Clarke House by Austin Maynard Architects
Clarke is a private house located in Melbourne, Australia, designed by Austin Maynard Architects. The alteration and addition to the single-storey weatherboard homestead features minimalist aesthetics and highlights functionality and comfort. The interior offers a spacious living area with a seating nook by the pocket garden, careful zoning, natural light, and lush greenery views, while a staircase embedded in the wall takes you up to the teen zone or ‘apartment’.
Owner’s Parental Leave Spurred Their Desire For More Functional Space
Drawn to deliberative design, simplicity and functionality, inspired by their year living in Japan, the family asked for more considered and purposeful space. “Something different.” Modern but not stark or boxy, bright and open but also cosy and comfortable, areas to come together and entertain and private spaces suited to each individual.
Overlapping And Stepping Form, Designed Using A Batten Screen
In realising all aspects of the brief and embedding the solutions into the language of the building, the extension became an unusual stepping and overlapping shape. To unify, a batten screen is set over, providing shade and privacy and bringing together new and old in a simple meeting of forms.
Indoors And Outdoors Seamlessly Merge In This Private House
The owner’s brief detailed two major objectives – functionality and space to harmoniously co-exist. Alone Together was the prevailing theme. They asked for intimate retreats and areas spacious enough to accommodate large family gatherings. The indoors and outdoors would seamlessly merge. They wanted a highly practical and socially active living/kitchen/dining, with a laundry, a pantry, a dedicated home office and a second study/ guest bedroom. With recent studies showing around fifty percent of 18 to 29 year olds still living at home, they hoped to provide their teenagers with their own ‘apartment’ – or at least the feeling of one.
The Hallway, Divided By Breezeway And Permeating Natural Light
The old house presented great character and was in general good state. The alteration and addition begins with the configuration of new side entry, to bypass private space and re-orient access into the centre of the house. The gate opens into the first of three pocket garden/ light-wells, inviting air flow and views of greenery into the house, here, through the windows of the laundry and the home office at each side.
Off the entry a perforated steel staircase leads directly up to the ‘apartment’, comprising two bedrooms, a central bathroom ‘box’, a secret pink craft room and a study/TV/retreat, with a generous hammock utilising the high ceiling.
Garden-Accessed Lounge Room, Encapsulating A Sense Of Retreat
In strategically avoiding the expansive open-plan living from feeling as the owners feared, “too cavernous” the lounge room extends off the main entertaining zone. Providing just the right amount of space, the form sits slightly raised and protrudes, like a pavilion, sitting within and fully opening up to the garden.
Photography courtesy of Austin Maynard Architects
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