Andrew Maynard Architects has completed the residential alteration and extension project of an existing double fronted weatherboard house in Melbourne, Australia. The client presented a brief comprised of 2 bathrooms, a bedroom, living area, kitchen and increased connection with outside areas.
The house itself was a typical of inner suburban Melbourne. The site is double fronted with a deeper than usual block running east west. Upon the brief, the architect responded with the idea of developing the possibility of malleable and mobile space, especially in residential design. They thought that the building should respond to the emerging social conditions created by mobile technology such as mobile phones, laptops, PDAs, cars, planes etc.
The original house has been restored to its simple four room square plan, and the new structure sits lightly beside it. The recycled grey iron bark portal frames are of a larger, non-domestic scale. They were envisaged as an old relic of a pre-industrial age, an old, wise element to a new and vibrant addition.
The use of screening and the glazed garage doors create a soft edge that allows the internal spaces to spill into the outdoor spaces. Within this structure are the small, colorful boxes of the bedroom and kitchen. These objects separate functions and act as a bridge between the original house and the extension.
Insulation, a sheltering context and well-designed sunshading makes the design an efficient home without the use of elaborate tactics or expensive equipment. The sunshading spacing was designed to minimize solar gain during summer and maximize solar gain during winter. As the seasons shift forest-like dappled sunlight plays throughout the internal spaces. A soon to be installed rainwater tank will be positioned along the southern façade where the roof drainage has been articulated to.
The internal plan is a simple linear organization, however the overall design is not a linear one. The layering between internal and external spaces creates an organic series of connections visually and actual between original, new and external spaces. The kitchen ‘box’ acts as the bridge between the old and new, acting as a negotiator between the two languages.
The primary structure is a series of recycled grey iron bark portal frames with 12mm steel connectors at each junction. Within the portal structure is a simple stud frame. The glazed garage doors have a steel surround that fixes directly to the stud work. Western Red Cedar battens shade the structure. Existing services have been extended. The client is planning to add solar panels to the new roof area. The roof water has been articulated to points along the southern boundary to allow rainwater tanks to plug straight into the current plumbing.
Below are site plans and layouts of the small modern house design. Click on each image for larger views.
