It’s that old cliche, but the year couldn’t go any faster.

We’re in May and have had a good start to 2024. We made a conscious decision to focus on projects and clients that energise us as a practice, and challenge us in the directions that we want to be growing in.

For us, this means meaningful projects that retain a strong sense of place, with brave and forward-thinking clients, and maintaining a strong focus on sustainability.

Our work continues to evolve, and we’re excited about what this means for the year ahead.

Last Friday, The Local Project published our recently completed Fitzroy North Terrace project.

The project is also now live on our website.

This two storey addition to an existing Victorian terrace, faced a challenge that we often come across on tight inner city blocks, and that is the east-west orientation on a narrow footprint.

A strategic move that we made on this project was to carve out a small north-facing courtyard adjacent to the new kitchen on Ground Floor, and whilst not a large space, this really unlocked a whole series of planning decisions that allowed for quality natural light and a connection with landscape to all of ground floor. The result is a home instilled with an atmosphere of calm retreat, that fosters joy and recharge.

We loved working on this project, and feel that it sets a template within the practice for well-crafted and highly considered inner-city additions and alterations that are sustainable, light-filled, and have a seamless connection with landscape.

Landscape by Andy Murray Landscape Design, photos by Tom Ross.

In other news, we had feedback from our recently completed Bridge Creek House client that they are yet to use any heating at all – not even the fireplace – since they moved in late November. This is despite some sub-zero temperatures throughout recent weeks.

This was absolute music to our ears. A key aspiration for this project was thermal performance. The 4-bedroom house is completely off-grid, relying on strategic planning, material selection, thermal mass and a tight building fabric to maintain a comfortable living environment.  We are thrilled to see our sustainability goals being realised in such a tangible way and look forward to sharing more updates as the project progresses.

We hope you are having a great year to date. Until next time.