Having made the decision to sacrifice space over location, the owners of this former one bedroom terrace in North Fitzroy, Melbourne, chose to work with what they had rather than move out into the suburbs in search of more space and a bigger home. Preferring inner city living and all that it offers in terms of community, convenience and culture, this family of four only had two prerequisites for the redesign of what was formerly the street stables – a backyard for the children and a vegie patch.
Given the size of the block and the heritage overlay of the building, expanding on the existing footprint took some creative license to say the least. Enter Pipkorn and Kilpatrick, the young design team fast building a name for designing exceptional spaces for families in seemingly unconventional places.
In adding on a timber clad structure to the upstairs area rather than pushing the buildings footprint out into the garden ensured a backyard and a vege patch could be both retained and developed. Guiding the homes extension and its configuration was an existing Ash tree, which in turn essentially ensured that the top floor mimick the L-shape of the ground floor. In removing internal walls, opening up doorways and lifting the ceiling in the galley kitchen downstairs, light now floods through the entire ground floor from front to back.
For the redesign of this inner city, corner terrace, Pipkorn and Kilpatrick have purposefully kept finishes simple and minimal in order to create a relaxed and interconnected home that’s in keeping with the existing finishes of painted brick walls and timber floors. The rear courtyard paved with the original red bricks from the demolished chimney has successfully ensured that this laneway terrace and its heritage lives on into the modern era of inner city living.
PHOTOGRAPHY: Martina Gemmola
This home is so beautiful! Would you mind sharing wheee the dining room chairs are from? Thanks!