COMPACT DESIGN: Positioned on the corner of a laneway allowed the architect to build to the edge of the lot while maintaining privacy without the need for fencing. The central courtyard gives the master suite the feel of open space even though it is in the middle of the home. The efficient kitchen has a large island for food prep and socialising. Double folding glass doors open to the rear garden and pergola for entertaining. The aerial view of the home shows how it respects the roof line of the neighbouring more traditional homes. The clients chose materials and colour palette to suit their style and worked with local businesses. BELOW LEFT - sleek lines, timber and concrete feature throughout the home in furnishings and accents. BELOW RIGHT - an upstairs bedroom looks over the rear garden.

Tandem House is for a family, with young adult children, scaling down from a large suburban property to a small urban block in the inner Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn.

The house is composed of two masses arranged in tandem along the depth of the site, while presenting as a single dwelling to the street.

The two masses are separated by a courtyard, which allows natural light in to the centre of the house and down to the basement.

The house incorporates a spacious living zone, several bedroom zones and a home office, allowing the occupants to live and work separately or in unison.

The north-facing living area connects seamlessly through large sliding doors to the rear garden to make the most of the compact outdoor space.

The clients' brief was fairly straightforward.

"They said that they wanted a little, modern house.

"They wanted to down-size from their large family home, where their children had grown up, and wanted a compact house in a more central location, one that could be shared with their children as they became adults," says architect Fiona Drago.

Priorities were the inclusion of a 1000-bottle wine cellar, a home office, a spare bedroom for interstate relatives, and a roof deck to view the city skyline.

The lot is on the corner of a quiet street and laneway and is slightly wider than a standard terrace house.

"This provided the opportunity to design a double-fronted residence," says architect Fiona Drago.

The clients bought this property for its central location and high level of amenity.

"They wanted to live in a walkable neighbourhood and reduce the amount of time they spent maintaining their house and garden," Drago says.

The design respects the single storey scale and pitched roof forms of the neighbouring houses, appearing as a single storey dwelling from the street.

The visible roof form aligns with the other pitched roofs in the streetscape.

The bath, laundry, kitchen and stairwell, which all require less natural light, are stacked on top of each other to provide greater efficiency in the services' reticulation.

The client took an active role in the project, and commissioned the furniture, feature ceramic tiles and landscape design from local firms who worked with Drago and the building team to achieve a seamless outcome.

Inside, the light colour palette amplifies the sense of volume in each habitable room, with most having views out to vegetation.

The material palette reflects the masonry walls and metal roofs of the neighbouring houses.

The grey colours of the zinc and masonry reflect the bluestone in the adjacent laneway.

"The challenge to fit the extensive brief on a small inner-city site required meticulous spatial planning and several iterations to address planning and budgetary constraints," Drago says.