PROJECTS
Belle
DONCASTER EAST
The Challenge
REORIENT A SUBURBAN HOME of its era - FOR A CONTEMPORARY LIFESTYLE
The brief for this late 1970s brick veneer, typical of its time and location, was very familiar. The existing house, while immaculately cared for was showing its age through the way it interfaced with the outdoors. In conjunction with refreshing existing bedrooms and reconfiguration and refurbishment of bathrooms, the key driver was to create a comfortable connection between indoor and outdoor for dining and entertaining, that could be used all year round.
A covered al fresco area had previously been added to the original house, but with the only connection a protracted journey through the existing Living room, a common shortcoming of this era, the set up was less than ideal for frequent mid-week BBQ dinners and entertaining alike.
The additional space required was modest, but the challenge lay with conceptualising the spaces in a way that would sit comfortably within the context and with the very familiar, yet often underestimated and poorly approached suburban typology.
What if …
WE EMBRACE THE HUMBLE YET DISTINCTIVE SUBURBAN LANGUAGE?
A temptation when working with an identifiable architectural typology, such as this 1970s/80s brick veneer project home, is to keep the original intact and contribute a contrasting element that complements the existing but does not confuse or ‘take away’ from it. In this case, because the extended footprint was relatively small, in comparison to the overall floor area, this approach would result in a jarring or unbalanced overall form.
Instead we opted for a blended approach where a component of the existing language, the distinctive hip roof, was extended to encompass the additional spaces (indoor and out). This not only helped the modest extension blend seamlessly with the existing but enabled other more contemporary elements, such as large sliding doors, to be integrated with the existing without creating a stark contrast.
This more subtle approach, with no ‘hard’ delineation between the old and the new, allows various local interventions to be deployed if and where specific needs arise. In this way, this classic but often written-off suburban typology becomes surprisingly flexible and transformative.
“…Our home is now just a "lovely place to live in", as simple as that. It is a feeling, more so than just a list of design elements.…”
/ LULA & ROB – OWNERS /
Blurred Edges and Borrowed Space
UNIFYING the language of indoor and outdoor
The al fresco was a key part of the design brief. With the clients’ frequent barbecue cooking and enviable kitchen garden it was essential that these aspects be seamlessly integrated into the flow of meal preparation, dining and entertaining. Under an extended roof line the al fresco is coupled with the kitchen and dining pavilion, flanked with slender white columns. The wrap around brick paved plinth connects the two sides of the dining area and extends out to a raised planter bursting with lush greenery and the kitchen garden. The capped retaining wall provides a casual spot to sit and enjoy the view back toward the house and gives the al fresco a sunken, secluded ambience.
Repetition of materials and the restrained palette unify the indoor and outdoor spaces, augmenting both. The gently sloping garden was terraced, framed and strategically planted to provide both open vistas and more intimate vignettes.
A Warm Welcome
MAKING AN ENTRY STATEMENT
A common characteristic of homes of this era is that the front door is located toward the middle of the house (to clear the bedroom zone to the front) and is often tucked away and facing the side boundary. Designed on the cusp of the two car family era and allowing for only single or tandem car parking, the contemporary need to accommodate two cars meant access to the entry is through an extended carport. Classic way-finding techniques such as linear timber battens below transparent roofing and red carpet like brick paving wrapping up the raised platform and stairs, are employed to lead the eye and the visitor through the carport and toward the front door. A small addition gives a defined entry and re-orients the front door to face the front of the property.
To address the elevated entry, in addition to the small flight of steps leading to the door, a further two steps and extended landing inside address the legacy split level and meet the main floor level. The blurring of the indoor / outdoor transition is amplified by the continuation of the brick paving into the entry and terminate with the first stair. Windows to both east and west extremities give the axis a feeling of extending out beyond the house itself and into the greenery beyond.
An Abundance of Natural Light
defining the open plan and opening to the sky
Two tapered skylight shafts bookend the new central living room and provide shifting light throughout the day. Oriented east, they deliver morning sun, which the deep floor plate and orientation previously precluded, and provide softer diffuse light throughout the rest of the day.
The shafts spread generously from the modest ‘off-the-shelf’ skylights and throw light across the width of the living room and kitchen / dining area. With in-built blockout blinds, solar and thermal control is available at the press of a button. The tall and angular voids punctuate the ceiling and provide a counterpoint to the otherwise horizontal language of the pavilion style addition.
