GRAPHĒ: It’s Adults Only in the Yakisugi Half of This Australian Home

An entry with a green overhang joins two volumes: a white gabled one for the whole family, and a black one that’s off limits to the kids.

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Project Details:

Location: Ivanhoe East, Victoria, Australia

Architect: Albert Mo Architects / @treblamo

Footprint: 3,015 square feet

Builder: Block Constructions

Structural and Civil Engineer: R. Bliem & Associates

Landscape Design: Mud Office

Landscape Construction: Mode Landscape Construction

Furniture: Melissa Vukadin

Lighting Design: Ambience Lighting

From the Architect: "Boulevard House is a complete new build born from the need to reconnect a growing family with their environment. While the previous dwelling felt isolated from its sloping site, this design embraces the ‘borrowed landscape’ of an adjacent public golf course. By removing the traditional rear barrier, the vast greenery becomes a literal extension of the backyard, serving as both a daily playground for three children and an expansive setting for social gatherings.

"The home’s organization centers on two distinct pavilions: a double-story white ‘tree house’ and a single-story black volume. The white pavilion uses an archetypal gable form to evoke a child’s drawing and honor the site’s original roofline. Its defining feature is a handcrafted white brick screen, created by manually drilling 2,000 bricks to house post-tensioned rods. This screen acts as a light modulator, casting shifting shadows that transform the interior into a sanctuary of delightful phenomena and refuge.

"In contrast, the black volume is a seductive, modernist retreat for the adults. Utilizing yakisugi and slim black bricks, the dark materiality recedes to force the viewer’s gaze toward the vibrant landscape. Because the back faces south, the architecture employs stepped rooflines and a central fern courtyard to capture essential northern light. This biophilic move ensures that nature is felt deep within the master suite, linking the interior to the surrounding vegetation.

"The transition across the sloping site is handled with subtle internal steps, guiding the body through the circulation spine without feeling like an intentional device. This flow is mirrored by terraced landscaping that brings flora down to the natural level of a nearby golf course. Ultimately, the interplay of light on the charred walls and the axial views of matured gum trees blurs the boundary between architecture and nature."