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The Garden House by Anthrosite sits on an unusual site. Nestled in the coastal Newcastle suburb of Whitebridge, the western front boundary faces a 60 kilometre/hour road connecting commuters from the nearby headland to the city centre; while to the east lies the Glenrock State Conservation Area.
When faced with a brief to develop a relaxing family home that centred on the native surrounds rather than the urban, Anthrosite architects looked to the nature reserve for inspiration.
‘Addressing these opposing conditions were a key consideration in the development of a central covered outdoor living room; the Garden Room,’ says architect Mark Spence. ‘It needed to provide relief from the vehicular traffic and be oriented to capture distance ocean views and the native bushland setting.’
This outdoor room is the linchpin holding the whole design together. Dubbed ‘the Garden Room’, the concrete space is covered by a shelter and contains an outdoor lounge, fireplace and garden beds. These landscaped pockets integrate the architecture into the garden that unfurls beyond.
The communal living spaces flank this central node. Sliding glass doors connect the Garden Room to the kitchen, which unfolds neatly into dining and living rooms. Here, glass windows connect this sequence to the outdoor space.
Outwards from these communal spaces towards the boundary of the footprint lie the secondary bedrooms, grouped in the northwestern corner of the house. The opposite end houses the main bedroom, secreted in its own upstairs wing. It hovers at treetop-level, and overlooks the Garden Room.
As the layout revolves around this outdoor space, the materials comprising the rest of the house were selected to complement this natural outlook. Custom-detailed timber windows and doors frame the aspect, while the brickwork and concrete elements are softened by the native landscaping. A white interior palette and built-in joinery all work together to enhance the natural connection.
See more projects from Anthrosite here.
