Introducing Merrilands
Date.
25.08.24
Project.
Merrilands
Photography.
Tom Ferguson
Sometimes there is nothing better than a plot twist.
Located on Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Land in Preston, a northern suburb of Melbourne, Merrilands is an alterations and additions project cut from a different cloth.
With heritage overlay restrictions and local flooding requirements to consider, the site contained a tired existing brick cottage burdened with serious building defects and a clunky 1990s addition. Apart from addressing our clients' brief to create a purposeful, flexible and sustainable home, we were also charged with exploring the site's untapped opportunities, including rethinking the defunct backyard garage and its relationship to the dwelling, and establishing a through access to the disconnected rear laneway - all while respecting and revitalising the mature rear garden.
Our clients, a busy family of four (with several beloved guinea pigs!), wanted their home to be flexible and accommodating to extended family, friends and other guests alike. There was also a strong desire to provision for the various making, crafting and leisure pastimes enjoyed by each family member, while still maintaining a clear demarcation of active and quiet spaces.
The final design embraced these strands of family life and brought them together through the layering of textures, transparency, openness and solidity.
Material patterns and light shifts create unexpected moments throughout the house and across the site - an overhead walkway connecting the studio addition atop the rebuilt garage. Circulation spaces become reading nooks, anterooms, places to retreat or gain visual relief.
The mature rear garden acts as a hinge between the defined internal and external living spaces and the loose program of the multi-functional garage. These moments - and so much more - add up to making Merrilands a home of everyday potential, curiosity and great delight.
Project team: Melonie Bayl-Smith, Vanessa Tang-Lee, Bradley Payne, Andrew Lee
Builder: Nue Projects - Jason Scott, Luke Saunders and team
Joinery: Nikolsons Cabinets
Photography: Tom Ferguson
Styling: Natalie James
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