Project Feature: Hanslope House by Olaver
A family home shaped by architecture, landscape and everyday life. Set on a rare double-corner site in Alphington, Hanslope House by Olaver takes a thoughtful approach to the suburban family home. The house is open to its surroundings while maintaining a sense of privacy, with gardens, courtyards and carefully considered material choices shaping the experience of the home.
The unusual site became an opportunity to move away from a more conventional front-and-back arrangement. Two pavilions sit across the block, connected through the garden and a central glazed passage. Rather than one large backyard, the arrangement creates a series of outdoor spaces, each with its own relationship to the rooms around it.
Brick screens filter light and views along the street edge.
The central connection between the pavilions brings a sense of movement through the house. Views extend between the interior and garden, while the changing relationship between enclosed and open spaces gives the home a feeling of connection without everything being visible at once. Shared spaces open directly onto the garden, while the more private areas of the house remain slightly removed.
The central glazed passage connects the two pavilions.
The material palette is warm and restrained. Recycled brick, sourced from a demolished local factory, gives the exterior a sense of texture and variation, while terracotta roofing brings a familiar quality to the architecture. Along the street, brick screens and open boundaries allow the house to engage with its surroundings while filtering views and providing privacy.
Terracotta and warm-toned materials add subtle colour throughout.
Landscape was developed in close collaboration with Peachy Green and is an important part of the project. Planting moves through the site and around the house, softening the edges between architecture and garden. The two courtyards offer different settings for everyday life, from the more active pool garden to spaces for gathering and spending time outdoors.
The garden courtyard sits between the living spaces and bedrooms.
Our Sequence Table in Stainless Steel and Sequence Curved Bench sit within the garden, alongside the planting and brickwork. The pieces become part of the outdoor spaces, bringing a place to gather and spend time within the landscape.
Hanslope House by Olaver. Featuring our Sequence Collection.
Inside, the same balance continues. The home is designed around the way a family might move through and use it, with shared living areas opening towards the garden and smaller spaces offering moments of separation. The architecture feels practical without becoming overly utilitarian, with light, outlook and landscape carefully considered throughout.
There is a quiet continuity between the architecture and landscape, from the recycled brick and terracotta to the planting that surrounds the house. It is a palette that feels grounded in its suburban setting, while the planning gives the home a more contemporary relationship to the garden.
Our Pinch Wall Light in Terracotta is used at the entrance, adding a small note of colour against the warm tones of the architecture.
The interiors continue the home’s warm and restrained material palette, with natural finishes, considered joinery and moments of colour adding texture and character. Simple forms and tactile details give the spaces a calm, lived-in quality.
A quiet material palette brings warmth to the living spaces.
Hanslope House is a quiet and considered response to its setting, where architecture and landscape are given equal weight. The result is a home that feels connected to its surroundings, while remaining grounded in the practicalities of everyday life.
Olaver is a Melbourne architecture practice creating considered spaces shaped by context, material and everyday life.
Peachy Green is a Melbourne landscape studio creating thoughtful gardens in response to place, architecture and use.
Architecture by Olaver Architecture
Landscape by Peachy Green
Builder by Glyde Construction
Photography by Tom Ross
