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Project Details:

Location: Melbourne, Australia

Architect: Sarah Lake Architects / @sarahlakearchitects

Footprint: 2,100 square feet

Builder: Nook Construction

Structural Engineer: Structed

Landscape Design: Paul Sampson Landscapes

Photographer: Tom Ross / @tomross.xyz

From the Architect: "Situated in Reservoir (colloquially known as Rezza), approximately six miles north from Melbourne CBD, the renovation was for a family of four with two young children, two cats, four chickens, and a hive of bees.

"The brief from the clients was more space, maintain and enhance the garden, increase the storage, and have a sunken lounge. The retention of garden space was the key driver as gardening is one of the client’s favorite pastimes. The challenge was how to get the space they needed for the renovation but also keep and increase the productive native and veggie garden in the limited backyard. This was behind the decision to go up a story to help maximize the ground plane for planting. There was also an existing external covered pergola out the back that was used for entertaining and to grow vines over which the clients wanted to emulate in some way.

"This was where the concept for a productive green facade came from. We looked at classic garden arbors, trellises, lattice and thought about how we could upscale this to the whole facade. We looked at different green facades and landed on the screen approach so it could wrap between old and new, but also was the most suited to the types of vines (passion fruit, kiwi fruit and grape vines) the client was keen to grow. As an active facade that requires tending, it's now directly tied to the architecture of the renovation.

"The arches take cues from the modern brick houses and their shallow porches, the timber fretwork arches on heritage verandas, the inverse arches of scalloped white picket fences, and the varied backyard pergolas/tavernas around Reservoir.

"The screen is an overscaled garden trellis to support a productive garden, which is a staple in many local backyards. The owners can grow their garden up, over, and around the house. This screen references classic garden arbors, trellises, and lattice structures but is increased to be the size of the whole facade to support a productive garden with passionfruit, kiwi, and grapevines.

"A main driver was that the existing house had to remain habitable throughout the build to reduce overall costs for the owners. We achieved this by designing the extension as a pavilion, which could be built independently, so the original part of the house could remain separate but was eventually connected back to the house with a corridor link. The benefit of this was it created a clear distinction between old and new, with the added benefit of creating a courtyard between.

"The desire was to have a white screen so the greenery would stand out against it. The grey painted FC sheet cladding for the remaining extension and the screen supporting structure was to act as a shadow or backdrop to this screen to be recessive and soft. The interior palette was to be relatively neutral with the client wanting some blues incorporated via tiling and paintwork but also working with the natural tones of the timber veneer and concrete flooring.