The architecture version of “the right place at the wrong time”? The right place with the wrong house.

For Sarah, a schoolteacher, and Ben, and an anti-bullying educator, their property in Coburg (suburban Melbourne) couldn’t have been a better fit for the life they envisioned. Surrounded by great local shops, plenty of cafes and restaurants, green spaces and transit access, it was the ideal place to one day raise a young family.

But the low-slung house they lived in just wasn’t living up to the site’s potential: The layout was cramped and dark, there weren’t any views to the garden, and the lush backyard was awkwardly disconnected from the home. So while staying made a lot of sense, some things had to change.

The couple reached out to interior designer Megan Norgate, founder of sustainability-focused firm Brave New Eco, who in turn tapped architect Nicola Dovey at Drawing Room Architecture for a collaboration. After dozens and dozens of remote meetings over the course of Covid, they came up with a concept to reconfigure and expand the existing residence, and the team has since created a 1,829-square-foot home that now accommodates Ben and Sarah’s young family, which includes little Peggy, who’s two, and newborn son, Herbert. (The couple sadly lost their infant daughter, Maeve, before the design process began.)

The new home was redesigned to serve the couple and their kids right through the teenage years and beyond, and has plenty of room to host visiting grandparents, too, with special attention given to fostering both connection and intimacy for multiple generations. That last part was critical.

“We didn’t want an open-plan design, but rather spaces that allow for connection and separation,” explains Sarah. “So someone could be in the kitchen or dining area listening to music, while another person reads or watches footy in the living area… but there should also be easy opportunities for connection so the family can be together even though they may be doing different activities,” she says.

That connectivity Sarah and Ben were striving for was met with details on the ground floor, like pass-through shelving between the living and dining areas. Similarly, the segmented bathroom is divided into sub-zones so the family can use it simultaneously: kids at the sink brushing their teeth; the toilet closed off for privacy; the shower-slash-wet-room obscured with a not-quite-to-the-ceiling door.

The 925-square-foot extension replaces an existing lean-to, and features the kitchen, dining area, and living room on the ground floor and the parents’ bedroom, an en suite and study nook upstairs.On the ground floor of the original home, the four front principal rooms remain, but what was once the kitchen is now a roomy bathroom. The original fireplaces were reinsulated and restored, while the existing doors and trim were refurbished and given a fresh coat of paint.

“We didn’t want an open-plan design, but rather spaces that allow for connection and separation.”
—Sarah, homeowner

Building sustainably was an important part of the plan, especially because of Melbourne’s increasingly extreme weather, says Norgate, which “makes it a challenging place to design.” To prep the home as best they could for those shifts, she and Dovey incorporated passive house principles. “We focus more on inherent techniques than technologies,” says Norgate. Exterior shading is installed on every north-facing window, while top-of-the-line insulation keeps temperatures comfortable year-round. Another sustainable choice, Norgate used natural, durable materials; un-plated brushed brass fittings, for example, can be melted down and reused at the end of their lifecycle.

To blend the extension with the standing home, the designers redid the flooring throughout, using spotted gum hardwood and large porcelain tiles from Surface Gallery in a cinnamon-hued finish. Additionally, heirloom furnishings from Sarah’s family, like a vintage bathtub with pig-trotter feet and Bakelite cabinet handles, add a layer of history and imbue warmth. “Incorporating things that have a greater meaning connects us to design in an enduring way,” says Norgate. “In that way, this house is very rich.”

Bringing more light into the home, which was rather dark, was another key goal. The designers opened up the northern side with tons of glazing to brighten the new kitchen and dining and living areas, which also creates a strong visual connection to the backyard. “We had to kind of carve out openings,” explains Dovey. A “landing deck” sits off the kitchen, allowing the homeowners to step out and grab herbs from the garden or access snacks during an afternoon spent playing out in the fresh air.

The strong red-brick exterior is echoed by the kitchen backsplash and under the peninsula with ruddy square tiles in a grid, a patterning that appears in different areas of the home in a range of colors. “It was a bit challenging because the existing colors were red and green and we didn’t exactly want to continue the Christmas theme,” laughs Dovey. “The new ties in with the old without mimicking it.”

Inspired by the brick, the interior palette of browns, creams, and ochres in the tile, silvertop ash shiplap and plaster brings a vintage-inspired warmth. “It’s not stark at all,” says Norgate. “We will never tire of the material selections,” adds Sarah. “They are beautiful, and slowly maturing every day.” And so is the young family, now off and running with spaces built for whatever comes next.

Related Reading:

She Loved Her Neighborhood, So She Expanded Her Existing Terrace Home to Age in Place

In Melbourne, an Unremarkable Worker’s Cottage Hides a Heavenly Backyard

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: Drawing Room Architecture / @drawingroomarchitecture

Interior Designer: Brave New Eco / @braveneweco

Builder: DC Building

Structural Engineer: Structural Bureau

Stylist: Belle Bright Project / @bellebrightproject

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The Neighborhood Was Great. But the House Needed Help to Become a Family Home