A Heritage Brick Home Redesigned For Work + Play
Architecture
The family home features an extension at the rear.
A small shed and workshop are nestled at the boundary.
A large void and clearstory windows flood the space with natural light.
Blackbutt timber creates a sense of warmth in the new open-plan living zone.
‘They love to cook, so the kitchen had to be somewhere the family could gather around and have breakfast together,’ project lead Mat says.
The living space is centred around a fireplace.
The view into the backyard.
One of the two compact office spaces designed for working from home.
The bedrooms at the front were largely retained.
The renovations added an ensuite and a powder room.
The classic facade.
Don’t be deceived by the classic red-brick facade; Highlight House by Ben Callery Architects is a truly contemporary family home that caters to the specific needs of today.
The homeowners — who live in the Fitzroy North property with three daughters and a dog — approached the Melbourne-based studio in 2022 with a list of the heritage house’s shortfalls.
The requests ranged from updating heritage details, to adding a much-needed second bathroom, and a new extension housing the living spaces and kitchen where they could enjoy their pancake breakfasts a family.
But the brief also included a slew of features to accommodate how their lives had changed after the pandemic.
Among these, was an outdoor deck where they could exercise no matter the weather, a workshop for woodworking, and two separate office spaces — one for each parent.
‘They both predominantly works from home, and couldn’t share a combined larger study space because they are frequently on zoom meetings,’ project lead Mat Westphal.
The biggest challenge was squeezing everything into a single-storey floor plan, without exceeding the budget.
‘The main solution was keeping the front half of the house as much as possible and re-using existing rooms, including the “walk-through” original lounge as a second living room,’ director Ben Callery says.
A new volume with a void was added to the rear, which features warm blackbutt joinery, floors, and an expansive timber island bench with room for the whole family.
Between the existing home and the new addition, a small linkway was created to make space for two distinct study nooks — the largest spanning just 1.8-metres wide and 4-metres long.
Mat notes while the built-in shelves and desks took away the chance for multi-functionality, it was crucial to keep them compact, dedicating more room and flexibility to the backyard.
‘The backyard was designed to maximise functionality, with a large entertaining deck extends into an undercover pergola for exercise and outdoor cooking,’ he adds.
There’s also a permeable car space that doubles as an extension of the compact workshop, in place of the existing double-garage they sacrificed in the renovation.
Ben says the project reveals what more clients now need from their homes, and how the fabric of a heritage house can be successfully reimagined to ensure there’s something for everyone.
‘We are finding that a lot of people need more than just an occasional spot to set up a laptop. They need a dedicated work from home space with permanent monitor set up that’s ergonomically sound, and acoustically isolated form the rest of the house.
‘It’s still very space efficient (in this case the two WFH snugs combined take up the equivalent floor space of one bedroom) and while it doesn’t have flexibility, I don’t think that matters so much because working from home seems to be here to stay.’