A Contemporary Renovation Packed Full of Clever Ideas
Light, smart storage and pet-friendly features – there's no end to the inspired ideas in this small home made big
Georgia Madden
20 March 2019
In this Q&A series, we turn the spotlight on one thought-provoking renovation or extension each week. Here, Rebecca Naughtin at Rebecca Naughtin Architect reveals how she took a dated, two-bedroom, one-bathroom Victorian home in Melbourne with limited space and transformed it into a bright and liveable abode with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a powder room and study.
Images by Tatjana Plitt Photography
Answers by Rebecca Naughtin, director at Rebecca Naughtin Architect
Who lives here: A couple and their labrador
Location: North Fitzroy, Victoria
Original size: 105 square metres
Size after extension: 194 square metres (122 square metres on the ground floor and 72 square metres on the first floor)
Architect: Rebecca Naughtin Architect
Assisting architect: Ton Vu
Builder: Clancy Constructions
Structural engineer: Keith Long and Associates
Building surveyor: Mike Neighbour
Answers by Rebecca Naughtin, director at Rebecca Naughtin Architect
Who lives here: A couple and their labrador
Location: North Fitzroy, Victoria
Original size: 105 square metres
Size after extension: 194 square metres (122 square metres on the ground floor and 72 square metres on the first floor)
Architect: Rebecca Naughtin Architect
Assisting architect: Ton Vu
Builder: Clancy Constructions
Structural engineer: Keith Long and Associates
Building surveyor: Mike Neighbour
Gained: A new double-storey extension housing an open-plan living/kitchen/dining space and a bathroom and laundry on the ground floor, which extends to a new deck.
The first floor houses a new master bedroom, ensuite, walk-in-wardrobe, powder room and study (which can also double as a fourth bedroom when required).
The first floor houses a new master bedroom, ensuite, walk-in-wardrobe, powder room and study (which can also double as a fourth bedroom when required).
What was the house like originally?
A two-bedroom, one-bathroom, single-storey Victorian house with a 1970s rear addition. It had been rented out for many years and showed the normal signs of wear and tear.
A two-bedroom, one-bathroom, single-storey Victorian house with a 1970s rear addition. It had been rented out for many years and showed the normal signs of wear and tear.
The original dining room
What was your brief?
What was your brief?
- To retain and restore the existing period features of the dwelling, and add new contemporary spaces at the rear that open onto the back garden.
- To include nooks for study and spaces for their black labrador to sleep and be part of the family.
- Sustainability was important and this was considered in the selection of materials and the orientation of rooms.
What were the clients’ must-haves?
- City views from the master bedroom.
- A stairway design where we could use the area underneath the stairs for storage.
- Retain and restore the period features of the facade.
- An indoor-outdoor connection.
The original hallway
What exactly did you do?
What exactly did you do?
- Retained the two front rooms of the original house and restored the period features before allocating them as bedrooms.
- Upgraded all services in retained parts of the house, including new lighting and electrics.
- Added a new, contemporary double-storey addition to the rear of the house, with an open-plan living/kitchen/dining space, a new bathroom and a laundry (which is hidden and opens to a courtyard) on the ground floor.
- Added a master bedroom, ensuite, walk-in-wardrobe, powder room and study (which can also be used as a fourth bedroom) on the first floor.
- Installed new decking at the same level as the house for a seamless flow between indoor and outdoor areas.
- Put in a new staircase with storage space and a doggy sleeping area on a hydronically heated slab.
- Put in a new, single-car garage.
- Added hydronic heating to all rooms and to the underfloor slab in the new living areas.
- Added a new master bedroom with a generous ensuite and his ’n‘ hers built-in wardrobes, a separate powder room, and a study that can double as a fourth bedroom when required.
- Designed the house to have city views from the first floor, with special screening fins to provide privacy from the neighbours.
The original master bedroom
How do the new and old parts of the home connect?
We separated the old and new spaces with a pivot door.
How do the new and old parts of the home connect?
We separated the old and new spaces with a pivot door.
Proposed ground floor plan
How does the new extension complement or contrast the original home?
The facade facing the street is vernacular in its design approach. It has a standard hip roof and uses materials consistent with the other houses in the neighbourhood.
The new rear-works contrast with the original house. However, we have still referenced the vernacular gable roof in the main form. Internally, the spaces are in stark contrast, which was part of our clients’ brief.
How does the new extension complement or contrast the original home?
The facade facing the street is vernacular in its design approach. It has a standard hip roof and uses materials consistent with the other houses in the neighbourhood.
The new rear-works contrast with the original house. However, we have still referenced the vernacular gable roof in the main form. Internally, the spaces are in stark contrast, which was part of our clients’ brief.
Proposed first floor plan
Built-in storage seems to be an important part of this project – why so?
