Addison Street Edwardian Home
I adore Edwardian homes. Unlike their Victorian predecessors, Edwardians introduced a shift in form, moving away from flat façades to more articulated volumes, with larger windows that welcomed light into the home. They retained the charm of earlier periods while embracing a more liveable, modern sensibility.
This beautiful example had unfortunately suffered a poorly conceived renovation and addition during the 1980s, something I consider a kind of architectural neglect, and sadly, something I see all too often. Ill-considered in orientation, layout, and design, these additions tend to ignore both practicality and the character of the original home.
I was engaged me to help restore integrity to the house, and to reimagine the spaces in a way that respected the original home while making it work beautifully for contemporary life.
The Challenge:
On a site just 9.8 m wide, with the long boundary facing north, the new addition needed to be carefully shaped to capture northern sunlight over the fence and neighbouring home. The challenge was to achieve this while ensuring the interiors remained generous, practical, and comfortable, not narrow or cramped.
The Brief:
A house for a family of four:
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As frequent entertainers - the kitchen had to be the centre of the house.
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Sun drenched living areas.
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With a love of eating outside - the outdoor entertaining area had to be an extension of the kitchen area.
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The ability to zone the house into seperate day and night zones for greater energy efficiency.
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"A house nestled in its garden, not just some plants along a fence."
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A swimming pool and garage facing the rear lane.
The Approach:
Given the orientation and narrowness of the site, setting the new addition off the northern boundary was key to accessing sunlight in the living rooms throughout the day. However, moving too far off the boundary would have compromised the internal width, making the spaces feel tight.
The solution was to design a roof that rises high above the neighbour’s fence and buildings, shaped to bounce light deep into the living areas. This delicate balance of form and function allowed light to pour deep into the interior, bringing warmth and openness to every space, without sacrificing generous proportions.
When looking at the original home, I noticed the roof sat on the brick walls like a hat. This simple, charming detail became a motif for the new addition. The new roof was placed atop the brick walls in the same manner, a hat for the home, with the timber cladding continuing inside to form the ceiling, blurring the line between outside and in.
To temper the strong afternoon summer sun from the north-west, I introduced carefully positioned blade walls. These provide shade at the hottest times of day while still allowing soft, filtered light to enter the living spaces.
As with all my projects, the home is zoned into quiet (bedroom) and active (living) areas. This not only improves energy efficiency, allowing heating or cooling to be used in just half the home when needed, but also gives the occupants freedom to keep different hours without disturbing one another.
