Little Richardson

The clients came to us with an existing 2-storey 80s townhouse in a heritage Victorian streetscape context. The site had been subdivided from the courtyard of a single-fronted Victorian shop-house that fronted the adjacent street, and it occupied the rear corner and laneway. Because of this the site was very small, even for it's inner suburban context.

The house didn't work for the clients, however through working closely with them we were able to draw out their initial brief and refine it.

Initial Brief;
• The existing house had overly small windows, little natural light, a cramped floorpan and overly intrusive stair, which they wanted to dramatically improve
• The clients wanted a contemporary renovation that provided more natural light and a feeling of connection to the landscape, yet without losing privacy
• The clients wanted similar accommodation than was already there, but with more space and openness, and were unsure how to solve the privacy issues
• Downstairs was to remain open-plan kitchen-living-dining, ideally with powder room and with a different stair!
• Upstairs, two bedrooms and a bathroom were all directly accessed off a cramped landing. This level was to remain two bedrooms, but with a better arrangement and a bigger bathroom, ideally with a separate laundry.
• The opportunity for a roof deck came about as the design progressed.

Using principles of adaptive reuse and sensory design, Little Richardson uses elevational, formal and haptic strategies to respond to the urban streetscape.

A compositional elevation study refined the arrangement of horizontal and vertical strip windows in the red-brick façade; this was practical - utilising some of the existing openings already in the brickwork, and extending or patching in others to best capture light and views whilst working as a composition. The existing house already occupied the laneway corner, and we worked the new additions in to reinforce the robust form whilst creating a sculptural upper level, as a conceptual and contextual strategy.

It was important to seamlessly connect courtyard to living space - you enter the house when you enter the courtyard, and this sense of landscape connection is important to environmental sensory design – improving psychological wellbeing.

Interior materiality was explored through the haptic; consideration of daylight effects to a minimal material palette exploring 4 elements and their relationship to the body; the paring of white spaces contrasting with the tonal richness of dark tiled spaces to wet areas, concrete; inside-outside on the ground floor, external stair and roof-deck cladding above, and various oak timbers defining the ceiling plane and joinery. As Derek John Clements-Croome writes; “We link our perceptions about materials through our senses … they hold memories of activities ….. in other words, materials can hold our emotions”

The clients are blown away by the transformation to their home. The design has provided a completely renewed experience of dwelling, all the more extraordinary for the context of small site and zero-setback. As with many of us last year, the clients found themselves fully transitioned to working from home, and remarked that it would have been impossible for them in the pre-renovation house. Their home is now transformed through the connection to landscape, distant views, and haptic experience of light, dappled shadow and tonal variations throughout the day, with the spatial narrative bookended by choice of outdoor space. This connection to landscape brings recognised psychological benefits, personal contentment and joy.

The robustness and patina of the red brick façade, is counterbalanced with the set-back black clad form, detailed at the end-junction to suggest a cantilever. Presenting as both house-as-wall yet with built form behind, the project contributes a layered interpretation of the familiar red brick buildings dotting the laneways of City of Port Phillip.

• Contemporary in expression, it creates a dialogue with the heritage streetscape, with layering, formal interest and contextual materials.
• The rooftop recedes from pedestrian view, yet when occupied is completely immersed in the landscape -expansive, generous and private.

Working through studies was critical to resolving the requirement of the functional brief with the restrictions of the site area and local heritage policy restricting built form. Balance needed to be struck between a modest addition to improve ground-floor / first-floor flow and useable courtyard space, whilst satisfying planning requirements. The clients were amazed we could exceed the brief with such modest extensions and utilising so much of the existing structure;
• To feel a sense of generosity to the open plan living
• Improve ceiling heights / entry sequence
• Remove the dominance of the stair
• Create light and landscape connection / immersion
• By extending the ground floor slightly (5m2) this allowed to rework the entire plan, still allowing for a neatly sized 14m2 courtyard on the 59.6m2 site. Relocating the secure threshold into the house to the courtyard wall with video security, allowed the living areas to completely open up to the courtyard with full-width and full-height sliding glazed doors, and the highlight windows bring the green verdant streetscape tree canopy into view along the entire length of the house.
• Extensive studies were undertaken to design the best location for the kitchen and stair elements. With such a small footprint, this aspect of the design was critical to its success, and every millimetre is accounted for. The design recanters the kitchen as focal point with spatial flow around the island bench, and the cabintry itself is used to conceal the balanced elements of stair to the left and powder room to the right.
• Expanding level to remove an awkward setback and align with the ground floor below, and introducing a corridor upstairs were also transformative, turning what was a tiny landing with cramped rooms directly off it, into the more expansive feeling of a "bedroom wing", with room for a separate European laundry
• A valuable external under-stair cupboard accessed from the bluestone laneway picks up on the triangulated themes of the upper level, maximising utility.

