Boldly Unmoved – Barkly Street by Robbie Walker

Becoming a symbol of unwavering strength and stability, Barkly Street sees the expansion and restoration of an existing heritage terrace house. Robbie Walker navigates the anticipation of an ever-changing architectural landscape to propose a home of lasting resonance.

Set among eclectic and community-rich surrounds, Barkly Street is nestled into the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick. In deliberating whether to extend or demolish, the client was interested in how the existing heritage of the original terrace house could stand against the incoming growth of developer driven projects in the area. The challenge was to balance a preservation effort with an addition that felt deliberate and purposeful yet private and inwardly focused. Robbie Walker takes on a bold approach to the project’s design to celebrate the home’s past and stand out among the surrounding new developments.

Robbie Walker takes on a bold approach to the project’s design to celebrate the home’s past and stand out among the surrounding new developments.

In connecting to the adjacent laneway to the rear, the addition reaches deeper into the site as a maximisation of its potential. In reinforcing the home’s scale and presence, a custom steel arbour-like structure projects upward as a marking of the entrance and reinforces the home’s prominence in the streetscape. In expanding the original two-storey terrace, the addition takes form as an extrusion of the original silhouette – the double-heighted volume allows additional light in from above whilst increasing an overall sense of scale in the newly-formed kitchen and dining space.

Whilst the original proportions of the home are generous, they pertain to the terrace house typology and navigate a long and narrow floor plan. By restraining from adding a second level within the addition, the new space allows an openness to the laneway and its adjoining outdoor entertaining area. Furthermore, Barkly Street expresses the original and mottled red brickwork, leaving it intentionally exposed and adding layers of metal as a nod to the industrial past of the area. Integrated storage and the textural effect of newly formed timber elements then bring further depth and texture into the home.

The challenge was to balance a preservation effort with an addition that felt deliberate and purposeful yet private and inwardly focused.

Barkly Street is a celebration of history – becoming an act of both heritage preservation and contemporary uplifting. Through a unique response to site, Robbie Walker ensures the coming chapters of the home are interwoven with its storied past and remain protected through a reinforced resoluteness.