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.
Topology acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which our studio stands. The Yalukit Willam people of the Boon Wurrung and the wider Kulin Nation. Each of us pay our deepest respects to the elders past, present and those emerging. We pledge our commitment in caring for this land and its first people. We promise to respect its history and continue to speak the truth.
Located on a busy beachfront promenade, this new end-of-terrace house is intended as a contemporary expression of the double-storey Victorian terrace. Its bold form is a direct response to the local character and beachfront site, and is an expression of the client’s personal and professional interests.
Brick has been chosen for its robust qualities that are suited to the weathering that occurs on the coast. The use of a singular material on all three facades achieves a strong and cohesive design solution that strengthens the urban corner between two rows of double-height terraces. Details reveal the influence of the local area, from protected balconies and deep window reveals to bullnosed brickwork and circular openings.
A large, circular void in the front facade is a striking counterpoint to the rectilinear organisation of the terrace. It is inspired by the clients, one an artist who explores circular geometries in her work and the other a helicopter pilot who specialises in aerial photography. It also reimagines and dramatically rescales the porthole windows and archways above verandahs and entrances that can be found in the local context.
A series of sliding screens affixed to the inside of the windows facing the side street allow these openings to be closed for privacy. Designed in collaboration with the client, they feature intricate details that reflect the fine and often symbolic ironwork that adorns Victorian facades.
The design is a contemporary building of elegant proportions, quality materials and careful detailing, in keeping with the Victorian optimism and sense of pride that are inherent in this historically significant beachfront.
Located on a busy beachfront promenade, this new end-of-terrace house is intended as a contemporary expression of the double-storey Victorian terrace. Its bold form is a direct response to the local character and beachfront site, and is an expression of the client’s personal and professional interests.
Brick has been chosen for its robust qualities that are suited to the weathering that occurs on the coast. The use of a singular material on all three facades achieves a strong and cohesive design solution that strengthens the urban corner between two rows of double-height terraces. Details reveal the influence of the local area, from protected balconies and deep window reveals to bullnosed brickwork and circular openings.
A large, circular void in the front facade is a striking counterpoint to the rectilinear organisation of the terrace. It is inspired by the clients, one an artist who explores circular geometries in her work and the other a helicopter pilot who specialises in aerial photography. It also reimagines and dramatically rescales the porthole windows and archways above verandahs and entrances that can be found in the local context.
A series of sliding screens affixed to the inside of the windows facing the side street allow these openings to be closed for privacy. Designed in collaboration with the client, they feature intricate details that reflect the fine and often symbolic ironwork that adorns Victorian facades.
The design is a contemporary building of elegant proportions, quality materials and careful detailing, in keeping with the Victorian optimism and sense of pride that are inherent in this historically significant beachfront.
Located on a busy beachfront promenade, this new end-of-terrace house is intended as a contemporary expression of the double-storey Victorian terrace. Its bold form is a direct response to the local character and beachfront site, and is an expression of the client’s personal and professional interests.
Brick has been chosen for its robust qualities that are suited to the weathering that occurs on the coast. The use of a singular material on all three facades achieves a strong and cohesive design solution that strengthens the urban corner between two rows of double-height terraces. Details reveal the influence of the local area, from protected balconies and deep window reveals to bullnosed brickwork and circular openings.
A large, circular void in the front facade is a striking counterpoint to the rectilinear organisation of the terrace. It is inspired by the clients, one an artist who explores circular geometries in her work and the other a helicopter pilot who specialises in aerial photography. It also reimagines and dramatically rescales the porthole windows and archways above verandahs and entrances that can be found in the local context.
A series of sliding screens affixed to the inside of the windows facing the side street allow these openings to be closed for privacy. Designed in collaboration with the client, they feature intricate details that reflect the fine and often symbolic ironwork that adorns Victorian facades.
The design is a contemporary building of elegant proportions, quality materials and careful detailing, in keeping with the Victorian optimism and sense of pride that are inherent in this historically significant beachfront.
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
