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Architecture at the Heart of the Home | Jan Henderson Design Book

In stock
Sale price$99.00

Every home has a room people drift towards without being asked. It might be the kitchen bench, a window seat that catches the late sun, or the threshold where the inside gives way to the garden. Architecture at the Heart of the Home is built entirely around that idea, and it is one of the more thoughtful architecture titles we have brought into the Books collection.

Writer Jan Henderson and photographer Dianna Snape spent their careers inside Australian architecture, Henderson as an editor across inside and Indesign, Snape as one of Melbourne's most published architectural photographers. Together they profile twenty-two houses, from emerging practices through to established names, with a foreword by Brit Andresen. The projects are not uniformly grand. What links them is that each one has a clearly identifiable heart, and the book works backwards from that place to explain the whole design.

What sort of homes are featured?

All twenty-two are Australian, and they range widely in scale and budget. Coastal, rural and inner-city projects all appear, which makes it more useful than a survey of trophy houses. If you are drawn to this side of the shelf, it sits naturally beside Homes of This Decade and Simon Devitt's Cape to Bluff, both of which cover the New Zealand equivalent.

Is it a reading book or a looking book?

Both, genuinely. Snape's photography runs full-page and double-page throughout the 272 pages, but Henderson's essays are substantial rather than caption-length, and there is a directory of architects at the back. It rewards a proper sit-down as much as a flick through.

At 238 by 297mm it has the heft you want from a coffee table book, and it makes a considered gift for anyone mid-renovation, anyone who has just moved into a place they intend to stay in, or the friend who sends you house listings they have no intention of buying. Housewarmings, milestone birthdays and Father's Day all suit it.

Why You'll Love It

  • Twenty-two Australian houses, each explored through the single space that defines it
  • Photography by Dianna Snape, whose work appears across the leading design titles
  • Essays with real substance, not extended captions
  • A directory of architects for anyone building or renovating
  • Cloth-feel papered boards with gilt and black lettering, so it looks as good closed as open

Where It Lives Best

Lay it flat as the base of a stack, largest to smallest, with something low and tactile on top such as a ceramic dish or a small vase. The pale spine and gilt lettering sit comfortably against oak, linen and off-white walls, which is why it works so well in coastal and Japandi-leaning rooms. On a shelf, face it outward rather than spine-on. The cover is strong enough to carry a whole shelf on its own.

Architecture at the Heart of the Home by Jan Henderson design book front cover
Architecture at the Heart of the Home | Jan Henderson Design Book Sale price$99.00

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