This redesign of a Federation semi on a long block in the leafy suburb of Ripponlea, Melbourne, focuses on reconfiguring internal rooms and a new living zone out the back that looks out onto a lush garden.
The owners, a family of three, told local architects Austin Maynard Architects that the home needed to be set up “for the next 100 years”, and that it should be warm, welcoming and friendly with environmental design at its core. Their passion for music, reading, art and plants/gardening was also key to the brief.
In response, the rooms were switched around, with the old front room now the main bedroom, with new storage, built-in bench seat and original stained glass preserved with secondary glazing added. One bedroom was divided into two rooms, a laundry and a study. Another is now the son’s room and features a custom-made loft bed and hammock net, a signature of Austin Maynard Architects. And a third is now a music room and guest room with an operable opening in the adjoining wall to the living room. A narrow service side path has been transformed into a lush green internal courtyard that opens completely up to the centre of the house.
The rear addition replacing an old lean-to is where the new architecture really shines. Now an open living zone including timber kitchen, it features huge timber-framed windows that look out onto the lush garden. “[This room] now prevails as a single storey living zone, with huge windows and full height openings, creating the feeling of an outdoor pavilion nestled in foliage,” says the architecture statement.
The clients were surprised at the design initially but have come to love the solution: “I knew every room had to be re done because the original house was old and decrepit but in my head, every room had the same purpose, it didn’t occur to me we could do this,” they say. “I love the flow and the openness and the light, that was a really big concern because the old house was so dark. Now it’s just really nice to come home.”
Austin Maynard Architects is well known for its sustainability and this house is no different. The home retains much of its original fabric, with sustainable materials used, like recycled bricks and salvaged floorboards. “The practice of sustainable design can sometimes be very simple. If you don’t have to knock it down, don’t knock it down. If it’s built, it’s embodied captured carbon, so leave it alone,” reads the architecture statement.
Thermal efficiency was upgraded including installing double glazing throughout. In addition, newly installed are solar power, an electric heat pump for hot water and hydronic heating, and a new water management system including water tank and recycled water used for toilets and laundry.
Much of the beauty of the house now comes from the garden, with landscape architecture by Saint Remy. At the front, grey paths are interspersed and lined by greenery which stands out against the white of the front facade. Out the back, red recycled brick is used, repeating the same brick used in the extension and tonally tying in with the timber of the window frames, while slender birch trees and a variety of shrubs and ground cover add to a sense of being immersed in a verdant garden.
About Austin Maynard
