Within the phrases of architect Rob Kennon, Elwood Bungalow is a challenge that depends on the thought of subtracting house, as a lot as including it.
Moderately than retain the property’s overshadowed yard surrounded by neighbours, Rob Kennon Architects noticed a possibility to carve house from this space for the extension round a central courtyard, designed in shut collaboration with Eckersley Backyard Structure. This low-lying addition builds sq. as much as all three of the property’s rear boundaries, and subtracts a circle backyard out from the center, creating an inward flooring plan that appears onto itself.
‘They have been an open-minded consumer who didn’t include any preconceived concepts of what they wished. They simply gave us the chance to unravel this drawback that the rear of the block was overshadowed and ignored,’ says Rob.
The addition’s planning is harking back to Roy Grounds’ Hill Road Home (circa 1954) in Toorak, which additionally incorporates a round, glass-walled courtyard.
‘I bear in mind I visited the Hill Road Home early in my research of structure, and it kind of at all times sat with me as a extremely important challenge within the historical past of Melbourne structure,’ remembers Rob. ‘The factor that resonated with me there was that it was a singular concept that carried by and solved an issue. It’s such a memorable response.’
Rob recognised this challenge specifically would profit from an identical association. ‘It was acceptable for this website,’ he says. ‘We didn’t have any alternatives outwards, so we would have liked to look inwards.’
Internally, the addition incorporates all communal areas of the house in addition to the primary bed room. The absence of corners bordering these areas permits an infinite fluctuation of views to the courtyard and lighting situations throughout the house. Connection to the outside permeates day by day life, and one’s expertise inside this house is rarely with out the backyard or sky.
This addition doesn’t search to compete with the house’s authentic structure, however fairly sit as a materially restrained and formally simplistic backdrop. Weighted supplies (masonry partitions, concrete flooring and ceiling) complement the concrete wall building of its interwar counterpart, whereas the textural palette (painted brick, timber joinery, and fantastic tiles) interprets current options such because the stucco and ornamental timber work into a contemporary context.
Current rooms of the home have additionally been opened up and reconfigured, with authentic options restored. ‘You continue to stroll in the identical door, however you’ve acquired connections to gentle, air and inexperienced,’ says Rob.
One other impressed collaboration between Rob Kennon Architects and Eckersley Backyard Structure, it is a challenge that pushes the boundaries of latest house design.
Elwood Bungalow by Rob Kennon Architects is shortlisted in Residential Structure of The Design Recordsdata + Laminex Awards 2021, introduced by COLORBOND® metal.
