On the lands of the Bunurong Boon Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation.
Ageing in place is about choice, dignity and autonomy. It alleviates pressure from oversubscribed
aged care facilities while maintaining social and community support. It also maintains relationships
with each other and family.
Eleanor, an 1890’s double storey Victorian is located at the end of a row of terraces. The prominent
corner site is opposite a primary school within a heritage streetscape.
Like a faithful old suit that needs re-tailoring this house required alterations and repairs to meet the
changing needs of our eighty-year-old clients. Threading a lift into the house was the project catalyst,
generating a reconfiguration of spaces to simplify flow, and support intimacy and care.
Architectural incisions are clear, deliberate, and legible within the heritage fabric. Reconfiguration of
the once divided upstairs layout links the two main bedrooms with a shared north lit hall. A
metaphorical bridge
Award – Residential Architecture
Houses (Alterations and Additions)
Australian Institute of Architects, Victorian Chapter, 2026
Shortlist – House Alterations and Additions under 200m2
Houses Awards, 2026
Shortlist – House in a Heritage Context
Houses Awards, 2026
On the lands of the Wurundjeri
The Oval House is a study of place taken across multiple channels of the natural and built landscape, history and society.
The study of its place in the built landscape; a humble Victorian on a suburban Coburg Street just down the road from the imposing and notorious former Pentridge Prison. From which robust details and geometries have been drawn.
Its place at a moment in history; where homes are modified to meet raised environmental standards.
Its place in society; for an engaged family who are connected to their local community and culture in a home right next door to the footy oval. These connections are evident through memory and deliberate elements of playful nostalgia.
Its place in the natural landscape; with materials reflecting tones and texture of native flora, particularly the shimmering silvers and rich blossoms of the flowering gum that drapes across the entrance.
On the lands of the Wurundjeri
Conceptual inspiration for a house centred around a galley was drawn from the experience of our client’s life when they lived on board a narrowboat in the UK. Our clients loved that every aspect of their boat was highly considered, every space utilised.
This project speaks to two types of home-coming. The macro, coming home from living overseas with a broader perspective and experiences, and the micro, the daily rhythms and flow of coming and going from home.
Environmental consciousness starts with an understanding that the easier it is ride, the more we do it and this home is planned specifically to facilitate this. Ensuring every centimetre is utilised, avoids excess. Reuse of original building fabric minimises waste. New materials were selected for longevity and recyclability. Active and passive measures include solar and rainwater harvesting, considered orientation and ventilation.
This home is designed to expressly connect with our community through carefully graduated external and internal spaces. The design supports everyday interactions with the neighbourhood as a reminder that we are part of a greater whole, encouraging us to look outside of ourselves.
Commendation – Residential Architecture
Houses (Alterations and Additions)
Australian Institute of Architects, Victorian Chapter, 2025
Shortlist – House Alterations and Additions under 200m2
Houses Awards, 2024
On the lands of the Wurundjeri
Conceptual inspiration for a house centred around a galley was drawn from the experience of our client’s life when they lived on board a narrowboat in the UK. Our clients loved that every aspect of their boat was highly considered, every space utilised.
This project speaks to two types of home-coming. The macro, coming home from living overseas with a broader perspective and experiences, and the micro, the daily rhythms and flow of coming and going from home.
Environmental consciousness starts with an understanding that the easier it is ride, the more we do it and this home is planned specifically to facilitate this. Ensuring every centimetre is utilised, avoids excess. Reuse of original building fabric minimises waste. New materials were selected for longevity and recyclability. Active and passive measures include solar and rainwater harvesting, considered orientation and ventilation.
This home is designed to expressly connect with our community through carefully graduated external and internal spaces. The design supports everyday interactions with the neighbourhood as a reminder that we are part of a greater whole, encouraging us to look outside of ourselves.
On the lands of the Bunurong Boon
Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation.
Our Client’s Victorian terrace overlooks Nairm, Port Phillip Bay. Some mornings the bay is still, the lilac hue punctuated by bright jerseys of cyclists and lamps along the pier. This is Beaconsfield Parade at its most peaceful before the promenade fills with people strolling, paddling and driving. Later the wind rises, throwing waves onto the pier and foam onto the shore. At night stillness returns and lights of the shipping lane guide ships through the rip.
The brief was to reorganise the plan to improve light and outlook to the garden whilst providing a sense of entry from the lane. A single-storey, north-east facing pavilion is inserted below the existing building between the brick walls of the neighbouring terraces.
A stepped masonry wall forms a kind of lantern adjacent to an existing brick wall. Inside the plywood ceiling sweeps up, enabling light to fall deep into the floor plate. The volume created provides a high gallery wall whilst the rest of the addition is level with the adjacent boundary walls.
The lantern is the only part of the addition visible from outside of the property. This discrete intervention has improved the environmental performance of the home without compromising the heritage values of the place. The lantern is a welcoming engagement with the lane and surrounding built landscape.
Commendation – Residential Dwelling: Alteration/Addition
The Design & Development Awards, City of Port Phillip, 2022