West Melbourne Residence

• Architecture: level architekture
• Construction: level konstrukt
• Photography: John Gollings

Extending a home in a single Victorian cottage row under Heritage overlay in Melbourne presents a challenging architectural attempt.

To explore the potential of this tiny land of 88m2 of 4.6m width and 19.1m length without compromising the front character of the cottage, the concept design was approached as follow:

• Vertically, to maximize the open spaces to enjoy outdoor living and city views and to accommodate the functions demanded by the brief.
• Horizontally, to extend through the whole land on the laneway level so a courtyard is carved in the middle facing North to filter sunlight through all the living areas. This is a better solution than to keep a backyard that does not serve any purpose.

Slanting the wall in the master bedroom on the ground floor level allowed more space inside without jeopardizing the sunlight to get to the laneway level.

Nestling the new attic behind the front pitched roof made the expansion completely invisible from the front.

Filtering sunlight through polycarbonate twin walls made the living areas more livable.