Lively geometries serve a functional purpose at this Melbourne home designed by fmd Architects. Faced with a tight budget and space restrictions in the dense urban neighborhood, the firm devised the so-called "Bike House" as a stacked structure to minimize its footprint and maximize garden space, informing the façade arrangement. Shading devices and privacy screens establish a sheltered haven for the family.

Inside, spaces are designed to be flexible as the occupants’ children grow and needs shift. But what probably influenced the design the most—and earned the house it’s project name—was the family’s active lifestyle; the father is an avid cyclist, so finding creative ways to store all of those bikes was a primary influence on the layout and details, fmd director Fiona Dunn says.