Terrace Transformed for a Family

Architecture - by Stephen Crafti

This single-fronted Victorian terrace, located in Canterbury, Melbourne, is the odd one out in a tree-lined street with considerably larger period homes. And when the house came onto the market, it’s painted brick façade and 1950s additions did little to improve it. “The side garage (added in the 1960s) was painted white like the home’s façade, originally in Hawthorn bricks,” says architect Matt Gibson, who was commissioned to transform the terrace into a family home for a couple with two young children.

Photo: Shannon McGrath

While the original terrace was modest in scale, the property came with an eastern right-of-way and a deep rear garden (approximately 35 metres). And although the house had been altered a number of times, including a series of additions and lean-tos, the original ‘bones’ were still in relatively good order. As the client mentioned in the briefing stage, ‘the house is waiting desperately for the shoulders it needs’.

Photo: Shannon McGrath

Matt Gibson Architecture + Design retained the original portion of the house comprising three rooms leading off a shotgun corridor. Two of these rooms are now bedrooms for the children, and the third is a shared bathroom. Gibson also retained the original roof, which previously enclosed the home’s formal living area. The timber beams are now expressed below a glass-and-plaster ceiling, hovering over the home’s kitchen and living area.

Photo: Shannon McGrath

Many architects would have simply ‘knocked’ off the back additions and designed a glazed wing to the northern back garden. However, as there is a right-of-way along one side, and wanting to get natural light into the core of the floor plate, Gibson came up with a C-shaped plan. This new wing wraps around the rear boundary and cleverly draws on light from the west to activate both new and old wings of the house. “Previously, there was no connection to the outdoors, except through a single door from the kitchen,” says Gibson, who used the western elevation to create a series of courtyards and bay-style windows.

Photo: Shannon McGrath

Gibson also drew on the original Victorian ceiling heights when drawing up the plans for the new contemporary wing. By incorporating the original roof and following the fall of the land, the ceiling height over the kitchen and living area is almost five metres. Unlike the previous kitchen, the new design features a striking Calacatta marble bench and splashbacks. And deep timber alcoves frame the living area.

Photo: Shannon McGrath

One of the most dramatic changes to the original Victorian design, with its shotgun corridor along one side, is the open plan pavilion-style arrangement at the rear. The main bedroom suite, for example, is separated from the living areas by a generous courtyard and swimming pool, the latter appearing considerably larger with the use of a mirror. “The spaces are quite fluid,” says Gibson, pulling back the large sliding glass doors/walls that frame both the main bedroom and living area.

Photo: Shannon McGrath

Gibson was also able to manipulate the side boundary to create additional spaces. A guest powder room, for example, is cleverly tucked into the side pathway and a study was treated as a pop-out space at the front of the house. But mindful of overshadowing the home’s Victorian façade (now stripped of its paint), this study, clad in black zinc, appears recessive.

Photo: Shannon McGrath

As well as completely changing the nature of the original house, Gibson has changed the way it’s used. Family and close friends enter the home from a side door, adjacent to the study. This allows the front door to remain unused for most of the time, as well as giving over the front garden to the children as their own play area. “The house is now zoned for parents and children even though from the front it appears little has changed,” adds Gibson.