{"id":265328,"date":"2025-11-06T10:24:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T10:24:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/265328\/"},"modified":"2025-11-06T10:24:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T10:24:10","slug":"mgao-centres-1950s-anglesea-beach-house-around-courtyard-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/265328\/","title":{"rendered":"MGAO centres 1950s Anglesea beach house around courtyard garden"},"content":{"rendered":"

Architecture studio MGAO has overhauled a mid-century<\/a> beach house in Victoria<\/a>, Australia, enhancing the connection with its courtyard<\/a> garden planted with native trees.<\/p>\n

Situated on Australia’s Surf Coast, MGAO renovated<\/a> the 1950s home for a young family, creating a light, open space with large expanses of glass and a strong connection to the garden.<\/p>\n

\"MGAOMGAO has renovated a mid-century beach house in Anglesea<\/p>\n

Designed to celebrate the mid-century character of the original, the 200-square-metre, single-storey home was completed with natural timber panels paired with a white steel roof.<\/p>\n

The studio retained the original L-shaped layout and existing brick walls, which have been reworked and finished with a sandy yellow cement<\/a> render.<\/p>\n

\"L-shapedThe single-storey house opens onto a courtyard garden<\/p>\n

“We began with a vision of retaining the original dwelling, but due to disrepair and current regulations, a significant amount of new work was required,” MGAO director Matt Goodman told Dezeen.<\/p>\n

“The original home was charming but impractical \u2013 with poor insulation and awkward add-ons, the best option was to sensitively rebuild,” he stated.<\/p>\n

“To ensure we remained true to the original, we looked to the original working drawings, replicating elements such as the original structural grid, spacing of rafters, eave overhangs and window sizes.”<\/p>\n

\"L-shapedFloor-to-ceiling windows frame views of the garden<\/p>\n

An open-plan kitchen, dining and living space opens out onto the garden, with the existing windows altered to reduce the visible timber framing.<\/p>\n

The garden was completed with new timber decking and a series of winding pathways leading through the native Moonah trees to a separate studio, which houses a guest bedroom and bathroom.<\/p>\n

\"Open-planThe home has an L-shaped plan<\/p>\n

Inside, the pared-back palette combines natural and off-white timber panelling with pale brickwork and neutral finishes, creating a minimal backdrop to views of the garden.<\/p>\n

“The colour comes from the surrounding Moonah trees and the passing of the day,” said Goodman.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Hearth<\/p>\n

Medium consolidates and unifies sprawling 1950s home in Surrey\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

“The Blackbutt hardwood timber used throughout connects the interior to the surrounding vegetation,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Everything else was chosen to form a calming background to everyday life, ensuring that the focus was outwards, towards the native garden.”<\/p>\n

\"KitchenThe studio opted for a pared-back interior palette<\/p>\n

One of the largest interventions was the decision to raise the ceiling height, leading to the reconstruction of the roof.<\/p>\n

The studio described this as one of the greatest challenges of the project, as the original structural columns were non-compliant with the weight of the new roof.<\/p>\n

\"MasterBedrooms were designed to be functional and simple<\/p>\n

Bedrooms and bathrooms were designed to be functional and simple, with the roof of the bedroom wing updated to replicate the exposed rafters in the living space. Floor-to-ceiling windows feature in the master bedroom.<\/p>\n

The project’s approach to sustainability involved the addition of solar panels and a heat pump for water, alongside improved insulation, operable windows for cross ventilation and deep eaves for summer shade.<\/p>\n

Other mid-century homes in Australia featured on Dezeen include the restoration and extension of a Melbourne home by Karen Abernethy<\/a> and the refurbishment of a 1960s Perth house by Design Theory<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The photography is by Jack Lovel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Project credits:<\/p>\n

Builders: Great Ocean Road Builders
Joinery: Higher Level Joinery
Glass: Edge Glass and Aluminium
Structure: Simon Anderson Consultants
Landscape: CD Landscapes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Architecture studio MGAO has overhauled a mid-century beach house in Victoria, Australia, enhancing the connection with its courtyard…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265329,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[76,354,355,2840,64740,49,48,356,75,4050,60193,43592,49626,49627],"class_list":{"0":"post-265328","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-australian-houses","13":"tag-ca","14":"tag-canada","15":"tag-design","16":"tag-entertainment","17":"tag-houses","18":"tag-mid-century-renovations","19":"tag-renovations","20":"tag-sectionall","21":"tag-sectionarchitecture"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}