Design Delight: The Perfect Backyard Guest House

How Dane Taylor Design Transformed a Backyard Space into an Architectural Marvel

Dane Taylor Design, an Australian studio, has recently completed the Bush Studio, a versatile garden room and backyard guest house situated in New South Wales. This compact space features a charred wood exterior and serves multiple purposes. Initiated by a local couple who manage a child-psychology clinic, the garden studio functions as a private area for studying and socializing, as well as a hideaway for their teenage daughter. Located in Bulli, a coastal suburb of Wollongong, Australia, the Bush Studio’s design focuses on creating a close connection between the residents and the surrounding bush landscape.

With a minimalist approach to materials and form, Dane Taylor Design used off-site manufacturing to streamline the construction process. The existing residence is situated at the front of the property. A meandering suspended path connects the main house to the studio. At the same time, it gently reintroduces occupants to nature as they move between the built environments. Nestled among blue gum trees, the backyard guest house is perched on a raised timber deck that gracefully follows the landscape’s contours. A gum tree is even incorporated into the design, growing through an opening in the deck. Featuring a simple rectangular layout, Bush Studio boasts glazed openings on its east, north, and west facades to frame views of the deck and the surrounding landscape. The structure is topped with a mono-pitched roof with clerestory windows, allowing optimal sunlight throughout the year.

To maintain a comfortable interior temperature, the team employed passive design strategies, such as orienting the structure towards the northern aspect and designing roof overhangs for optimal solar control. Sliding timber shoji screens serve as doors, referencing the “imperfect natural beauty” of the nearby gum trees.

Inside, this backyard guest house features a polished concrete floor that mirrors the gravel trails on the property’s slopes. To accommodate its multi-functional purpose, the design firm adopted a minimalist interior scheme, with light grey walls and ceilings contrasting against hardwood timber windows and doors. Photography © Daniel Mulhearn.