THE ADVENTURE COLLECTIVE® · Independent discovery and booking for outdoor travel
See Robin Boyd’s Walsh Street house and hear Emergent Studios unpack The Paddock’s ambitious cluster-housing experiment. This two-hour talk bridges architectural history and practical landscape strategies for sustainable, productive neighbourhoods.
See Robin Boyd’s Walsh Street house and hear Emergent Studios unpack The Paddock’s ambitious cluster-housing experiment. This two-hour talk bridges architectural history and practical landscape strategies for sustainable, productive neighbourhoods.
Book with Robin Boyd Foundation
Verified experiences and guided adventures in the surrounding area.
Operated by Robin Boyd Foundation · South Yarra, Victoria
Saturday afternoons in South Yarra unfold differently at 290 Walsh Street South Yarra, Victoria AU 3141, where history and future housing intersect. The Robin Boyd Foundation hosts a talk led by Emergent Studios director Matthew Hamilton that pairs an intimate look at Robin Boyd’s Walsh Street house with a deep-dive on The Paddock, a cluster housing project developed with Crosby Architects and an environmentally responsive landscape. The Paddock is a compact eco estate of twenty-seven residential lots located just under a kilometre from central Castlemaine. Its landscape strategy responds to topography, overland water flow, solar access and existing vegetation. Designers prioritized thirty percent productive landscape to meet ambitious Environmentally Sustainable Design targets informed by Living Building Challenge principles. The masterplan integrates watershed mapping, grading strategies and habitat-enhancing plantings to optimize both functional use and ecological value. Inside the Walsh Street home, attendees see how mid-century modern ideas about light, material and proportion still influence Australian residential design. Outside, the talk unpacks Emergent Studios’ integrated process: community workshops, ecological analysis, computational tools developed by DOCOlab and iterative collaboration with clients and consultants. Practical examples include routing stormwater through vegetated swales, orienting lots for passive solar performance and specifying native species that deliver amenity and food production. Tickets include access to the Loose Leaf exhibition, a collaboration between Tract and the Robin Boyd Foundation with supporting partners Brickworks Building Products. The event lasts approximately two hours and is geared toward designers, planners, housing advocates and anyone curious about sustainable alternatives to conventional subdivision. Note practical restrictions: attendees must be sixteen years or older; no external food or drink; large bags and backpacks must be checked at entry; and stiletto or pointed heels are not permitted due to cork flooring. What makes this session stand out is the scale of ambition paired with on-the-ground craft. Emergent Studios balances ecological rigour with social design, showing how a small estate can deliver measurable ecosystem services and social amenity. The presentation reframes suburban infill as an opportunity for productive landscapes that store water, support biodiversity and grow food. If you plan to attend, bring comfortable shoes for a short street stroll, a camera for the Loose Leaf exhibition and an open mind. This talk is a practical primer on how landscape-driven design can reshape housing outcomes—rooted in the particularities of place yet relevant to urban and regional contexts across Australia. After the talk, participants are encouraged to discuss specific design details with Matthew Hamilton and with Robin Boyd Foundation staff; the program often includes questions about maintenance regimes, community governance and the economics of productive landscaping, making this an unusually practical and directly applicable session for anyone planning sustainable housing projects or engaged in government planning.
easy.
2 hours.
Light walking and standing; suitable for most fitness levels
The listed meeting point is 290 Walsh Street South Yarra, Victoria AU 3141; arrive a few minutes early to check bags and settle in.
Walsh Street is a heritage building and cannot be modified for universal access; contact [email protected] for tailored mobility support.
Attendees must be 16 years or older; the program is targeted at adults and design professionals.
No external food or drink is permitted inside the venue; please plan accordingly.
Yes—tickets include access to the Loose Leaf exhibition curated with Tract and supported by Brickworks Building Products.
Photography is generally allowed for personal use, but follow any specific instructions from Robin Boyd Foundation staff during the visit.
Robin Boyd’s Walsh Street house is part of the Robin Boyd Foundation’s heritage program that interprets mid-century Australian design alongside contemporary practice.
The Paddock prioritizes productive landscape and watershed-responsive design; attendees are encouraged to use public transport and follow site guidance to reduce impact.
Robin Boyd Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to preserving and promoting the life, work and legacy of Australian architect Robin Boyd. Based in South Yarra, Victoria, the Foundation manages Boyd’s 1957 Walsh Street residence and archives, delivering guided tours, talks, walking tours and creative workshops that connect visitors with modernist architecture and Melbourne’s built history. The Foundation offers a range of experiences: guided tours of the Walsh Street house, evening events such as Sunset Cocktails at Walsh Street, themed talks on modern design and conservation, neighbourhood walking tours through South Yarra, and drop-in drawing sessions that pair architectural insight with sketching and photography. Each program is led by experienced guides, architects and guest speakers who present research-based commentary and curated access to Boyd’s preserved home and materials. As a custodian of a significant heritage property and archive, the Foundation collaborates with conservation specialists, historians and design practitioners to ensure accurate interpretation and careful site stewardship. Its events are rooted in documented scholarship on post-war modernism and local architectural history, providing reliable context for students, professionals and the general public. Visitors can expect small-group formats, focused storytelling and opportunities to photograph and study Walsh Street’s distinctive modernist features. The Foundation’s stewardship of the property, structured programming and partnerships with experts underpin its reputation as an authoritative resource on Robin Boyd and mid-20th-century Australian design. Public programs are scheduled seasonally and include limited-capacity events, making bookings recommended for visitors seeking guided access to Walsh Street and related exhibitions and archival displays.
Book with Robin Boyd Foundation