Central Coast
Garden Heart
Alterations + Additions
In design process
Native Garden Pavilion is a concept for a self contained secondary dwelling in NSW. The preferred scheme pairs one bedroom and a study nook with open-plan kitchen, dining and living, plus a bathroom with concealed laundry.
A 60 m² internal area opens to a 13 m² covered terrace, with an alternative twobedroom layout within the same footprint.
A quiet, modest addition to the main house, the pavilion sits gently within the garden rather than competing with it. Sliding doors, deep openings and movable timber screens connect the living space to the landscape, making the home feel part of the garden.
While pale stone, warm render, natural timber and native planting give the pavilion a calm, tactile character a practical small home with its own identity, rooted in the landscape.
01 / THE BRIEF & OVERVIEW
Client: Private Location: Central Coast, Berkely Vale, NSW Project Type: Alterations + Additions Status: In design process Scope: Architectural design and approval documentation.
A small home, immersed in the garden.
Create a compact, self contained garden dwelling that supports independent living while maintaining privacy from the main home.
The preferred layout should accommodate one person or a couple, with a separate bedroom, study nook, full kitchen and comfortable open-plan living space.
Extend everyday living into a sheltered terrace and private garden, using deep openings, movable timber screens and layered native planting to balance openness, shade and privacy.
Pale stone, warm mineral render and natural timber should create a calm, tactile character. Explore a two-bedroom alternative within the same footprint to accommodate different household needs.
02 / EXISTING + CONCEPT
Conceived as a quiet stone pavilion within the garden, the home connects compact indoor living with a sheltered outdoor room.
Deep openings and movable timber screens filter sunlight and views, balancing openness with privacy.
Pale stone, warm timber and layered native planting create a calm, tactile setting where the garden becomes part of everyday life.
03 / PLANS
The bedroom and combined bathroom/laundry group along the west, while the east holds a continuous kitchen, dining and living space.
Circulation flows from the east entry through the kitchen to the north-facing living room and terrace, with no separate corridor.
A study nook sits at the edge of the living area, and concentrating private and service zones frees up a generous, garden-facing living space.
The alternative keeps the same footprint, entrance and terrace.
The bathroom/laundry becomes a second bedroom or workspace;
The bathroom and a separate laundry move to the centre of the south side, the kitchen compacts, and circulation keeps the living room connected to the terrace.
04 / MATERIAL PALETTE
· Pale stone · mineral render · Natural timber · Limestone · Olive / sage
05 / THE PROJECT
A room in the garden
The garden is treated as another room of the home full width sliding doors connect the living space to a sheltered terrace.
While deep openings and movable timber screens balance openness, shade and privacy.
Flexibility in one footprint
One footprint, two ways to live a garden facing.
One bedroom scheme, or a second bedroom in place of the bathroom or laundry, within the same home.
A calm, grounded palette
Pale stone, warm render and natural timber set a quiet, tactile tone, with charcoal metal for crisp edges and olive toned native planting to soften the garden.
06 / BEHIND THE PROJECT
The pavilion began with a simple idea: give a compact secondary dwelling the feeling of living in the garden, not beside it. The design grew from the relationship between indoor space and the landscape.
The scheme was developed around a single, disciplined footprint — about 60 m² of internal living opening to a covered terrace — and the belief that flexibility should not come at the cost of a calm, uncluttered home. Two layouts were tested within the same envelope to suit different households.
The result is a quiet pavilion of pale stone, warm timber and native planting, where sliding doors and movable timber screens balance openness, shade and privacy — a small home with its own identity, rooted in the garden.
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