Modernising renovation creates open-plan living zone at rear of home

It can be tricky finding the available space to meet your family’s expanding needs. Sometimes, however, the renovation gods are on your side. Prior to upgrade, this residence already sat high on the land, so the option of digging down without lifting the home up was a way forward.

This paved the way to the renovation of the grand traditional villa, says architect Matt Brew.

“The residence had had earlier work done, probably in the 1980s,” says Brew. “The interior was tidy but, typical of a home of this period, the rooms were enclosed, with the living, dining and kitchen all separate from each other.

“The house definitely needed modernising, with connections improved to the outdoors – and the garden also needed re-imagining. Plus, the garage had been sited to the rear of the back yard. The set-up wasn’t particularly liveable.”

To address this, the homeowners’ wanted to introduce an open-plan living/dining/kitchen space at the rear, connected to a new outdoor terrace suitable for entertaining.

“Before reworking any rooms in the home, we first brought the garage in under the house – digging out the ground rather than raising the house. This labour-intensive move had two major advantages,” says Brew. 

“Essentially, it reclaimed the use of the garden for the family and, along with the convenience of internal garaging, it also allowed for a downstairs guest suite and study.”

While this looks like a tidy design response, especially with the new garage worked into the home’s classic front facade, the project required a lot of digging and drainage, including installing retention tanks under the drive.

Existing rooms were reworked as part of the renovation – the master bedroom was moved to the front of the home and given a new ensuite and dressing room, while a new family bathroom was introduced to service the two children’s bedrooms and guest bedroom. Plus the old lounge was reworked as a media room.

“We built out the rear of the home to increase the area of the new kitchen-living-dining space and wrapped the side verandah around to the rear. This extended the footprint further and created a transition out to the terrace and pool.”

Much larger timber doors were added in this area to enhance the indoor-outdoor lifestyle and skylights were added to keep things light.

While there are cross-overs, such as classic kickboards seen in the now modern space, Brew did draw a subtle line between the old and new.

“As part of the project we freed up a sight-line right through the home from the front door out to the new rear pool and spa pool. Where the hall runs into the new living zone, a pocket slider with a classic decorative pattern can be drawn across for both heat and noise control.”

Also glimpsed as part of the home’s front-to-back-vista is the dramatic entertainer’s kitchen. While the veined Atlantic stone on benchtops and splashback makes a strong statement, the otherwise minimalist kitchen includes a hidden scullery and laundry, and a small study area concealed behind foldaway doors.

The terrace is set at mid level between the house floor level and the garden, to make for a comfortable transition between the two.

“Collaborating with Indigo Design’s Tomi Williams on interior finishes also lifted the project. Overall, we’ve created a more modern, spacious home, with a minimal extension to the rear. The exterior still looks traditional, but with the interior layout of a modern home.”

Story by: Charles Moxham

Photography by: Jamie Cobel