A Mindful Multi-Generational Family Home In Clifton Hill

This amazing Clifton Hill household occupies a uniquely substantial, 80 metre-extended block for Melbourne’s inner northern suburbs.

But the dimensions also posed a obstacle for Clare Cousins Architects, who have been questioned to design and style a new dwelling for a few and their a few teenage daughters.

‘The customers needed a residence that could accommodate not only their daily life, but also be the potential household for an ageing guardian and going to kinfolk,’ director Clare Cousins says.

To stay clear of disrupting the heritage glimpse of the region, the style took cues from the site’s existing article-war cottage. Its outdated bricks were being salvaged and integrated in the house’s id, ‘offering a perception of permanence and low-servicing durability’.

One of the most hanging features of Esplanade House is its compartmentalised format, defined by curved partitions and distinctive wings — which merge at the coronary heart of the dwelling.

The entry is established again from the footpath powering a cost-free-standing ‘utility building’ adorned with strike-and-overlook brickwork. It retailers bikes and solar battery storage, but Clare notes how this intelligent addition also makes certain privateness for the front courtyard and northern wing of children’s bedrooms.

The entrepreneurs asked for that the residence look ‘at ease’ among the predominantly one-storey bordering houses. This guide to a discrete 2nd floor that serves as the adult’s area, that includes the principal bedroom and examine. There is also self-contained studio at the rear primed for visitors.

Inside of, sustainably sourced blackbutt timber enhances the light-filled residing spaces. And the moody environmentally friendly joinery in the kitchen incorportates one particular of the family’s favourite colors.

The client’s enjoy of gardening was also central to the venture. Walled gardens are broken up close to the sculptural architecture and a effective backyard garden is the useful centrepiece of the backyard.

‘The elongated plan weaves the household and the Fiona Brockhoff-created back garden with each other, featuring various outside options and vistas from all rooms of the home, even though remaining sympathetic to its heritage context,’ Clare points out.

Esplanade House showcases how considerate home design and style can regard the earlier, whilst remaining firmly anchored in the present — and making sure relevance perfectly into the foreseeable future.

See more of Clare Cousins Architects’ do the job below.