Rennie Street

by Architect Hewson

This is the transformation of a 1920s Californian Bungalow into a modern space of warm homey comforts.

Concealed from the street, Rennie Street house located in Thornbury, Victoria is a highly personalised renovation of an old 1920s bungalow, now transformed into a welcoming space for the owners; a retired couple who have lived in the house since 1996 and are part of a tight knit northern Melbourne suburb community.

Designed by Architect Hewson as a deliberately modest home, suited for the owners needs, this house compliments the existing bungalow architecture of the house with the added comforts of a modern contemporary home.

The project took its cue from the lean to form, common to homes from the 1920s era, where service rooms and open varandah spaces were located at the rear under a pitched roof, leant against an east west gable roof line. Designers worked with this, and created lean-to addition, which now stretches across the rear of the block and introduces an articulated northern elevation of the property.

Spaces within the house have been arranged under the pitch, according to task; low in the kitchen and pantry/storage areas and high in the sitting and the living areas of the house.

A new entry hallway is inserted between two bedrooms, whilst a third bedroom is remodelled to create a laundry and pantry. Twin openings facing the garden provide places to sit and places to grow herbs and flowers.

The outcome of this design is a deliberately private home from the street, with minimal impact to the street façade of the area. With colours choices and forms chosen and designed to sit apart from the existing weatherboard timber home and yet compliment the surrounding landscape also.

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