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DESIGN | The quiet poetry of Japanese restraint
DESIGN
The quiet poetry of Japanese restraint with Sydney practice Aomura Studio
Rooted in Japanese philosophy: experience the quiet cadence of architecture with Aomura Studio, as we delve into the art of subtraction and discover why empty space is where life truly happens.
Most of the time when we’re designing, decorating, or styling, we’re concerned with how to fill the room, fill the bed, fill the empty space. Our recent discussion with Joanne, Director of Aomura, reminded us of an essential design principle we often forget: the practice of restraint. Rooted in Japanese philosophy, this design-led architecture studio creates calm, light-filled spaces that breathe with the Australian landscape, working from the core belief that a home’s beauty lies in subtraction as much as addition.
As Joanne aptly says, “we design as much with what we leave out as with what we put in”. Central to Aomura's aesthetic is a commitment to restraint, treating empty space not as a void, but as a vital, considered place where life actually happens. By pairing this with a quiet material palette which embraces aging, patina, and evidence of life, and treating natural light as a physical material, they create homes such as this Sydney terrace extension. A space that seamlessly balances heritage context without ever overpowering its soul. Read on to discover the practice’s design principles and the serene home.
Tell us about yourselves and what you do?
Aomura is a design-led architecture studio rooted in Japanese design philosophy. We create calm, light-filled spaces that breathe with the Australian landscape. Every project begins with a conversation about place, purpose, and the people who will live there, and from that first idea to the final detail we guide each project ourselves, so the vision it begins with is the one that is realised.
How would you describe Aomura’s design style in three words, and is there a common thread that runs through all of your projects?
Restrained, warm, and precise.
The common thread is a deliberate sense of pause. We design as much with what we leave out as with what we put in. Across every project you’ll find the same instincts, a quiet material palette, natural light treated as a material in its own right, and a careful framing of the landscape beyond. The aim is always a sense of calm: spaces that feel inevitable rather than designed.
What was the brief for your recent project, and what most excited you about it at the outset?
Birchgrove began with a heritage terrace and a demanding question, how do you add something unmistakably contemporary to a historic home without overpowering it? The brief was to extend the house at the rear, opening it to the private garden, while treating the original terrace with restraint and respect. What excited us most at the outset was the site’s relationship to the water, and the chance to frame the harbour through a series of carefully proportioned openings, so the view is revealed quietly rather than all at once.
What qualities were most important to you when selecting fabrics and finishes?
Honesty and longevity. We’re drawn to natural materials that age gracefully and feel better with time, timber, stone, plaster, and natural textiles like linen. Texture matters to us more than colour, we want a room to feel as good under hand as it looks. We also choose finishes for how they hold light. A material that shifts gently through the day does far more for a space than any bold gesture. At Birchgrove, the palette was kept deliberately quiet, the garden, and the changing light could do the talking. What excited us most was the chance to transform the tightly constrained space into a truly quiet spot, deeply connected to the vibrant treescapes at the front, rear, and sides. We designed the spaces to frame these natural surroundings, revealing the landscape intimately and deliberately.
Looking at the completed residence, what element or detail are you most proud of?
Honestly, the colour palette, though our painter definitely hated me for it. I chose a multitude of colours for each type of room to create what I called ‘different tones,’ and getting them to work harmoniously was a meticulous process. It paid off. The way the tones shift subtly from one space to the next creates a quiet journey through the house, making each room work perfectly on its own while ensuring the entire home feels complete and unified.
What does the beauty of home mean to you, and how do you bring that philosophy to life across your projects?
For us, the beauty of a home isn’t in any single feature. It’s in how a space makes you feel when you’re in it. A beautiful home is calm. It holds light well, connects you to the world outside, and gives you room to breathe. Again, that's our principle and ethos, the empty space is not nothing, but the place where life happens. We bring it to life by designing slowly and listening first, to the site, to the light, and to the people who will live there. We’d rather do less, beautifully, than more for its own sake. When a home feels quietly inevitable, as though it could not have been otherwise, we know we’ve done our job.
Photography: Ryan Linnegar
Styling: Rory Carter
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