Fitzroy Laneway House.

WhoA professional couple with a young child

What they wantedA home for themselves and their growing child that celebrated the qualities of the existing building and provided individual privacy and future flexibility.

ProjectAn alteration and additions to a double storey Victorian terrace within a heritage precinct.

SizeSite: 297m2 / Floor Area: 182m2 = 87m2 (existing) + 95m2 (additions)

OverviewAlterations + additions to a derelict semi attached double storey Victorian terrace to house a growing family.

This proposal uses a former privately created laneway as a design driver to organise the spaces and heighten the experience within and around the original mid-late 19th century house.

As one of the myriad of seemingly ad-hoc laneways throughout Fitzroy, this 2.5 metre wide strip of land runs from the front to the rear along the long southern boundary of this property.

The design sees the overall property divided into two zones: this former laneway strip, and the remaining footprint of the property. In memory of its original use, the new addition within the former laneway strip becomes the main circulation route through the property and houses the more utilitarian spaces. The grander spaces, where one is likely to spend more time, are positioned to the north of this, within the property’s original footprint.

Any new building within the two zones is handled differently: Externally the addition within the laneway strip is deliberately diminutive; being black in colour and lower, thinner and lighter in mass than the higher, thicker, heavier white masonry structure of the original Victorian building within the property’s original footprint.

The introduction of a curious and respectful contemporary addition strengthens the urban presence of the row of double storey Victorian terraces to the north and contributes to the evolving neighbourhood character of this inner Melbourne suburb.