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By the time the current owners purchased this Glen Iris house, many of its 1930s features had been removed, and the home had been given an unsympathetic extension.
The original rooms did little to engage with the established garden and wider neighbourhood, instead forming a dark and convoluted floor plan.
‘Our clients particularly love the leafy green surroundings and they wanted to feel in dialogue with their street, with the surrounding trees, and with their neighbour,’ explains architect Emlyn Olaver.
Olaver Architecture devised an innovative yet sensitive solution, demolishing the side addition in favour of a courtyard landscaped by Peachy Green, to be enjoyed by residents and passersby alike on the corner site.
A relatively low brick fence sweeps up to enclose an inverted arch and create the wall of the living room — representing a contemporary take on the curving detail original to many 1930s residences.
‘The curved brick fence and boundary wall establish a visual dialogue with the street, providing framed views of surrounding greenery while maintaining privacy,’ says .
Olaver also restored the facade’s damaged heritage fabric by reinstating its second chimney and a missing window.
Inside the home, a ‘dog leg’ in the plan was removed to create a seamless visual connection from the front door, past the bedrooms, and through to the new addition at the rear.
The latter contains the home’s communal areas, injected with more natural light through north facing clerestory windows in the slanted ceiling. On the other side, the house opens to a new decked area in the backyard with more textured planting.
An interplay of materials throughout — recycled brick, roughcast render, steel, and aluminium glazed windows — reinforces the connection between past and present in the renovated home. The resulting palette provides a pared back and robust backdrop, with warm accents radiating through timber joinery, Castlemaine slate crazy paving, and the garden beyond.
The owners say the free flowing access to highly trafficked areas makes living in the updated home a breeze. They add, ‘The house interacts seamlessly with the garden, with generous views to the front and backyards, as well as the side courtyard, and beyond to the neighbourhood pin oaks, creating a sense of harmony and calm.’
