Trinian Street

1. The client brief for this project included three clear requirements: maximize access to natural light and create a light and transparent family home, provide flexible and adaptable spaces with separate zones, and minimize the overall footprint in order to maintain a generous sized yard. All three of these requirements were meticulously explored and delivered through planning of several design options.

What was originally a dark east facing dwelling, the brief was to maximize access to natural light and create a light and transparent family home. The existing site ran east to west, but by creating a north facing rear addition, the space was able to be flooded with natural light.
A young family requires flexibility. By having multiple spaces in the existing house, the open plan living and private retreat upstairs, provide the opportunity to zone off, creating an adaptable family home. Robust material choices ensure the house can withstand everything the young family throws at it.
As land is a premium in Prahran, the internal spaces work hard in order to keep the footprint of the new addition as small as possible to maximize backyard space.

The house provides a platform for family life, with a series of versatile spaces that can adapt to a family’s changing needs. Open spaces for living bring the family together, the island bench a vantage spot to keep an eye on the kids, whilst private studies provide opportunities to work from home without disrupting the rest of the family. Over time, the use of these spaces can also evolve, ensuring the house will remain their home long into the future.

The key driver for the Trinian Street House was to provide a natural and light family home whilst still maximizing outdoor space. Spaces work hard, creating highly efficient and flexible zones that can adapt to family needs as they change. A flexible and living space opens up onto the backyard, connecting inside and out. This is contrasted by dual private spaces for living and working, one in the existing house that has been restored back to heritage detail, and the other, a parent retreat and master bedroom occupying the first floor.

In order to create a holistic and visually integrated product down to the minutest detail, the architects carried out the architecture, interior design and decoration and hard landscapes. The construction process was collaborative with the builder, a process helped by a long history of working together, ensuring a high level of detail in the finishes. Garden planting is kept simple to complement the strong built form and provide a low maintenance landscaped solution whilst providing maximum outdoor recreation spaces for the kids.

1. In order to respect the Victorian heritage of the existing dwelling, the addition was pushed back on the site, creating a threshold space to transition between the old and the new. White bricks on the ground floor reference the building material of the existing dwelling and its neighbours, whilst also forming a robust base that will be able to withstand the onslaught of a young family. The first floor has a folded façade which responds to overlooking setbacks, whilst subtly breaking down the visual mass. The natural timber that will grey off over time, helps the form blend into the background.