A Gesture to Optimistic Times – Highbury Grove by CoLab Design Studio

Words by Bronwyn Marshall
Architecture by CoLAB Design Studio
Photography by Shannon McGrath
Build by Bresnan & Smith

Set within its 1980s bones, Highbury Grove embraces this unique moment in time and gestures towards the optimism of the era. The new works see a celebration of its key design features and the modernist movement, with CoLAB Design Studio fusing an acute understanding of context and with a response to contemporary requirements.

Defying the traditional, CoLab Design Studio’s response to this original Ritter Davis 1980s home was to embrace the originals charms. While a heritage approach is commonly reserved for the much-lauded Victorian, Edwardian and Deco eras, the project recognises the value of the original’s modernist design principles. The modernist era brought with it not just an alternate form of ornamentation and craftspersonship, but a revised sense of how we live within our spaces, while the introduction of industrial steel elements that could span longer distances meant our homes could be more open and connected as a result. Highbury Grove speaks to these optimistic ideals and celebrates these key features that made the movement so significant. Through combining an acute understanding of context and translating (instead of imposing) contemporary residential requirements, CoLAB Design Studio’s bold approach seeks to enhance the features that defined the home’s era.

Defying the traditional, CoLab Design Studio’s response to this original Ritter Davis 1980s home was to embrace the originals charms.

In order to maintain the key design features and unique character of the home, many of the existing elements such as the staircase, mirrored ceilings and internal garden elements were retained and restored.

Built by Bresnan and Smith, and with joinery by Motto Furniture, Highbury Grove is neatly located in Melbourne’s North Balwyn. In order to maintain the key design features and unique character of the home, many of the existing elements such as the staircase, mirrored ceilings and internal garden elements were retained and restored. New layers of joinery, fixtures and materiality then add a contemporary touch and texture, contributing elements of interest and supporting ancillary and enhanced storage capabilities. The extensive use of cedar in the original home was extended to continue the feeling of the familiar and known throughout each of the internal spaces, all radiating from the central walnut and brass kitchen. Further layering of terrazzo, handmade ceramic tiles and velvet drapery all add additional depth and delve deep into the home’s original aesthetic framework.

While the restoration sees the repair and reintroduction of the original details, the reinterpretation of the underpinning principles of the time can be seen throughout also. The newly introduced joinery speaks to the era and is the result of extensive studies to understand and authentically capture the detailing of the time. While the response is seemly bold, its suitability to its context and the period of the home are appropriate and intently well considered. The focus of the home is on connection, entertaining and family life, and the new works see a further expansion of these core design principles expressed through a true embrace of its past.

Built by Bresnan and Smith, and with joinery by Motto Furniture, Highbury Grove is neatly located in Melbourne’s North Balwyn.

Highbury Grove embodies the 1980s Australian home, a typology that symbolised change, optimism and connection

Highbury Grove embodies the 1980s Australian home, a typology that symbolised change, optimism and connection. CoLAB Design Studio has boldly embraced this style and expressed its comprising parts with a playful confidence, extending both the life of the original, and the ideologies of its time.

Highbury Grove embodies the 1980s Australian home, a typology that symbolised change, optimism and connection.

The extensive use of cedar in the original home was extended to continue the feeling of the familiar and known throughout each of the internal spaces, all radiating from the central walnut and brass kitchen.