New Farm Arbour by Vokes and Peters
New Farm Arbour is reimagined through a contemporary lens, sensitively overlaid with a new functionality and liveability. Vokes and Peters honours the historical significance of the building and its unique floor plan, inserting interventions that connect back to the original vision.
First designed and built in 1895, New Farm Arbour is reconfigured to enhance connection both internally and to the surrounds. Driven by a philosophy of considered restraint, Stuart Vokes, co-founder and director of Vokes and Peters, describes an approach founded in preservation. “What is consistent with our work,” he says, “is that even if a building isn’t heritage listed, we want to do as much as possible but also as little as possible. The more we can preserve keeps the costs lower and also allows us to identify what is special about a building.” How the home may have previously been used is always the first consideration for the team, removing the immediate tendency to impose a contemporary way of living.
“Working with a building like this is such a pleasure,” says Stuart. “Typically, when proposing new homes, we don’t get to play with these proportions, and we saw this as an opportunity to exploit that context as a basis for how the current owners could integrate themselves across the existing.” In contrast to the previous floor plan, a reception area sits at the front of the home, designed to be an office and meeting space separate from the living areas. The facade features two entries – one for clients, the other into the residence – for seamless functionality.
“We need to learn to listen to buildings and their heritage,” adds Stuart. With the rear now used for entertaining, the formation of an arbour acts to mark the transition to outside. A space that was typically private and used for utility has now become a desirable destination. “Reoccupying is about re-engaging the backyard,” adds Stuart, “and this led us to making this open outdoor room.”
By approaching the historic home of New Home Arbour with respect, Vokes and Peters allows the past to guide the response. “It is always interesting to discover how people used to live or used to occupy the houses and the rooms within them,” summarises Stuart. “It is too easy to demand a building to be something that it was never meant to be, to force a strategy that would work in a contemporary setting but ignore the historical context. We, however, choose to observe and listen, and then respond.”
Architecture and interior design by Vokes and Peters. Build by Hadore.
