Residential, alteration and addition
Northcote, Melbourne
Completed 2017
Photographer, Sharyn Cairns
About the project
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Located in the Melbourne suburb of Northcote, only a stone’s throw north of the city, Northcote House is sited on a long and narrow block with a south facing backyard and secondary rear lane access. Like their neighbours (Northcote House 2) the clients wanted to keep the heritage frontage desiring a modern light filled, double storey addition to the rear, contrasting the dark and intimate rooms of the existing dwelling.
Home to a growing family who love to entertain, the design for this home required the clever use of spatial programming to accommodate the client’s brief. The clients brief was for four bedrooms with two living rooms, open plan kitchen, dining, lounge area and a roof top terrace, all within a modest building footprint. The key to understanding and addressing the brief was thinking about the individual spaces as multi-functional entities. Spaces needed to be able to respond to the demands of the occupier depending on the activity that was being played out at any given time. Essentially the spaces needed a degree of flexibility. Double height volumes, skylights and highlight windows allowed the house to be in constant connection with the external environment giving the occupier the ability to control the aperture and movement of the outside world.
Double height volumes, skylights and highlight windows allowed the house to be in constant connection with the external environment
“Our experience with James and Peter from Taylor Knights was amazing and our project was a massive success turning out better than we ever could have imagined. Throughout the project they were extremely professional, creative and innovative and ensured that each step of the project went smoothly.
We engaged Taylor Knights as our architect to renovate and extend our single fronted Victorian terrace with a heritage overlay in Northcote. They provided a range of services including concept and design, council/planning approval, construction documentation, tender process and contract administration.
Peter and James totally transformed our small two bedroom dark house into a large light filled four bedroom home that perfectly integrates the modern extension with the original Victorian house at the front. Our house is now a beautiful home which maximises the every inch of the small block and perfectly connects the internal and external spaces.
Overall we couldn’t be happier with Taylor Knights and couldn’t recommend them highly enough. Their creativity, attention to detail, client focused design and willingness to go the extra mile to make the project perfect was just amazing and not only did they totally transform our house and lifestyle but also added significant value to our property.”
