Houzz Tours
Houzz Tour: Recycled Timber Makes Room in the Family Nest
A family of four settles into a home that can adapt to their changing needs and Melbourne's changeable weather conditions
Ben Callery didn’t just design his family home, he also built it with his own two hands – along with some help from his dad and a few willing friends. He also did what, as an architect, he was always advising clients not to do – live in the house during a renovation.
He and his wife and young daughter lived in the house during renovations, gathering recycled timber and sourcing sustainable offcuts as they went. “We were conscious that the sourcing of discarded materials was a bird-like approach and this idea is accentuated in the detailing that explores contrasting feelings of living in a nest,” Callery says. “It’s open and breezy but warm and cosy.”
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Architect Ben Callery, his wife, two daughters (aged two and four) and Monty, the dog
Location: Westgarth, Melbourne, Victoria
Size: 185 square metres
He and his wife and young daughter lived in the house during renovations, gathering recycled timber and sourcing sustainable offcuts as they went. “We were conscious that the sourcing of discarded materials was a bird-like approach and this idea is accentuated in the detailing that explores contrasting feelings of living in a nest,” Callery says. “It’s open and breezy but warm and cosy.”
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Architect Ben Callery, his wife, two daughters (aged two and four) and Monty, the dog
Location: Westgarth, Melbourne, Victoria
Size: 185 square metres
The addition added 65 square metres to the home, giving the family far more room to move.
The kitchen, where much of the family’s time is spent, occupies the back of the house, connecting it with the backyard.
Tiles: Ital Ceramics; pendants: Matt Blatt
The kitchen, where much of the family’s time is spent, occupies the back of the house, connecting it with the backyard.
Tiles: Ital Ceramics; pendants: Matt Blatt
Callery used a wide array of recycled, re-milled and salvaged timbers woven together into a ‘nest-like’, low-carbon building.
His goal was to build a site-responsive and visually compelling home that would be naturally comfortable and delightful to occupy.
His goal was to build a site-responsive and visually compelling home that would be naturally comfortable and delightful to occupy.
In the downstairs bathroom, Callery pulled up Victorian Ash floorboards from the existing house, de-nailed them and then re-used them in a vanity unit.
“It’s easy to open up all the windows and get cool breezes through even in hot days,” Callery says.
Louvres throughout also allow the home to benefit from cooling breezes whenever hot weather strikes.
The narrow block drove the addition’s design. “The ubiquitous linear living/dining/kitchen layout was turned sideways and elongated,” explains Callery. The kitchen occupies the back of the house, adjacent to the back doors that connect it with the backyard.
“We challenged conventional room arrangements to create ways of living that allow for greater connections between family members, and connection with the external environment.”
Louvres throughout also allow the home to benefit from cooling breezes whenever hot weather strikes.
The narrow block drove the addition’s design. “The ubiquitous linear living/dining/kitchen layout was turned sideways and elongated,” explains Callery. The kitchen occupies the back of the house, adjacent to the back doors that connect it with the backyard.
“We challenged conventional room arrangements to create ways of living that allow for greater connections between family members, and connection with the external environment.”
The backyard then opens onto the wide grass lane adjacent, effectively doubling its size and connecting it with shared communal open space.
From the front, the terrace house looks like any other on the street.
From the front, the terrace house looks like any other on the street.
An additional lounge area on the other side of the kitchen/dining area is a cosy space for the family to gather together, with access to a second side deck.
Messmate timber has been used on the island bench front, while the stairs have been made with Victorian Ash.
The home’s louvred timber privacy screens and full-height balustrade create seclusion and function as ‘breeze baffles’.
“The stair is a feature in this space, with vertical lines drawing upwards,” Callery says.
“The stair is a feature in this space, with vertical lines drawing upwards,” Callery says.
Callery focuses strongly on sustainable design in all his projects, not just because he’s environmentally conscious, but also because it’s far more pleasant to live in a home that works with the weather rather than relying on artificial heating and cooling.
In Melbourne, it can get hot in summer and cold in winter, with quite extreme weather variations often occurring in the space of a day. While the use of thermal mass is important in some climates, in Melbourne, Callery says a lighter weight building can work better because it can respond more quickly to changing conditions outside.
“Dedicated to being as low carbon as possible, we challenged accepted norms of sustainable design, eschewing use of concrete for thermal mass because of its high embodied energy,” Callery explains. “Instead, we opted for a lightweight timber structure, well oriented and heavily insulated creating a thermally efficient, low-embodied energy building.”
Even the ceiling batts are eco-friendly – they’re made from recycled glass.
In Melbourne, it can get hot in summer and cold in winter, with quite extreme weather variations often occurring in the space of a day. While the use of thermal mass is important in some climates, in Melbourne, Callery says a lighter weight building can work better because it can respond more quickly to changing conditions outside.
“Dedicated to being as low carbon as possible, we challenged accepted norms of sustainable design, eschewing use of concrete for thermal mass because of its high embodied energy,” Callery explains. “Instead, we opted for a lightweight timber structure, well oriented and heavily insulated creating a thermally efficient, low-embodied energy building.”
Even the ceiling batts are eco-friendly – they’re made from recycled glass.
