Farnham Street

Project details –

Type
Residential

RAP
Wurundjeri

Location
Flemington

Year
2022

Press –

The Design Files
online feature

The Local Project
online feature

Archdaily
online feature

Builder
Owner-Builder

Photos
Willem-Dirk du Toit

Styling
Natalie James

Farnham is home to illustrator Beck, her builder partner and their three young children. This compact extension to a brick house offers a varied, functional space filled with natural light, outdoor views and playful personality to suit the clients and their family.

The 65-sqm ground-floor addition is a brick volume containing the entry, kitchen, dining and lounge. A concrete reveal frames the large glass doors, an internal courtyard brings illuminates the surrounding spaces. Refined detailing in the kitchen and joinery is relaxed and hardwearing, while pops of bright colour, such as the bright pink door, reflect the clients’ playfulness and fun.

A spiral stair leads to the timber-clad addition upstairs, which contains a guest room and encases a void over the ground floor. With high-level glazing and timber detailing, the void enhances the quality and experience of the family room, infusing it with greater light, loftiness and views.

Recycled brick extension with sliding doors open to the living space, Flemington

Animation
Foomannimation by Isobel Knowles

Internal courtyard with a green wall and climbing greenery

Heritage brick home frontage from the street, Flemington

Narrow courtyard with recycled brick and a red accent wall

Entry Sequence
The entry is now located in the addition and is accessed via a landscaped garden path along the side of the house. The fluoro-pink spray paint and pops of other bright colours reflect the clients’ sense of playfulness and fun. The entry passage offers a view to the spiral staircase and light-filled courtyard beyond.

Stair
The spiral stair and open shelves maintain the sense of light and openness alongside the courtyard.

Void
A void over the family room brings light into the space and creates a greater sense of spaciousness. Timber detailing around the void provides texture and warmth particularly when illuminated at night.

Kitchen with a pale timber-battened ceiling and white brickwork

Kitchen island beneath a timber-battened ceiling opening to the courtyard

Light-filled open-plan kitchen, dining and living with a timber ceiling

Living space with a sliding window to the garden and a battened soffit

Back Reveal
A concrete reveal frames the large glass doors, bringing northern light into the living area and connecting the interior to the outside. This reveal provides a garden seat and eave to block the summer sun, as well as rebates for blinds and an operable flyscreen.

Void Glazing
High-level glazing to the east bathes the kitchen and dining area in natural light, with an open pane to purge warm air

Double-height living with a battened void and a gallery wall

Kitchen detail with a stone benchtop and pale timber cabinetry

Kitchen
The Grey Tundra benchtop is textural enough to withstand the daily use of three children. The pantry is contained within oak veneer joinery along the side of the room with full-length tapered vertical pulls

Joinery detail with recycled brick and a red door

Timber-clad upper form of the extension above the garden, Flemington

Extension
The timber-clad first-floor addition contains a study/guest room and encases the void above the family room. Brick on the ground floor and timber-clad on the first floor, with greenery helping to settle the new buildings in their environment.