Opening Expansion – Elwood House by AM Architecture

Opening an existing California bungalow home, Elwood House focuses on a shared authenticity and connection to encourage a flow between inside and out. AM Architecture takes cues from the generous scale of the existing in proposing the additions, continuing the home’s crafted legacy.

Sitting amid similar established homes in the residential milieu of Elwood, the original stylings of Elwood House offered a glimpse into the area’s past, adding to its diverse character. In retaining that connection, the new additions sit tucked away from view, neatly behind the existing silhouette to preserve the existing engagement with the streetscape. In wanting to create an open and connected interior experience, the rear roofline of the home is extended out into the garden, creating an expansive combined living, dining and kitchen space that flows into the landscape. AM Architecture balances the formal and more casual areas of the home through a commonality of materiality and tone.

In wanting to create an open and connected interior experience, the rear roofline of the home is extended out into the garden, creating an expansive combined living, dining and kitchen space that flows into the landscape.

The existing form of Elwood House reaches deeper into the site to optimise the expansive grounds. In response to the closed nature of the California bungalow home and its internal separation, the addition is conceived from an opus of openness. By dissolving the separating vertical barriers, various zones flow more freely into one another, whilst a consistent ceiling height elongates the expanse of the home. Flanked by a wall of glass that opens to the covered deck, the new volume deliberately connects to the landscape, seeing a seamless transition created between inside and out.

As an expression of its structural composition, the additional form sees the ceiling beams exposed, overlaying a linear expression and signalling a temporal nature to the form. Taking inspiration from the pergola as something that is often added as a transition space, the new form is mused by the lighter nature of its parts and acts to balance the more weighted brick and stone features of the bungalow style. As the existing and the new come together, a consistent base of white coats the walls and ceilings, whilst timber flooring binds the eras, running past the façade to form the deck space.

AM Architecture balances the formal and more casual areas of the home through a commonality of materiality and tone.

Encouraging an outdoor lived life, Elwood House gently connects the existing with the new. AM Architecture overlays a modesty in the expansion, ensuring an authentic connection is created and allowing the new to feel like a natural evolution.