A Light-Filled Terrace Designed For The ‘Mess’ Of Modern Family Life
Architecture
Mess Hall is a Victorian terrace renovation by Architecture architecture.
The art studio at the rear was inspired by inner-city sheds.
Uninterrupted views into the sunny courtyard.
The flexible living and kitchen area is referred to as the ‘Main Hall’, where mobile benches can be moved to accommodate for crafternoons, after-school performances, and hosting.
The skilion roof overhangs the rear studio.
Greenery softens the red-brick structures of neighbouring terraces.
A row of glass blocks filter natural light into the home.
Warm timber joinery runs the length of the wall for maximum functionality.
An archway leads to the three bedrooms upstairs.
The view from the parlour room at the front of the house.
Architraves on the ceiling hold heritage flair.
The front room is perfect for practicing music or reading a book.
Built-in shelves fill the interiors with personality.
A translucent screen allows light to flow through the entire ground floor.
The same blue terrazzo from the kitchen splashback features in the upstairs bathroom.
The front door.
The quaint Victorian terrace facade.
This family home by Architecture architecture is not your average terrace renovation.
Before the project, the original Carlton house had the familiar flaws of a typical 1870s Victorian — characterised by its long but narrow 5.7-metre-wide block; a doglegged corridor servicing small, isolated living rooms; dark space; and a shadowy light court.
So when the clients returned home from some years living in Paris and Berlin with their two young kids, their inner-city terrace needed a more family-friendly update.
‘Our clients wanted an active home that would come to life at the end of the school day, facilitating creative projects, shared meals, music practice and impromptu visitors,’ Architecture architecture director Michael Roper says.
The front of the house retains a traditional ‘parlour’ room for quiet activities, a translucent sliding screen peels back to what is now an expansive, welcoming hall — reminiscent of a civic space — with direct views into the sunny courtyard.
This open-plan zone not only serves as the kitchen, living, and dining rooms all rolled into one, but it can easily shapeshift to accommodate the family’s daily routines. Upstairs, there’s the bedrooms
‘At one end of the Main Hall, the timber-lined walls have the gravity and presence of a library, with a sense of formality that speaks to the clients’ antique and heirloom furniture pieces,’ Michael adds.
‘The other end is bright, white and informal, with mobile benchtops on castors, permitting the adaptability that our clients’ lives demand.’
Thoughtful details help fill the flexible ground-floor with warmth and ambiance.
A skylight illuminates the row of glass bricks with soft sunlight, as the floor-to-ceiling doors frame views of the bookshelves in the ‘art studio’ tucked at the rear of the garden. In future, it’ll become a granny flat-style retreat for the family’s growing teenagers.
And while the concept of opening up the ground floor seems straightforward, Micheal says it held a number of challenges for his team and the structural engineers.
‘There’s a reason we don’t see terrace houses renovated this way’, he adds.
But the result is utterly enchanting — successfully combining the 19th century terrace’s flair with the flexibility required for 21st century living.