The site is very small and our clients plan to live here for the next 20 years or so. To give them room to grow, we’ve put in built-in storage that doesn’t encroach on their living spaces wherever we could – it’s in the living room, under the stairs, in the roof and even in the garage.
Stickybeak: A Smart Solution for the Sought-After Northern Sun
The site is very small and our clients plan to live here for the next 20 years or so. To give them room to grow, we’ve put in built-in storage that doesn’t encroach on their living spaces wherever we could – it’s in the living room, under the stairs, in the roof and even in the garage.
Stickybeak: A Smart Solution for the Sought-After Northern Sun
Tell us about the study nook on the ground floor
The study nook sits between the new living and kitchen areas. Our clients work from home some days. Rather than being shut away in a room when they’re working, this study nook allows them to remain in the larger open-plan space. When they’re finished for the day or have guests over, the study nook can simply be concealed behind sliding pivot doors and the room becomes purely a living space again.
The study nook sits between the new living and kitchen areas. Our clients work from home some days. Rather than being shut away in a room when they’re working, this study nook allows them to remain in the larger open-plan space. When they’re finished for the day or have guests over, the study nook can simply be concealed behind sliding pivot doors and the room becomes purely a living space again.
We love the dog nook under the stairs – tell us about it
The black labrador loves it and makes herself at home here every day. It has a hydronically heated slab to make it extra warm and cosy.
Other dog-friendly features include doggy doors in the single-pane windows so she can access the backyard and courtyard, and a customised water/food bench in the laundry with an integrated dog-food dispenser.
Dog Days: 8 Garden Features to Delight Your Pooch
The black labrador loves it and makes herself at home here every day. It has a hydronically heated slab to make it extra warm and cosy.
Other dog-friendly features include doggy doors in the single-pane windows so she can access the backyard and courtyard, and a customised water/food bench in the laundry with an integrated dog-food dispenser.
Dog Days: 8 Garden Features to Delight Your Pooch
The new master bedroom
We adore the timber wall cladding in the new master bedroom – what inspired it?
This timber came from the floors of the original house, which were re-done in the 1970s in spotted gum.
Creating this timber wall was one of the most labour-intensive parts of the project and the clients mostly did it themselves, taking up the boards, removing nails and cleaning the timber before sending them off to be cut to the right size.
We’ve used this recycled spotted gum throughout the house, including on the new stairs and kitchen island. It adds depth and warmth to the palette, and a sense of connection between the different spaces.
We adore the timber wall cladding in the new master bedroom – what inspired it?
This timber came from the floors of the original house, which were re-done in the 1970s in spotted gum.
Creating this timber wall was one of the most labour-intensive parts of the project and the clients mostly did it themselves, taking up the boards, removing nails and cleaning the timber before sending them off to be cut to the right size.
We’ve used this recycled spotted gum throughout the house, including on the new stairs and kitchen island. It adds depth and warmth to the palette, and a sense of connection between the different spaces.
The new master bedroom
Where did most of the budget go?
On the hydronic heating and the slab.
Where did most of the budget go?
On the hydronic heating and the slab.
What challenges did you have to work around?
The house fell within a heritage overlay, which meant the proposed design required additional reporting against policy and a few additional months for planning approval.
The project was highly detailed and the builders all presented quotes less than one-percent of each other. The site came with a few latent conditions, such as poor soil retention to the neighbour’s property, which we had to deal with on-site.
Also, as the site was tight there were times when we were not sure if items would fit. However, like all buildings, with a little trust it all came together in the end.
Room of the Week: A Kitchen Makover in a Pettit+Sevitt Home
The house fell within a heritage overlay, which meant the proposed design required additional reporting against policy and a few additional months for planning approval.
The project was highly detailed and the builders all presented quotes less than one-percent of each other. The site came with a few latent conditions, such as poor soil retention to the neighbour’s property, which we had to deal with on-site.
Also, as the site was tight there were times when we were not sure if items would fit. However, like all buildings, with a little trust it all came together in the end.
Room of the Week: A Kitchen Makover in a Pettit+Sevitt Home
How did you allow views from upstairs while maintaining privacy from neighbours?
We added a screen over the first-floor cantilever. Every fin has been designed to sit in a direction that allows our clients to take in views towards the city, without seeing into the neighbouring properties.
This satisfied the council in the planning stage and I think of it as a clever, custom approach to an issue designers commonly face when working with these kinds of sites.
We added a screen over the first-floor cantilever. Every fin has been designed to sit in a direction that allows our clients to take in views towards the city, without seeing into the neighbouring properties.
This satisfied the council in the planning stage and I think of it as a clever, custom approach to an issue designers commonly face when working with these kinds of sites.
Key features
- A simple colour palette.
