Australian architecture practice Studio Four has completed a private residence in Melbourne, featuring an internal courtyard with olive trees and minimal touches where grey-toned brick walls and wood are combined elegantly. 

Called Ruxton Rise Residence, the residence, designed for Studio Four's co-director Sarah Henry, addresses to Beaumaris' mid-century modern home typology, responding to the home’s unique sense of place and its rich architectural history. 

The Ruxton Rise Residence is based on the clients’ three key values for life; family, health and integrity. 

"The home isn’t just a physical structure, but also a structure of the family’s beliefs," said Studio Four. 

"The objective is to create a little bit of something precious rather than a lot of something mediocre. The focus became on the experience rather than the building form or visual statement."

The street elevation is nestled into the fall of the site, giving nothing away of what is within. Turning its focus inward, the internal courtyard is the heart and focus of the building. 

The landscape, and the movement and shadows it creates, provides a calming effect that permeates the whole house.

In this home, the interior courtyard garden is treated like an extra room inside the home, a space to read, listen to music, or sit in the sun.

The floor plan is designed with family and community in mind, to encourage longer conversations, more intimate memories and closer relationships. 

With an emphasis on communal spaces, it is designed to foster relationships, within the family, with friends they have over, and with the community at large. 

The design is led by the fundamental principle that simplicity enables idleness, and the time we spend idle makes for a healthier state of mind.

In addition to fostering connection with nature and idleness, the house is designed with passive design principles that support healthy living. 

Use of natural materials and building techniques teamed with maximum light and ventilation, result in a home with no VOC emissions. 

Careful consideration of wiring throughout minimises electromagnetic fields, while a comprehensive water filtration system provides filtered water not only for drinking but for bathing and washing clothes.

"This home leaves its inhabitants healthier from spending time here," added the studio. 

"Ruxton Rise Residence is a design that isn’t over-scaled or showy, but instead focuses on the private, unpretentious and sustainable."

"This house shows how much you can achieve on a small site, without compromising space or creating a sense of over development," the architects added.

Floor plan of the house. Image © Studio Four

Studio Four is a collective of architects and designers, led by directors Annabelle Berryman and Sarah Henry.  The studio combines the four disciplines of strategy, architecture, interiors and landscape to provide a holistic design solution for each project.  

All images © Shannon Mcgrath

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