How can a courtyard make exposure feel protective rather than vulnerable? At St Andrews Beach, Aych Architects answers through a home shaped around a central courtyard and the pressures of a rugged coastal site.

How do you redefine a Mount Martha beach house? Wolveridge Architects takes a more inward approach, shaping a courtyard home that replaces ocean views with calm and connection.

Rooted in Shady Creek’s agricultural vernacular, this farmhouse is embedded in the working life of the property, being practical, durable and quietly refined.

Faced with the challenge of a south-facing backyard, this thoughtful addition reorients the Victorian terrace around a central courtyard, drawing in northern light and creating a quiet dialogue between daily life and the garden beyond.

Internal courtyards separate a series of pavilions set behind an 1850s Victorian terrace house with a glass walkway suspended above.

With Middle Park Beach at their doorstep, the retired clients did not want a two-storey extension that would give them that much-desired ocean view, they just wanted a modest renovation of their heritage home