Landscape is not a backdrop, but the primary driver of design—shaping how the architecture sits, how it’s experienced.

Designed for a landscape architect, The Apple House is a site-responsive addition nestled into the former apple orchard of a Mornington Peninsula property. Rather than extend the original Alistair Knox house, the new structure is conceived as a distinct outbuilding, helping to shape a walled garden and reinforce a compound-like arrangement across the site.

Its placement and form emerge from the landscape itself—tall and gabled in contrast to the low, earthy lines of the existing mud brick buildings. This contrast establishes a dialogue between built forms and the surrounding topography, enhancing the spatial legibility of the broader site.

Rooted in the ethos of landscape architecture, the project engages with place beyond visual character—responding to site conditions, seasonal change, and habitat potential. Here, the landscape drives the architecture, guiding how it sits, how it’s experienced, and how it supports the rhythms of life on the land.

Architect: Sally Draper Architects

Builder: Laidlaw Building Pty Ltd

Photographer: Trevor Mein