Two in oneby Vera Goll | 19.06.2013

HOUSE House

Australia builds the largest houses in the world! Regardless of the so-called “Ecological Footprint”, especially in the suburbs, buildings take up large areas and expand rather horizontally. The HOUSE house of Andrew Maynard Architects presents itself completely differently. Approximately three kilometres from the city centre of Melbourne, in the suburb of Richmond.

Old meets new

The architects consciously planned the three-storied structure to run vertically, and, thus, break with the typical building style of Australian dwelling houses. After a renovation and an expansion, a former single house became two houses united in a single architecture. A part of the adjacent brick building extends the living space towards east. Still, optically, the newly created “wooden box” is separated from the old building. To intensify the impression of a separation, glass is used at the “interface”. Here, a spiral staircase emphasizes the verticality.

Inhabited by two generations of a family, the structure of the old building was not adopted. While the old house runs from east to west, the new structure is oriented towards north and south. To maintain the Victorian terrace, the architects created two separate buildings. Due to mirrors attached to the garden fence, the narrow garden appears larger.

The bricks of the old building are still visible. The combination with the cedar planks of the extension gives a friendly atmosphere to the residential complex.

Flying high

The interiors of the newly created extension present themselves multifaceted, and are designed as open rooms. Mirrors attached to the walls simulate a larger depth of the relatively small rooms. At the ground floor of both buildings, there is the open plan kitchen. A spiral staircase leads to the first floor. There, a bathroom and a study are situated. At this floor, the new building is connected with the old one by a corridor. Continuing along the spiral staircase, one reaches the second floor of the new building, which is used as a bedroom.

Go green

To ensure a high energy efficiency, all windows are double-glazed. For the glazing at the roof, a special high-efficiency glass has been used. Thus, the greenhouse effect can be prevented. In addition, the outer walls and the roof, which is covered with solar collectors, have a special isolation.

With the HOUSE house, the architects succeeded in setting an example. They show that you do not have to build pancake-like houses to get a certain living space. The idea of uniting two houses has been realized in an exciting manner. Old and new make a harmonic and appealing unit.

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