Tree Top House
Shelley St
In a leafy bayside suburb of Melbourne, it was imperative that the home, not only engaged the occupants with the surrounding nature, sunlight and views but also with the street, the local urban fabric, establishing an opportunity for community exchange.
Through a series of layered thresholds, semi-public and private green open spaces inserted both vertically and horizontally, this design strategy converted the introverted nature of the suburban house, into a living environment engaging the street.
By inserting a semi private open space on the first floor adjacent to the bedroom, a spatial re-configuration developed connecting habitable rooms to public and private open spaces. The raised roof garden with its vertical green wall was inserted along the street to ensure a visual connection to the neighbours. This adjacency is protected, by creating a series of layered edges where the occupant can control the level of privacy afforded to the bedroom, through the glazed operable corner wall, the insertion of vertical circulation, between private and semi private open space and the incorporation of shutters to openings along this edge.
The northern facade is activated through an adaptable edge which engages the occupant to have a direct connection to the outside, on the ground floor, whilst the insertion of the first floor northern window box allows the occupant to occupy the facade through sitting and contemplating enjoying sunlight and views of the street and adjoining roof tops. Visual connections are created between the ground and raised gardens ensuring the occupants have a constant visual connection whilst in the house.
The interiors are filtered with subtle natural finishes creating a canvas for the occupant to display their history, their lives whilst ensuring the interior has a connection to nature through the use of natural materials such as timber, marble and steel.
