This home is a small timber cottage on the inside and an automated concrete monolith on the outside

You wouldn't think it, but this modern suburban home located in Melbourne, Australia, was once a small timber cottage.

Dubbed "Green House", the structure is topped with a roof made completely of automated aluminium sunscreens that allow natural light to reach the interior during daytime, while sheltering the interior spaces at night. Sean Godsell Architects renovated the existing building in an attempt to give the little cottage some pizzazz in a limited space.

The interior of the existing house was remodeled and new addition built. The architects introduced a cathedral ceiling and timber posts support the ridge beam and two light canons, while concrete walls around a small courtyard separate the cottage from the small addition.

They decided to keep the original height of the cottage (three meters) and instead add a transparent roof that can be closed off with automated sunscreens. With the movement of the sunscreens, the house dramatically changes appearance from a monolith-like structure to a kind of playful generator of light.