ARCHITECTURE AND BUILDING BY HUMPHREY HOMES
Block size: 860sqm
Duration of Building Contract: 10 months
Actual Build Time: 10 months
This family approached Humphrey Homes to increase the footprint of their existing home in Nedlands, ensuring their growing family could be comfortably accommodated. The resulting design thoughtfully reconfigures and extends the lower level of the home, while a second level is added to provide two new bedrooms, an upstairs activity zone and bathroom.
An underutilised front garden has been commandeered as a generous study, offering views to an existing frangipani tree and giving the house a street presence that was lacking in the original home. The realignment of the entry door draws visual emphasis through the house, towards the garden beyond.
An additional active living space is provided at the rear of the lower level, providing a central family hub where family members can interact, rest and unwind. Featuring a stone-clad fireplace, sleek joinery and large, glazed windows, this living space links each area of the home while addressing the garden and swimming pool and providing direct access to the outdoor spaces.
The Red and Grey Ironbark flooring of the existing home was carefully matched to create a sense of seamlessness within the interior. Charcoal tiling, grey stone benchtops, timber veneer and white laminate cabinetry provides a neutral and timeless palette. A centralised, floating staircase crafted from Red Ironbark allows visual permeability from the front door right through to the rear pool and Cabana area (a key item in the initial design brief), maintaining a connection to the garden as one ascends to the upper level.
The second storey is conceived as a dark, timber-framed box, that cocoons the boys’ bedroom zone. Clad in rough-sawn marine ply, this volume complements the dark steel elements of the rear garden, imparting a textural finish to the otherwise sleek and contemporary architecture of the home. A large horizontal window with a deep recess provides visual and weather protection to the windows and adds interest to the West elevation. Four custom made sliding aluminum screens with operable louvres allow the clients to regulate Western sunlight and control the degree of privacy to the upper level.
The strong lines and angles of the original home have been successfully integrated into the layout and form of the home, while the use of structural steel, glass and timber effectively connect the language of the old and new architecture. Florence Road residence provides a light and bright family home that engages with the front and rear gardens, while the interior spaces allow the family to connect or retreat to their own private spaces, as desired.
Awarded Best 2017 Renovation/Addition Project in the category of $650,001 to $1,500,000 by the Housing Industry Association
View our Client's testimonial here