The first principle of sustainability is to "reuse", and here we were able to reuse most of the existing structure with minimal structural interventions and to reinforce boundary walls for the additional roof-deck level.

Passive sustainable design principles were improved by taking every opportunity to add natural direct sunlight through window design and location, allowing for shading and cross-ventilation as well, and retaining the thermal mass advantages of the concrete slab.

Other sustainable features include;
• The careful specification of sustainable materials with low VOC content, including carpets, curtains, timbers, glues and paints
• High levels of insulation and double glazing
• Active sustainable design features include solar panels, heat pump, underground rainwater tank and zoned LED lighting

The clear challenge was always going to be expanding the functional plan and improving outlook with such a restricted site area. Making use of borrowed landscape views, with just a small footprint extension, were key to solving this challenge.

The other key challenge was how to integrate the 21st century challenge of sustainable small-footprint living with a contemporary sensibility of spaciousness and delight. The architecture addresses this challenge directly, both through a rigorously resolved plan that achieves balance making use of every millimetre and every opportunity for natural light, through the careful specification of sustainable materials, and also by using the sculptural form of the roof to conceal solar panels and services. The interior design address this challenge through materiality, especially with cabinetry and service rooms, which are designed to look beautiful even when doors are open, so that they feel part of the architectural and spatial expression.

Product selection was key to the refinement of the detailing;
Fixtures & Fittings
• ZETR power points
• Kitchen - Evernex Deep Grain Oak with Black internal
• Kitchen - Evernex Deep Grain Oak with Polytec Natural Oak Matt interiors
• Blum soft close hinge/ draw runners INTIVO Black
• Handles LINEAR STANDARD TRIM Oak
• Thin Benchtop; Dekton 12mm Domos
• Polished Floor; Ecoflor 3mm Micro Topping Grey
• Flooring; Kustom Timber Tempest European Oak
• Carpet; Bremworth Cavalier Levante Felucca from Carpet Court South Melbourne
• MASSON FOR LIGHT - Roman Pendant 2160 LED 52W and Mondo DL DUO GU10 Black
• MASSON FOR LIGHT Cascada Mini Steplights, Minimal DL Gu10 Black ceiling lights and ASTRO Wall spots
Taps from Reece Plumbing;
• Scala Pull-out Sink Mix Black
• Powder room - Milli Pure matt black mixer tap
• Bathroom - Milli matt black mixer tap
• Bathroom - Scala Handshower and rail
• Caroma Liano wall-faced pan with Geberit concealed cistern from Reece
• Franke undermount sink in Fragonite Onyx
• Fisher & Paykel Integrated Fridge and Dishwasher;
• Living fire i-700 Freestanding wood fire
• Specialised Heating & Cooling Fujitsu VRF System 12KW Heat / Cool
• New Form Concrete Basins; Vessel Basin in Midnight and Baby Rectangle Intergrated shelf
Tiles from the TileShop; White Matt Porcelain 450x900 and Black Yuki Finger Tiles

Furniture and Accessories
• Trit House Ethnicraft Bok Extendable Oak Dining Table
• Maxwell Dining chairs / Pure Dining Bench from RJ Living with Flynn Smoke Round mirror
• Delta 3 Sofa in Roma Tan leather from King Living Furniture
• Rupert Bed in Husk Ice from Heatherly Design
• Soul side tables in Oak from RJ Living with Method narrow shelving unit in black
• Oscar sofa bed in Baxter from King Furniture
• Saarde blanket and St Marc cushion cover from Nest Homewares
• Adell chairs by Arper from Stylecraft
• Silhouette lamp by Ross Gardam from Stylecraft
• Deneb outdoor table and bench seat by Stua from Stylecraft
• Zola table and Emi Pod by Anaca Studios
• Kimono Rug in Metallics by Jenny Jones
• Plant pots from Garden of Eden, South Melbourne

ART
Photography • Gavin John - travelphotography.com.au - Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

CERAMICS by Three Bowls Full

Feature Little Bottle Rocket sculpture and Mint Cylinder sculpture by Kristin Burgham