brings greenery deep into the plan.
‘One memorable part of the brief was the desire to encourage their sons out of their bedrooms after becoming accustomed to retreating into them during apartment living and the pandemic,’ Clare recalls.
‘[The courtyards] bring variation in outlook, privacy and atmosphere while allowing family members to retreat without feeling disconnected from one another,’ Clare explains.
These pockets of greenery give the family something the original house struggled to provide: privacy without isolation.
The home’s design takes cues from Balwyn North’s post-war housing, but doesn’t attempt to recreate the mid-century aesthetic. Instead, Clare borrowed some of its qualities — restraint, practicality and a strong relationship with the garden — and reinterpreted them for a contemporary family home.
The material palette is similarly restrained: brick, timber, polished concrete, stainless steel and limed cork. The muted colours and tactile finishes give the house a sense of warmth without visual noise, and create a serene backdrop for the greenery outside. As the seasons change, the garden brings its own shifting colours and textures into each room.
The most unexpected gesture is at the front of the house, where the existing fence has been removed altogether. In its place, careful planting and a recessed entry subtly define the boundary between the home and the street.
‘Without a front fence, the native garden can visually extend the landscape of the street and feels more like something shared with the neighbourhood,’ says Clare.
‘It is a relatively small gesture, but we think houses have a responsibility to consider what they contribute to the public realm as well as what happens within their own boundaries.’
It’s a sentiment that sums up not only this home, but Clare Cousins’ enduring approach to residential architecture more broadly – restrained, self-effacing, yet quietly, consistently excellent.
