In 2016, Home & Garden magazine joined forces with propery developer Mirvac to launch the My ideal house design competition. It asked architects to design the “ideal home for an Australian family, now and into the future”.
These kind of speculative competitions are inherently flawed, the brief is suitably vague, but life is imperfect and it's always better to be drawing than not.
Congratulations to the talented Madeleine Blanchfield who won the competition.
Our design was a finalist. I like it a lot. Timber battens are used to dramatic effect. An internal courtyard allows sunlight into every room in the house. High-set windows and louvres further promote natural light and cross-ventilation. There is a small courtyard between the carport and kitchen, the ideal spot for a vegetable patch. This “Japanese meets Sydney School” home design makes use of standard building materials and a disciplined planning grid in a bid to keep it cost-efficient.
There’s an appealing simplicity to this home and its modular nature would make it simple to build.
— Peter Cotton,Mirvac Design.
This is such an eye-catching home, with many delightful elements. It really challenges current project home ideals.
— Lisa Green, Editor-in-chief, Australian House & Garden