Upper Brookfield

2025
Traditional lands of the Turrbal people

Although technically an “alteration and addition,” this project began and finished with a very different brief. Thanks to a wonderfully engaged and supportive client and an agile, trusted builder, the process afforded greater design interrogation, an organic evolution, and ultimately an outcome that reflects a harmonious mix of planning, opportunity, and collaboration.

While the project included a rework of the entire house and a substantial addition, the focus remains firmly on its engagement with the landscape and the world beyond. The client's expertise in the landscape realm afforded us a rare opportunity to flex our landscape muscle on a site with the space and bandwidth to justify it. Concrete cantilevers, deep planters, roof gardens, bunker rooms, serendipitous skylights, and an enviable existing natural context all play a part in shaping in the project.

The jewel in the crown is the swimming pool, which incorporates a 25m lap pool, a spa, a play pool with integrated lounges, and a bridge providing access to the lot. The connection from the house to the pool involves landscaped stairs, gardens, a bridge over the lap pool, and a landing before a stair cutting through the middle of the play pool, creating a range of playful and unexpected experiences. Collaboration and trust define this project, and the outcome reflects the extraordinary value of placing these principles at the heart of any project.

Shaun Lockyer, Lyle Mitrovich, Justin Boland + Kevin Li for SLa
CGH Constructions
Saunders Havill Landscape
Westera Partners

Cam Murchison Photography