The flooring in the new extension is re-milled messmate.
Any non-recycled timber was locally sourced hardwoods milled in a low-wastage manner. Callery went a step further by using the discards from that process, sourced from ‘seconds’ stock of rejects, returns and out-of-spec material. “These materials are expressed honestly inside and out, celebrating the imperfections from their sourcing and creating warmth, tactility and authenticity,” he says.
Any non-recycled timber was locally sourced hardwoods milled in a low-wastage manner. Callery went a step further by using the discards from that process, sourced from ‘seconds’ stock of rejects, returns and out-of-spec material. “These materials are expressed honestly inside and out, celebrating the imperfections from their sourcing and creating warmth, tactility and authenticity,” he says.
Callery gathered quality timber wherever he could find it. “Feature Oregon beams were sourced from the demolition of my parents’ neighbour’s house where I had played as a kid,” Callery says.
The home’s authenticity is what the architect-builder loves best about it.
“It’s really real. All the materials are really real; it’s beautiful timber that’s reflective of its sourcing,” he says. “It’s not too glitzy but it’s perfectly comfortable and in touch with reality.”
The home’s authenticity is what the architect-builder loves best about it.
“It’s really real. All the materials are really real; it’s beautiful timber that’s reflective of its sourcing,” he says. “It’s not too glitzy but it’s perfectly comfortable and in touch with reality.”
The roof rakes northwards to maximise solar gain. The angled external timber louvres block out summer sun while letting winter sun penetrate. The upper floor cantilevers to create floor space and provide sun shading to rooms below. Cantilevered awnings to the north, east and west ‘float’ dramatically over windows for sun and rain protection.
The upstairs bathroom offers a splash of colour, but timber makes an appearance, of course!
Tiles: De Fazio
Tiles: De Fazio
The upstairs bathroom vanity countertop features re-milled messmate floorboard off-cuts.
The upstairs windows provide treetop views from a study Callery uses in the evening and a playroom. His two daughters share a bedroom so they can have a playroom, but it will likely become a bedroom for one of them when they get older. For now, though, they’re enjoying their playroom as a place to dance and dress up in their fairy costumes.
The north-east facing double-height void provides sun and treetop views to the kitchen, dining and sitting nook. The void connects the ground floor living rooms with the first-floor
bedrooms and the floating loft-study.
bedrooms and the floating loft-study.
Perched in the treetops, a battened privacy screen is all that separates the study space from family life going on below.
Armchair: Matt Blatt
Armchair: Matt Blatt
The ceiling above the void is silvertop ash.
Pendant: Matt Blatt
Pendant: Matt Blatt
The north-facing two-storey void facilitates deep solar gain, important in Melbourne’s cold winters, and creates cross ventilation for hot summers.
The south-facing glass louvres on the upper level are oriented to catch the prevailing cool breezes over the top of neighbouring rooftops. The louvred timber privacy screens and the full-height louvred timber balustrade create seclusion but are also angled to function as baffles directing these breezes downwards into living rooms below.
The south-facing glass louvres on the upper level are oriented to catch the prevailing cool breezes over the top of neighbouring rooftops. The louvred timber privacy screens and the full-height louvred timber balustrade create seclusion but are also angled to function as baffles directing these breezes downwards into living rooms below.
Although Callery loved his previous home in a nearby suburb – the first house he had designed and built – the family had outgrown it. Now he has a new home to love, and couldn’t be happier. “It’s open and breezy but warm and cosy; semi-transparent but secluded; rough and tactile externally but smooth and comfortable internally,” he says. “The over-riding sense is of floating, perched in the treetops.”
The external cladding doubles as structural bracing, an efficient use of material because one product serves two purposes.
External timber (upper-floor) cladding: Radial Timber Sales; lower-floor cladding: Carter Holt Harvey; louvres and awnings in silvertop ash
External timber (upper-floor) cladding: Radial Timber Sales; lower-floor cladding: Carter Holt Harvey; louvres and awnings in silvertop ash
There is no master suite in this home, just four multi-purpose bedroom-sized rooms that can evolve with the needs of a growing family.
When Callery and his family bought a single-fronted terrace typical of those in Melbourne’s northern suburbs two years ago, they did so with the intention of renovating almost immediately. The front three bedrooms were fine, but the lean-to, rabbit warren-style rear of the house needed help.
“It was in a pretty ordinary state,” Callery says. “It was dark and dingy and didn’t open to the backyard.”
He renovated the home in two stages. Initially, he turned one of the three front rooms into a bathroom and laundry to replace the ones in a dark and dingy lean-to out the back. A typical 3.5m by 3.5m room was just the right size to accommodate the laundry and bathroom without the need to shift walls around.
Once Council gave the green light, the second stage went ahead – a two-storey addition comprising an open-plan living/dining/kitchen and an upstairs bathroom, two bedrooms and study area.
Callery and his wife and daughter lived in the home during the build, putting their new laundry to use as a temporary kitchen. “We did what we’re always advising clients not to do – live in the house during a renovation,” Callery laughs. Adding to the adventure, their second daughter also arrived during the construction phase.
Butterfly chair: Sokol; decking in yellow stringybark