Derby House
Our client needed more space in her red brick mews. On a small rear block with a tranquil courtyard, we had to aim high. We extended the home by adding a third storey adults’ retreat, containing a bedroom and ensuite. A bespoke terracotta screen provides privacy, without compromising on access to natural light or the views across Melbourne’s inner north.
Residential
derby house
The original brick building was constructed after an earlier subdivision of the site approximately 20 years ago.
Neatly located along an old bluestone laneway behind the typical streetscape, in the first instance this building operated as a commercial workshop and warehouse. It had been converted into a residence about 10 years earlier.
The existing conditions presented a non-compliant envelope under the res-code standards which had come into force after its construction. The existing built form comprised two storeys built to the boundary on three sides, a north-facing private open terrace space at first floor level and a ground level east-facing private courtyard.
Our client engaged us to consider if there was any opportunity to create another bedroom and bathroom, which would completely transform her family’s home.
The proposal to extend a very modest two room roof top addition developed following in depth consideration of the neighbourhood context and desire to provide a visually interesting yet screened addition to meet the brief, but not overwhelm the neighbours in quite a densely packed pocket of Northcote.
Extended up to a second storey and following the existing building line on two boundaries, the terracotta screen wraps the new second storey and creates an articulated design gesture that provokes visual interest when viewed from the outside.
The use of terracotta half round tiles recalls the local history associated with the many Greek and Italian migrants to the area of Northcote from the 1950’s onwards and the predominate materials used in the bungalows they constructed in their new Australian context.
The simultaneous and slightly conflicting desire was to limit the visual bulk of the proposal as much as possible. The introduction of glass block materiality proposed for the southern façade was selected to ensure the building de-materialises on this boundary as much as possible.
The design process for this very modest addition of 27m2 was rigorously considered due to the unique nature of the existing building, and the desire to minimise impact on neighbours. The terracotta screen veils the roof top addition, and serves to ‘give back’ to the neighbours with a detailed and highly resolved element of visual elegance that tips its hat to the history of the surrounding area.
Photography: Eryca Green
