Architecture N Design – JanuaryMarch 2026 – Architecture N Design

Nature meets nurture | Mahogany House 4 5 Here, architecture doesn’t dominate; it listens. The home’s plan is quietly choreographed around three mature trees—a liquidambar, a silver birch, and the eponymous mahogany— each one not merely preserved but honoured as a structural and spatial anchor. The mahogany establishes the home’s central axis, orienting circulation, and views toward a sun-filled courtyard.

Conceived as two sculpted volumes, the home accommodates a multigenerational program with grace and clarity. To the west, a double- storey family pod gathers daily life; to the east, a single-storey wing offers dignified independence for visiting grandparents. A central entry and lounge stitch the pods together. Crossing the threshold, visitors are immediately drawn to a luminous internal courtyard where a swimming pool reflects dappled light, and the canopy of the mahogany stands as a living monument.

Every decision is underscored by sustainability. The home is purposefully “right-sized,” embracing Passivhaus principles, SIPs construction, and airtight detailing to minimise operational energy. Its terracotta-shingle skin— locally made and unexpectedly economical— wraps the building in a warm, textural envelope that resonates with the site’s palette of bark, leaf, and earth. Inside, a biophilic sensibility shapes the spatial character.

The owners’ extensive indoor plant collection becomes part of the architecture, integrated through green joinery, plywood surfaces, and carefully framed views. Colour is used with restraint yet confidence, enlivening moments without distorting the home’s overarching calm. The result is a sanctuary of connection—to landscape, to kin, and to the quieter rhythms of suburban life. FOLLOW US for more projects like this 4 6 Design / Architecture Firm R Architecture Project Location Mount Waverley, Victoria Project Lead / Director Gaurav Rajadhyax 4 7 4 8 The Victoria Street Collective was shortlisted in the 2025 Sustainability Awards in the Multiple Residential category and is a project born not from a single brief, but from a shared desire to rethink how we live together in the city.

Your moment of Zen | Victoria Street Collective 4 9 What began six years ago with six families and an idea has grown into a quietly radical community of ten households, each with a home crafted to reflect its own rhythms yet deeply connected to a collective vision. In Brunswick, the project appears as a pair of apricot stucco forms—gentle, confident, and grounded in their heritage streetscape.

ON THE COVER Set against the tranquil green corridor of Scotchman’s Creek reserve, 2025 Sustainability Awards shortlisted Mahogany House by R Architecture stands as a study in gentle immersion—an architectural gesture that dissolves the threshold between built form and nature. Here, architecture doesn’t dominate; it listens. PEOPLE APPOINTMENTS 6 SUPERMARKETS RESHAPING AUSTRALIA’S HOUSING 8 40 YEARS OF ARCHITECTURE 10 BUILDING BETTER 14 FRANK GEHRY 16 TWO-MINUTE WALLS 20 TECHNOLOGY AND NEW HOMES 24 PROJECTS ONDA 28 SCAMANDER 32 LUMEAH 36 CROSSROADS 40 MAHOGANY HOUSE 44 VICTORIA STREET 48 BREAKOUT CREEK 52 PRACTICAL AIR CONDITIONING 56 TIMBER FLOORING 62 SUSTAINABLE THERMAL INSULATION 74 KITCHEN CABINETRY & HARDWARE 84 PODCAST CORNER 92 SHOWCASE 94 EDITOR Branko Miletic [email protected] DIGITAL EDITOR Clémence Carayol [email protected] CONTRIBUTORS Matt McDonald Prue Miller Emma Adams Jarrod Reedie DESIGNER Ekaterina Podloujnaya ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER Adrian Wilson Phone: 02 9368 0150 [email protected] GROUP OPERATIONS MANAGER Sheree Bryant [email protected] Opinions and viewpoints expressed by interviewees, writers and columnists in Architecture & Design do not necessarily represent those of the editor, staff or publisher of the magazine.

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As we launch our first issue of Architecture & Design for 2026, we once again turn our focus to a place where architectural thinking is both deeply grounded and boldly experimental, that is, residential design in Australia. Australian housing has always been shaped by extremes of climate, landscape, culture and even at times, of materials.

From arid interiors to humid coastlines, from dense urban centres to remote rural settings, the Australian home is not a single idea but a constantly evolving response to typology and space. In this issue, we look at designs where architects and designers have reimagined what it means to live well in these varied conditions – environmentally, socially, and emotionally. What stands out in the projects featured here is a renewed sensitivity to place. Homes are no longer conceived as isolated objects, but as systems responding to sunlight, prevailing winds, topography, vegetation, and community.

We see houses that open gently to landscape rather than dominate it; that harvest light and air with intelligence rather than excess; that prioritise comfort through design rather than dependence on technology alone. Concepts such as passive design strategies, low-impact materials, adaptive reuse, and long-life planning are no longer niche concerns but simply central to good architecture.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

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• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 37,114,453 bytes (35.395 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• ISBN: 9780646725352, 0646725351, 0410086762
• Pages: 101
• Language: English (en)

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