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Climb the steel staircase from the first floor to the living, dining, and kitchen area, which open on to a small terrace with a private garden. On the top floor, rooms for the homeowners and their children are tucked away along with a bathroom illuminated by light from the courtyard.

Ashizawa’s attention to detail goes beyond the architecture. His firm also designed much of the furniture inside the home, including the dining room table and the oak kitchen cabinets.

An Ingo Maurer Flotation light hangs over the Keiji Ashizawa-designed kitchen table, which is lined with Carl Hansen chairs.

Ashizawa’s background is in steelwork, so getting the staircase right was critical. It needed to be structurally sound, but not so big and bulky it would block the light from the patio. The clever use of a support rod in the middle of the structure allows for sturdy but lightweight steps.

In the rear wing, which is used by the two teenage boys, the bathroom is split into two—a separate toilet and a shower—with a library in the circulation space between.

The design intention was to keep the stair as simple and understated as possible. It's crafted from plate steel stringers and blackbutt timber treads. A central steel truss "hovers" between the stair flights and includes blackbutt uprights. A pivoting door beneath the stair opens out to the courtyard.

"Having committed to the courtyard idea, we had to then refine it and study the many plan configurations possible around it," says Joe. "We looked to the traditional riad courtyard houses of Morocco—houses with lush, shady courtyards which have a strong sense of interiority, coupled with severe exteriors to street. We then layered other ideas such the notion of an ‘adaptable house’ and the somewhat contradictory idea of being able to open the entire living area direct to the sidewalk."

Central to the courtyard is a frangipani tree—"the house’s own axis mundi of sorts," says Joe. All the living areas, including an open galley kitchen, are on the ground floor and seamlessly open to one another. The garage—which is used as a multifunctional space rather than for parking—is also directly connected to the courtyard via a glazed opening, and the two areas can be configured as a large indoor/outdoor space for gatherings.

The open galley kitchen flows seamlessly into the living room. The joinery is hoop-pine plywood, which echoes the materiality of the ceiling and walls.

The home is designed around a central courtyard. During the demolition of a rear addition from the 1930s, the profile of the original rear of the 1885 house was discovered. "We articulated this in the facade as a black silhouette referencing the house’s original form," says architect Joe Agius. "In a sense, it's a public art historic interpretation piece, and is viewable from the courtyard and the side street."

The archway at the end of the entrance hall was opened up to reflect the original floor plan of the terrace, and now leads directly to the stairs and the living/dining area.

The steel bridge—which echoes the design language of the steel brise soleil—extends from the second-floor study into the rear garden.

The central stair sits against a three-story mahogany cabinet that houses a powder room, a study, and a multitude of closets.

The custom-made steel and Douglas fir staircase leads up to the bedrooms.

The homeowners wanted a multifunctional dining space conducive to alfresco meals.