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Mary Residence
Mary Residence
Melbourne, Australia
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Mary Residence
Melbourne, Australia
In a leafy St.Kilda street of the same name ‘Mary Me’ was the catch cry on the real estate brochure attached to the brief to upgrade this Victorian terrace house. Instructions were given to demolish the rear half but to retain and upgrade ‘the great bones’ of the front part of the dwelling. The client also requested that we marry the new work with the old to provide a unified comfortable whole.
So the challenge was posed: How can one explore and celebrate the differences of what has come before and what is new and at the same time marry periods that differ philosophically in the degree with which interior & exterior interact? The project questions and encourages an interior architecture concerned with historical ‘story- telling’ celebrating both ‘continuity’ and ‘newness’.
The removal of the rear half of the house enabled us an opportunity to provide a contemporary interpretation of the Victorian terrace. This meant retaining a strong designation of specific functional zones, yet the journey from front to rear would involve a progression of increased spatial ‘editing out’ – a selective removal of walls and breaking down of the formality and containment of the Victorian interior. Whilst there is a clear intention to provide a reading of history this was not a story of two separate pavilions but instead a combined whole connected through simultaneous differentiation and consistency in material, colour and detail.
A central light court was extended in size to become a pivotal design feature - bringing an airy lightness to the centre of the dwelling and at the same time providing a powerful interstitial space and bridge of history between old and new buildings. One may look back to read the exterior of the old building through this glazed courtyard. This and similar full height glazing at the rear enable an important breezeway and temperature regulator, offering users the flexibility to change the formation & character of the dwelling as the season dictates.
Allocations of surface, threshold and junction were rigorously explored. At the apex of old and new, apertures are cut out of the existing Dining room connecting visually the front and rear. Bluestone edging provides a material link with traditional threshold devices but also highlights & demarcates this transition of history.
Similar to London terrace houses (often split levelled) this level change demarcates the spatial program and with it a transition in detail. The existing dwelling retains its high Victorian grandeur – decorative archways, fireplaces, cornicing - whereas the lowered volume contains a more relaxed, contemporary and comfort driven approach. A more formal Japanned gloss lacquer floor becomes a more relaxed natural oiled blackbutt. In the rear of the house the ‘aperture’ cut-outs become whole wall lengths edited out. The central courtyard neighbours wall is neatly framed in this way as a found relic that will eventually convert to a vertical garden.
Internal surfaces, colour and formal elements flow continuously outside encouraging the concept of interior and exterior as an integrated idea. A 20m long stone banquette seemingly continues through the frameless glass satisfying the owners request to seat ‘long’ lunches and provide a theatrical sense of movement and ‘extension of space’.
Colour is utilised in a unifying gesture. Simple darks and lights (often whites and blacks) are used in combination with naturally finished materials throughout the entirety of the home. There is an intended limitation and consistency in the use of material and colour so as to not overpower or compete with the interaction with the exterior.
The London terrace was again a point of departure – ‘Antique White’ with black detailing is consistently portrayed. White render with black gloss lacework and details adorn the front of the house, white plaster and satin black aluminium frames and details feature in the rear. Black marble mantles in the front reverse to Calacutta white in the rear.
Basalts, marbles, blackbutt timbers, off-white concrete & dark timber veneering appear repeatedly internally and externally. Furnishings follow a similar code whether decorative or of a more refined format. In the front feature elements such as mirrors, chandeliers and feature wallpaper as artwork all have a connection with the decorative lacework and colouring of the Victorian exterior.
Internal surfaces, colour and formal elements flow continuously outside at the rear encouraging the concept of interior and exterior as an integrated idea.
So the challenge was posed: How can one explore and celebrate the differences of what has come before and what is new and at the same time marry periods that differ philosophically in the degree with which interior & exterior interact? The project questions and encourages an interior architecture concerned with historical ‘story- telling’ celebrating both ‘continuity’ and ‘newness’.
The removal of the rear half of the house enabled us an opportunity to provide a contemporary interpretation of the Victorian terrace. This meant retaining a strong designation of specific functional zones, yet the journey from front to rear would involve a progression of increased spatial ‘editing out’ – a selective removal of walls and breaking down of the formality and containment of the Victorian interior. Whilst there is a clear intention to provide a reading of history this was not a story of two separate pavilions but instead a combined whole connected through simultaneous differentiation and consistency in material, colour and detail.
A central light court was extended in size to become a pivotal design feature - bringing an airy lightness to the centre of the dwelling and at the same time providing a powerful interstitial space and bridge of history between old and new buildings. One may look back to read the exterior of the old building through this glazed courtyard. This and similar full height glazing at the rear enable an important breezeway and temperature regulator, offering users the flexibility to change the formation & character of the dwelling as the season dictates.
Allocations of surface, threshold and junction were rigorously explored. At the apex of old and new, apertures are cut out of the existing Dining room connecting visually the front and rear. Bluestone edging provides a material link with traditional threshold devices but also highlights & demarcates this transition of history.
Similar to London terrace houses (often split levelled) this level change demarcates the spatial program and with it a transition in detail. The existing dwelling retains its high Victorian grandeur – decorative archways, fireplaces, cornicing - whereas the lowered volume contains a more relaxed, contemporary and comfort driven approach. A more formal Japanned gloss lacquer floor becomes a more relaxed natural oiled blackbutt. In the rear of the house the ‘aperture’ cut-outs become whole wall lengths edited out. The central courtyard neighbours wall is neatly framed in this way as a found relic that will eventually convert to a vertical garden.
Internal surfaces, colour and formal elements flow continuously outside encouraging the concept of interior and exterior as an integrated idea. A 20m long stone banquette seemingly continues through the frameless glass satisfying the owners request to seat ‘long’ lunches and provide a theatrical sense of movement and ‘extension of space’.
Colour is utilised in a unifying gesture. Simple darks and lights (often whites and blacks) are used in combination with naturally finished materials throughout the entirety of the home. There is an intended limitation and consistency in the use of material and colour so as to not overpower or compete with the interaction with the exterior.
The London terrace was again a point of departure – ‘Antique White’ with black detailing is consistently portrayed. White render with black gloss lacework and details adorn the front of the house, white plaster and satin black aluminium frames and details feature in the rear. Black marble mantles in the front reverse to Calacutta white in the rear.
Basalts, marbles, blackbutt timbers, off-white concrete & dark timber veneering appear repeatedly internally and externally. Furnishings follow a similar code whether decorative or of a more refined format. In the front feature elements such as mirrors, chandeliers and feature wallpaper as artwork all have a connection with the decorative lacework and colouring of the Victorian exterior.
Internal surfaces, colour and formal elements flow continuously outside at the rear encouraging the concept of interior and exterior as an integrated idea.
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