Waltham Jewel in Victoria, Australia by Melbourne Design Studio (MDS)

Article source: Melbourne Design Studio (MDS)

Melbourne Design Studios (MDS) are terrifically adaptable. Given a brief for contemporary new residences for a development, the team also took on the dilapidated heritage home on the allotment, transforming it into ‘Waltham Jewel’, one of Richmond’s finest homes.

Image Courtesy © Peter Clarke Photography

• Architects: Melbourne Design Studio (MDS)
• Project: Waltham Jewel
• Location: Richmond, Victoria, Australia
• Photography: Peter Clarke Photography
• Software used: Vectorworks, BIM
• Project Team: MDS: Marc Bernstein-Hussmann, Felicity Bernstein, Paola Provinciali
• Builder: H Daniel Constructions
• Building Surveyor: Metro Building Surveying
• ESD Consultant: Melbourne Design Studios (MDS)
• Structural Engineer: Hive Engineering
• Services Engineer: NJM
• Completion Date: April 2016

Image Courtesy © Peter Clarke Photography

MDS director Marc Bernstein’s plan for the Victorian-era home took the developers on an unexpected journey. “The home was initially a leftover piece of the equation that the developers just weren’t really interested in. Ultimately, they were amazed by what we made of the house and that it could actually be, not only commercially attractive, but also a really beautiful piece of architecture.”

Bernstein’s team set to work removing a series of timber lean-tos on the back of the home, transforming the four generous front rooms into formal living, two bedrooms, generous bathroom, and study.

Image Courtesy © Peter Clarke Photography

Image Courtesy © Peter Clarke Photography

At the rear of the original home, a set of steps leads down to a “services core” (with laundry and powder room), and then on to the two-storey addition. Here, the new built volumes are arranged to the south of the block, to access “free solar heating”, and to formulate north-facing garden space, explains Bernstein. The generous open plan living, dining and kitchen open up to the sun-captured north garden through a wall of bi-fold doors and a charming upholstered window seat. A walnut veneer wall, and recessed shadowlines to skirtings and architraves make the whole work sublime.

Image Courtesy © Peter Clarke Photography

The staircase to bedrooms on the upper level, utilises a chimney stack effect to draw out rising heat through summer. “When you walk upstairs, you arrive at an extended landing with a large bi-fold wall where you’re effectively standing on an oversize balcony,” describes Bernstein. “It’s quite special. A landing is a spatial element that is generally considered ‘lost’ space. In this scheme, we are trying to utilize every space in the home in order to give it added meaning.”

Image Courtesy © Peter Clarke Photography

Sustainability Initiatives:

Environmental design aspects define the project, from thoughtful spatial arrangements and the environmental impact of material selections, passive solar design, watertanks, double glazing in thermally broken aluminium frames, through to active systems such as solar hot water.
New walls are composed of extra thick timber studwork to enable double insulation, plus a lightweight EIFS (External Insulation Finishing System) consisting of render on mesh over foam, providing extra insulation with a consistently beautiful finish. The same system has been used to insulate, repair, and bridge cracks in the render to the existing heritage house.

Image Courtesy © Peter Clarke Photography

Key design challenges:

The relative tightness of the inner-urban block – particularly after subdividing the rear allotment – has been overcome by the generous feel of the design, substantially supported by the creative use of both natural and artificial light, including the clever placement of windows, doors and skylights.
The existing streetscape comprises a mix of single fronted cottages and double fronted heritage dwellings, interspersed with modern apartment blocks. The streetscape strategy was to reference the existing house’s architectural heritage and feel, while only hinting at the contemporary intervention at the rear. The almost half level height change from front to back of the site was a notable design challenge that has been successfully managed, by way of the split level nature of the rear extension.

Image Courtesy © Peter Clarke Photography

Tags: Australia, Victoria

Categories: Autocad, House, Residential, Vectorworks

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