Words from
the Architect
MELISSA BRIGHT
A key part of our design process is to ensure the design is sympathetic
and responsive to context and site. Australia is known for its suburban
sprawl and many of our suburbs suffer from having too much space.
Increasingly, we need to address how to maximise inner urban areas
without losing their fine grain character. We see small house projects
as an opportunity to explore larger urban issues about densifying.
In this project, the lane becomes a borrowed landscape, a space of
shared amenity and connection between neighbours.
At every opportunity, lush greenery is introduced in small pockets of
planted area that, in total, seek to offer landscape surroundings where
none are possible. For us, good architecture does not stop at the edge
of a building. Design work needs to extend to include landscape,
the whole site and even the street and city beyond.
Garden Tower House is a gymnastic exercise in making a family home
with all the suburban amenities, fit into an inner-urban site. With all
of the components of a full sized house; water tank, solar panels,
fireplace and flue, shed and services, absorbed and concealed in
pursuit of visual clarity.
The ‘backyard’ is reimagined in a dense urban environment with
courtyards, lightwells, rooftops, vertical facade planting and laneways
all contributing to the full family brief.
Studio Bright is a Melbourne based practice creating enduring and
responsive architecture for people and places. studiobright.com.au
May 2025
In Focus Magazine
09