- In-slab hydronic-underfloor heating in the new living space that creates a warm, comfortable temperature without the huge energy costs.
- City views from the new master bedroom.
- A stunning ensuite with a double shower.
The new upstairs ensuite
Key fittings
Key fittings
- Zip Hydrotap in the kitchen (with filtered, sparkling, hot and ambient water): Reece.
- Dining area pendant light: David Trubridge Koura.
- Black AWS window frames: All Weather Windows.
- Double-glazed frames with retractable fly screens: Freedom Retratctable Screens.
- Milli Glance towel rails: Reece.
- Mizu Driftalso overhead shower: Reece.
- Sussex Scalain handheld showers: Reece.
- Sussex Scala mixers and spout in bathrooms: Reece.
- Stairs custom-designed by Rebecca Naughtin Architect and made by Terosa Stairs.
The new upstairs ensuite
Interior materials palette
Exterior materials palette
Interior materials palette
- Recycled spotted gum in new master bedroom, kitchen, stairs and elsewhere inside the house.
- Polished-concrete floors in the living/kitchen/dining areas.
- Caesarstone Clamshell on the kitchen benchtop, splashback and bathroom-vanity counters.
- Dechirer Decor Piombo tiles in bathroom.
Exterior materials palette
- Lysaght Custom Orb roofing in Colorbond Monument.
- Galvanised steel on the screen fins and window frames with a black powder-coated finish.
The new main bathroom downstairs
Paint colours
Tell us
What do you like best about this addition and renovation? Tell us in the Comments below. And don’t forget to save your favourite images, like this story, and join the conversation.
More
Want to see more renovation inspiration? Don’t miss Opposites Attract in This Extension to a 1960s Bungalow
Paint colours
- Dulux Lexicon quarter-strength on most of the painted interior surfaces.
- Water-based two-pack polyurethane on the timber features throughout the house, and the veneers coated in a satin finish.
- Cutek polyurethane oils applied to the new decking.
Tell us
What do you like best about this addition and renovation? Tell us in the Comments below. And don’t forget to save your favourite images, like this story, and join the conversation.
More
Want to see more renovation inspiration? Don’t miss Opposites Attract in This Extension to a 1960s Bungalow
Related Stories
Popular Houzz Series
A Dated Country Home in a Kiwifruit Orchard Made Modern
When their grown-up sons moved out, these NZ homeowners gave their much-loved country home a chic, modern makeover
Full Story
Renovating
An Inspired Solution for a Dark & Disjointed Californian Bungalow
See how an architect opened up a light-starved, closed-in Melbourne home, and connected it with the neighbouring park
Full Story
Popular Houzz Series
Before & After: A Leaky, Falling-Down Victorian Terrace Reborn
See how a small Melbourne terrace, untouched for over 100 years, was remade into a functional home for a modern family
Full Story
Before & After
Before & After: From 'White Box' to Luxe, Layered Apartment
Quiet luxury was the goal for the redesign of this Sydney waterfront apartment – see how the designer achieved it
Full Story
Popular Houzz Series
A Sweet Balmain Cottage Sure to Capture Your Heart
With an extension underway, this cottage was ready for a new decorative scheme that would bring old and new together
Full Story
Before & After
Before & After: A Cheap & Cheerful Makeover of a 1980s Caravan
Armed with an AU$1500 budget, a Melbourne couple rolled up their sleeves and transformed a caravan in just three months
Full Story
Projects Born on Houzz
Before & After: A Light-Drenched Home in the Heart of Coogee
This breezy family home in one of Sydney's beachside suburbs is the essence of relaxed Australian coastal style
Full Story
Interior Design
A Grand Federation Home Comes of Age for a Busy Young Family
See how a revamped layout, custom joinery and luxe touches transformed a dated heritage home in Sydney
Full Story
Architecture
From Tired 100-Year-Old Beach Cottage to Lush, Private Oasis
Encircled by beautiful gardens, this renovated weatherboard cottage in Sydney is all about indoor-outdoor connection
Full Story
Bathroom Renovations
Before & After: A Clunky & Dated Victorian Terrace Reborn
Rising damp, sagging floors and a dysfunctional layout were just some of the challenges this tired terrace offered up
Full Story
Best renovation and extension I have seen on Houzz to date. And what a lucky dog to be so blessed to be sharing this beautiful home with such considerate adults!!
Absolutely stunning <3
Love the aesthetic here, but most of I appreciate how it's a home for real people with lots of life happening, rather than being all about display. The pet space, the study nook integrated into the living area, and innovative screening upstairs that gives theneighbours their privacy...all these things add to quality of life and show how thoughtful design can look awesome but ALSO make life better, easier, sociable, convenient and friendly. Thats truly a good result. Congratulations.