Yarra Bend House was designing specifically in response to the owners forward-thinking brief, based on the concept of ‘ageing in place’. Jane, the owner and sole occupant, asked for a complete renovation of her two-bedroom, single-storey terrace cottage, to ensure she could continue to reside in the ‘supportive’ community she had been over thirty-five years. Jane’s brief was for a sustainable, adaptable, long-term, low-maintenance home that would be as energy efficient as possible, but above all, “a beautiful space”. She wanted her home to be welcoming, able to host her local choir and entertain her friends and neighbours. The build was to be architecturally interesting, practically driven over aesthetics - “to create a ‘warm feeling’” rather than being a personal statement. Ultimately Jane wanted a fully renovated, future-proofed home, as she didn’t want to move again. “Clifton Hill is my long term, chosen community. I’ve lived here for thirty-five years and I have lots of friends and neighbours and I feel very supported. I know if I can stay here, I’m in a good place.”
Yarra Bend House is the alteration and addition to a single-fronted terrace cottage in Clifton Hill, with an internal renovation at the front and a new double storey at the rear. In response to the suburb’s heritage overlay, the old part of the house has been externally improved and respectfully renewed. The front two rooms have been reconfigured with the old front bedroom divided to become a dedicated study (facing out to the street) and a bathroom, while the second bedroom now has a pop-out bay window projecting into a central courtyard garden. The courtyard, (with a Japanese Maple Tree), provides fresh air, open sky and greenery, and serves as a link transitioning between the old and the new.
The double story addition maximises the full 4.5 metre width of this narrow block, with kitchen, living, dining room connecting directly to the external areas at each side. Upstairs there is a bedroom, a central bathroom and multi-purpose room overlooking the north facing rear garden. A new laundry/shed building is positioned at the rear of the garden to separate the utilities from the main house to create more internal living space.
The north facing rear orientation and close proximity to neighbouring properties required some form of screening to the new addition. Responding to the owners desire for an architectural proposal that served a practical purpose, white aluminium angle slats, fabricated in rotated diagonal patterns, follows the external form of the addition and projects into the rear yard. The sculptural screen serves many purposes, providing protection and shade from the sun, for both levels, controlling over-looking, providing a level of privacy and concealing an awning allowing weather protection to the lower level.
“The screen is very practical but it’s also just the most beautiful thing. I could not imagine a bunch of metal could be so aesthetic in its own right.”
View Original