m3architecture has designed a music teaching studio in the backyard of a family home in suburban Newcastle, Australia. The studio is designed to be an exciting place where children commence their musical journey.

The architects took inspiration from a method of teaching, founded in Finland. When considering Finland and music, m3architecture couldn’t help but think of architect Alvar Aalto and Finlandia Hall. This precedent provided a glimmer of a studio – a light filled, white space, timber stage, white backdrop and blue audience zones compressed into a small studio.

The design creates a unique backyard pedagogy – a spatial environment that enables students to drift in and out of practice and performance. The duality of the concept links two worlds – the high architecture of a public building, and the DIY aspect of a backyard.

Finlandia Hall’s scalloped edge references its landscape. This same method was used to create the exterior of the music studio – rectilinear along the fence, and modelled around an existing olive tree. An original piece of the Hall’s marble façade was scored and now rests in the corner of the music studio.

The result is a public building in a backyard; a fibro shed with international aspirations; a place for lessons, concerts or quiet contemplation.  More than anything, it’s a place in a garden where music grows.