Rural Modern – Creswick House by Moby Architecture and Interiors

Imagined as a space that would feel like an extension of the landscape rather than the existing enclosed home, Creswick House expands on its original charm as its muse. Moby Architecture and Interiors combines both rural and contemporary languages in proposing the final resolve, emphasising the natural.

Located in the same-named Creswick, the expanded home draws from its removed surrounds and creates a light filled and openly connected series of spaces. In building on the established areas of the home and the connection to its removed location, the new features open glazing to allow visual lineage throughout the structure, both internally and to the outside. Immersing the home and the newly proposed living areas amongst the landscape was key to make them feel as though they exist as one. Taking cues from the original heritage of the home, the new is shaped based on its charm and character, where Moby Architecture and Interiors draws from materiality and tonal elements already in place.

As a response to its context, the proposal mixes a rural feel with a modern open connectedness.

In establishing the home as a natural extension of the old, the new takes an imperfect approach to materiality and finishes. Expressing patina and age in all of its comprising gestures ensures that there is a sense of the original narrative continuing – not just disrupted by the new. The landscape becomes a key part of the experience of the home; having direct connections between the inside and the living areas binds the story and the experience together. As a response to its context, the proposal mixes a rural feel with a modern open connectedness.

The character of the existing is brought forward into the materiality and as an expression of the natural. As a way to engage with the custodians of the home and how they can leave their mark, allowing for personality to be expressed was important. Maintaining visibility and transparency helps to define spaces without completely closing them in. As a result, glass and steel doors allow for the areas to be opened up and closed down as needed. Clay tiles, various varieties of timber, black steel and handmade benchtops all balance each other as complementary elements of the home, texturally adding a diversity in the process.

Clay tiles, various varieties of timber, black steel and handmade benchtops all balance each other as complementary elements of the home, texturally adding a diversity in the process.

Emphasising its lineage, Creswick House by Moby Architecture and Interiors allows for the markings of time and the people it engages with to continue through into its next chapters, adding a crisp contemporary feel through its new addition.