Three Florist's Houses – Living With Plants Across Three Sites

Project Overview

My occupant is a florist, and according to a florist’s working requirements, I design a flower shop, a flower farm and a research house in North Melbourne, Castlemaine and Lerderderg respectively.

 

The florist usually lives in the flower shop. In autumn and winter, she goes to the flower farm and lives there, spending time planting seasonal flowers. In summer, she goes to the research house every weekend to study local plants.

 

Across the three houses, the consistent design concept is to use flowers and plants as the main elements to divide the space, allowing the florist to live with plants while also protecting her privacy.

 

House 1: Flower Shop – Living Crossing the Plants

Spatial Strategy

In the flower shop, I implement the idea of living crossing the plants. The indoor semi gardens integrate the florist’s living area and working area. The five semi gardens gradually increase in size according to the privacy needs of different areas. For example, the toilet has a larger semi garden than the kitchen, so when visitors enter the flower shop, they block the view and protect privacy.

 

Material and Environmental Strategy

The roof of the flower shop has five skylights located above the semi gardens to provide sufficient sunlight for the plants. The roof tilts towards the gutter in the middle to collect rainwater, which is reused for indoor plant irrigation through small sprinklers. Both the semi gardens and floors have slopes so that excess water flows into the floor drains.

 

Construction Strategy

The wall structure uses a stud wall system and FC cladding for the inside because it is more durable in a high-humidity environment. To maintain a suitable temperature for indoor plants, I added rigid insulation inside the wall. The front and back windows are placed to provide cross ventilation.