The Chloe House by Templeton Architecture is a contemporary extension and renovation of an established family home, shaped around a Jacaranda tree.
How best can you extend onto an existing, heritage home without forfeiting its architectural integrity? The Chloe House by Templeton Architecture was born out of this endeavour, gently extending onto a Federation-style home and offering a new direction for its family to live harmoniously.
Templeton Architecture are highly accomplished at gracefully working within the requirements of historic Melbourne homes. Their Chloe project brief called for improved, functional family living and respect for both the Federation features and mature garden setting.
With the name Chloe meaning ‘young green growth’, Templeton Architecture’s new pavilion and renovation generates a renewed strength in spatial connection, natural light and its relationship with the garden.
Behind the original facade, Templeton Architecture were first introduced to a cluster of dark and disconnected spaces with poor circulation and ventilation. The architecture and design studio then addressed the desperate need for natural light in the dormant, under-used spaces, while ensuring a seamless flow into and within the new spaces at the rear.
Structurally, the rear pavilion of the Chloe House is visible from the street, floating above natural ground level on a stone deck around a beautifully-aged Jacaranda tree. Templeton Architecture were committed to sensitively surrounding, protecting and celebrating the tree; the main constraint of the project.
The exterior palette combines the robust materials of timber, stone and concrete to sit comfortably with the masonry of the heritage abode. This is punctuated by black steel openings that embrace the opportunity for greenery inside. The circular window, referred to by the home’s teenagers as the ‘Instagram window’, is positioned carefully to frame both the Jacaranda tree and dining room.
The exterior palette is manifested inside through the classic timber flooring and joinery and grey stone bench top and splashback in the kitchen. Contrary to the movement toward open plan living, Templeton Architecture acknowledged a change in family behaviours with a designated dining space to gather. Repositioning the room as the centre for family activity, the design team selected Gubi Beetle Chairs and an Apparatus pendant to anchor the focal space.
The Chloe House by Templeton Architecture reveals its success in harmony, from the warm and minimalist atmosphere, to the considered connection to the home’s past and its Jacaranda tree.
