Project Name: Havenwood House

Location: Brighton, Australia

Design Team: Atlas Architects

Building Area: 334 m²

Completion Year: 2025

Photography: Tess Kelly

Design Features: Havenwood House, completed in 2025 by Melbourne-based Atlas Architects, is a compelling testament to what persistence and rigorous design thinking can produce. Located in a quiet Brighton cul-de-sac, the 334-square-metre residence emerged from years of adversity — including planning disputes, a prolonged VCAT process, and the collapse of its original builder — to become one of the most considered suburban homes in recent Australian architecture.

What sets Havenwood apart is its radical rethinking of the conventional suburban layout. Where most homes turn their back on the street, retreating behind fences and hedges, this house opens boldly toward the public realm. The principal living spaces face a landscaped front garden, framing views of a mature street tree and fostering a quiet dialogue with the neighbourhood beyond. It is a gesture both generous and intelligent, expanding the sense of space without expanding the footprint.

The architectural language is quietly authoritative. A floating upper volume clad in charred timber gives the facade a tactile, almost elemental presence, while interior timber linings and textured stone surfaces translate that warmth into the domestic sphere. Carefully positioned windows frame treetops and open sky, lifting the upper level into an atmosphere more reminiscent of a rural retreat than a suburban street.

Functionality is embedded at every level. The ground floor is arranged for multigenerational living and ageing in place, consolidating the primary suite, kitchen, and main living areas at grade. Upstairs, three bedrooms, a study, and a rumpus room offer flexible accommodation that can evolve with the family over time. Passive solar orientation and cross-ventilation ensure environmental performance without sacrificing spatial quality.

The precision of craft is equally notable. Close collaboration between the architect, builder, and specialist trades ensured that every material junction and constructed detail was executed with care. The oversized pivot entry door, clad identically on both faces so that it reads as a continuous wall plane when closed, exemplifies this attention to tectonic resolution. Havenwood is proof that adversity, handled with conviction, can sharpen a design into something truly exceptional.

Design Team: Founded in April 2015 by directors Aaron Neighbour and Ton Vu, Atlas Architects is a Melbourne-based practice operating across studios in Footscray and the Surf Coast. Underpinned by a shared commitment to raising living standards through sustainable, innovative, and contextually responsive design, the studio has established a focused body of work within the low-rise residential sector that consistently prioritises spatial quality, environmental performance, and long-term habitability.

Both directors hold Master of Architecture degrees with Distinction from RMIT University and are Certified Passive House Designers accredited by the Passive House Institute, positioning the practice at the intersection of rigorous technical knowledge and considered architectural design. Neighbour brings extensive expertise in building surveying, the National Construction Code, and the integration of built form within coastal and natural landscapes. Vu contributes a culturally informed spatial sensibility shaped by his formative years in Saigon, alongside sustained research and academic engagement at RMIT University and the University of Melbourne.

The practice operates with a close-knit, collaborative team structure that enables direct client engagement throughout all phases of design and construction documentation. Atlas Architects has received recognition including the 2024 Australia By Design Cult People Choice Award, affirming the studio's standing within the broader Australian design community. Their work reflects a disciplined approach to material selection, passive environmental strategy, and the humane organisation of domestic space — qualities that collectively define the practice's commitment to architecture that is both technically resolved and genuinely liveable.