Revival

Melbourne, Australia

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Revival

Melbourne, Australia

Firm

Honeyman and Smith

Type

Residential › Private House Multi Unit Housing

YEAR

2013

SIZE

5000 sqft - 10,000 sqft

This project consists of two dwellings on a single site. One would be used as the client's residence, the second dwelling would be sold. Photographs identify how the dwellings have been formed to appear as one, with material articulation echoing the character of the suburb of Hawthorn and the adjacency to the industrial zone of Burnley over the river to the North. Interior photographs are taken throughout both dwellings and attempt to show dramatic contradictions amongst the spaces. Floor plans illustrate how the brief is set around the concept of central public lobby spaces. Through enhancing these common spaces around areas of transit — the staircase, waiting area, and meeting point could be celebrated architecturally rather than what is normally integrated into a core, isolated and ignored.
Neo-gothic inspirations drawn from the history of Hawthorn developed an aesthetic and form that aspires to promote design for context and local significance. Challenging historic boundaries, the response seeks to engage the modern user as well as the existing fabric of the tight streets leading down to the Yarra River. The proximity to the heritage listed “The Hawthorns” on Creswick Street inspired a reinterpretation of Gothic Revival. The significance of a number of listed buildings in close proximity to the site is also magnified by the nature of growth in Hawthorn.
The form is intended to appear as a single home, in keeping with the historic context. It was crucial for us to endeavor to reintroduce and modernize a design vernacular prevalent in Hawthorn but often lost in modern schemes. Local bricks, concrete, and steel form the basis of the dramatic response to site conditions. The interior palette and fixtures offer a timeless and classic approach, attempting to combine off-whites and vivid whites with bronze trims to subtly contrast the dark, heavy, vertical nature of the exterior.
In order to bring the natural surroundings into the dwelling, a one-off farm forestry veneer was used from the Ottway Ranges. Lobby spaces are connected by central staircases through the three levels in each dwelling. Top levels open to far-reaching views beyond. Lower levels connect with the street and leafy surroundings. The larger of the two residences uses oversized vertical openings to enhance and engage with the proportions of the scheme, the central axis connects to these openings throughout. The smaller scheme recesses large openings to connect with the skyline to the West and Port Phillip Bay to the South.
Circulation encourages interaction between users in light-filled public areas, with private spaces connected through darker ante-spaces, in turn, creating lobby/ante spaces that aim to transform mundane everyday tasks into moments of engagement with the surroundings.
Joinery was designed to embrace the vertical proportions of the fabric of this area of Melbourne. A custom designed “Lobby Chair,” capturing the essence of the project at a micro scale, assists the experience of the user waiting, contemplating, and preparing to move to one of the interconnected rooms or access points.