Thornbury House by Mesh Design Projects
Contemporary residence designed in 2014 by Mesh Design Projects located in Thornbury, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia.
Description by Mesh Design Projects
The home is located in Thornbury, an inner northern suburb of Victoria, Australia, which has a number of early-century homes, the aesthetics of which we admire. We therefore didn’t want to change the nearly 100-year-old part of the house, nor the streetscape, but were looking for a contemporary renovation that suited the needs of the client.
While the clients also required a basic open-plan design, they didn’t want to live in a large, open box and wanted defined areas of functionality. The north-facing design encompasses the kitchen as the hub, with a large island bench plus more formal dining area and copious natural light.
The living area to the east is protected from the sun and includes a play area for small children with a recessed fish tank in the wall surrounded by hidden storage cupboards.
We designed the rear of the home to include passive solar design, blocking out the summer sun but letting in the winter sun that would heat up the polished concrete slab and release heat into the home when needed most. The windows are double-glazed with low-e glass; the walls and ceiling have the highest r-value insulation possible. The exterior was clad in solid timber “spotted gum” vertical planking that has a beautiful natural feeling, it softens the sharp angles of the rear and keeps within the palette of natural materials.
We wanted to showcase that a solar-passive home is both functional and visually appealing.
- by Matt Watts
