Cereus House
Melbourne
In Seddon, in Melbourne's inner west, a 1915 Edwardian weatherboard cottage gained two curved white shell forms over the north-facing backyard, replacing an older addition, in a renovation finished in 2024. The curves were the architects' answer to the usual box tacked on the back, and the roof inside is carried on bullnose verandah rafters scaled up and left exposed like ribs.
The house is named for the oversized cereus cactus in the back garden, which the brief required keeping. Under the skin the old cottage was stripped, insulated, double glazed and given a new concrete slab; the upper level wears white standing seam metal to echo the weatherboards, the ground floor spotted gum, and the first-floor balcony doubles as the eave shading the north windows.
Circle Studio Architects
A female-owned practice in Footscray, Melbourne, headed by Yvonne Meng, who holds a PhD in architecture and is a certified Passivhaus designer. The studio works mostly on homes, from renovations to new builds.
Architecture @circlestudio_architects. Photography @jjjjade. Seen via @archdaily.
The picture comes from this post on Instagram.
Researched August 2026. I credit each piece as carefully as I can; if you know more about this one, message me on Instagram.