Time and Place – Elsternwick House by Wellard Architects

Through subtle shifts in tone and stripping of the non-essential, Elsternwick House sees an existing Edwardian home given a new life. Wellard Architects layers a warmth and robust durability for its young family.

Located in Melbourne’s Elsternwick, the home is a reflection of its neighbourhood, where an eclectic history of styles and period homes converge to weave a rich and diverse streetscape. Preserving this important part of history, together with key features and details was imperative, as was extending the home to respond to the needs of its young family, ensuring a sense of endurance and transition beyond current influencing styles. Wellard Architects applies a series of interventions that speak to the brief of expansion of the existing, while respecting transition and flow between the old and the new. Through the lens of subtlety, the resulting home unfolds.

The home is a reflection of its neighbourhood, where an eclectic history of styles and period homes converge to weave a rich and diverse streetscape.

The original home allowed for a generous setback at the front of the property, and this outdoor landscape area is consequently emphasised. This philosophy was then applied to the planning of the extension and taken into consideration for the rear garden and its interface with the ground floor amenity. To encourage this engagement in the back garden, the large open living and communal spaces open to a welcoming and private outdoor space to the rear, utilising the north-facing aspect.

The large open living and communal spaces open to a welcoming and private outdoor space to the rear.

Built by Dimpat, with custom furniture by Made by Morgen and styling by Bek Sheppard, Elsternwick House engages with a sense of permanence. At the centre of this future-focused home is the existing chimney as the connecting and central heart of the home. The chosen orientation of the open-plan kitchen, dining and living space to the rear pivots from this point and creates an ease of movement between the exiting and the proposed. A floor-to-ceiling glazed element is introduced to celebrate this transition, which can be seen and experienced upon entry, and leads a visual connection to the rear yard and pool.

Elsternwick House engages with a sense of permanence.

The layering of warm materials and a non-specific contemporary aesthetic allows for the home to be both enduring with time, and to facilitate the life of the family as it grows. Important to this is the integration of robust and durable elements, for the home to function in its pure form and act as a place of comfort. Together with an importance of natural light, the materiality of the extension shows a deliberate stripping back of the non-essential. Layering pale oak, brickwork and bluestone, and by expressing the original Edwardian features, Elsternwick House sees Wellard Architects celebrate a past, and look positively to a welcomed future.