Clad Pad is a sun-filled, family-friendly renovation to an existing dwelling located in Caulfield North. The original double-fronted, single-storey, weatherboard house was built in the 1890s in the Victorian style. The 1970s were not a kind decade and the house was transformed from an elegant Victorian cottage into the ugly duckling of the street. Over the years, numerous low-quality DIY renovations resulted in the entire skin being wrapped in a faux-brick asbestos cladding and the removal of much of its heritage charm.

Undaunted by a challenge, our clients purchased this ugly duckling with ambitions to transform the original rooms back into their former Victorian-era glory and add new contemporary light-filled spaces at the rear. A significant aspect of the project was undoing the 1970s makeover and restoring its beautiful heritage features.

The family’s brief was for spaces filled with natural light, and a better transition between the inside living spaces and backyard area to allow their children to play in the garden and still be connected. They were keen for the new spaces to have both a distinct yet harmonious relationship with the restored heritage spaces of the existing house.

Our intervention retains original bedrooms, adding new services and a multifunctional living room that re-orientates the house to be north-facing and opens onto the generous back garden. This space tapers towards the rear corner of the block, enabling garden space to be maximised and tailoring of the internal spaces to suit specific functions housed within. At the narrowest end, an intimate living room with a built-in couch is created which is adjacent to an extensive north-facing outdoor deck. At the widest point, a kitchen and dining space are accommodated. The threshold between outdoor and indoor dissolves with jumbo north timber sliding doors that open out onto the entertaining deck and garden.

The existing house was literally unclad to reveal still intact weatherboards. Grafting the new spaces onto an existing dwelling provided an opportunity for the architecture of the new and old areas to interact and play. The roof form of the extension takes the existing double hip roof form of the original house, rotates it 90 degrees, and carves it out to create a distinct sculptural profile; the negative of the existing roof form as a folded ‘zig zag’ that gathers the new kitchen, dining and living space under it. A wall of glass facing the north complements the form by bouncing natural light throughout.

Clad Pad celebrates the best aspects of contemporary living whilst restoring the heritage charm of what once was the ugly duckling of the street.

Clad pad demonstrates a strong commitment to environmental sustainability. This is principally achieved via the retention and careful restoration of the original house fabric. Rather than let the energy and history embodied in its materials go to waste, we kept and upgraded most of the original structure, revealed cladding, and restored original heritage details rather than replacing them.

Our intervention assumed a strategy of sensitive infiltration. We touched every room yet retained the house’s original essence. In doing so we were able to insulate the roof, walls, and floors, upgrade windows to double-glazing, and recommission and extend the existing heating system. We installed rainwater tanks, ceiling fans to the sleeping areas, and low-energy light fittings throughout. Air conditioning was avoided by careful use of passive design principles. Deep northern eaves allow for great solar penetration in the winter months and keep the sun out during the summer months. The combination of louvres along the northern façade and operable low southern windows allows for great natural ventilation and night purging.

A sun-filled, family-friendly weatherboard home with a sculptural profile.

Location: Caufield North
Typology: Residential Renovation
Status: Completed 2019
Builder: Sargant Construction
Design Team: Erica Slocombe, Warwick Mihaly, Lauren Holland, and Amiee Groundwater
Country: Bunurong

Photography: Tatjana Plitt