Lightened Opening – Hawthorn House by Dita Studio

Reconfiguring its existing volumes, Hawthorn House is reoriented to harness natural light and embrace a connection with the surrounds. Dita Studio overlays an attentive approach to craft to binds the old and new and anchor the home in place for its next chapter.

Originally built in the 1860s, retaining the original charm of Hawthorn House’s Victorian-era roots was key. Respecting both historical and neighbourhood contexts, the home’s renovation saw a careful contemporary undertaking – the home was opened to the rear to create a central and convening area. Dita Studio carries a muted softness throughout the home and carves a newly formed series of spaces that engage with incoming natural light and frame portals outward to the formalised landscape.

Dita Studio carries a muted softness throughout the home and carves a newly formed series of spaces that engage with incoming natural light and frame portals outward to the formalised landscape.

With four-metre-high ceilings throughout, the new addition was designed to match the grandiose sense of scale. Through the careful separation of spaces with sculptural furniture and lower-level joinery, there is an articulation at play that brings the eye down to an intimate level, dissolving the overall spaces in a more banded fashion. Consistent muted neutrals and a grey undertone create a sense of flow through each of the areas and offer a seamless transition between the home’s eras. Maintaining the original cornicing and carved mouldings ensures the building’s character continues, allowing the previous chapters of the residence to carry through into the present.

By removing the existing rear wall and creating a new addition, openings with additional glass allow an inward flooding of natural light. The increased control of light and temperature through operable elements allows the home to breathe, whilst the openness of the rear space breaks down the original formality to allow for more organic movement. With the lofted ceilings carried through from the old into the new, accentuating proportions and creating a sense of grandeur drove the architectural process alongside continuing an attention to handmade and carefully crafted features throughout.

Maintaining the original cornicing and carved mouldings ensures the building’s character continues, allowing the previous chapters of the residence to carry through into the present.

Enhancing the home’s preserved beauty, Hawthorn House adds a veil of lightness to the original home and its storied past. Dita Studio emphasises the central axis of the home through movement and a functional overlay whilst ensuring detailing is upheld and consistent throughout to create a natural sense of balance.