The Fronts and Backs of Homes – Overend Street Residence by C. Kairouz Architects and Cale Peters Constructions

Cale Peters Constructions and C. Kairouz Architects make considered design and construction choices on Overend Street Residence, capably navigating what to remove, keep, rework, reprioritise or reinstate. The result is a distinct approach to the front and back of the home, which highlights intriguing preoccupations of the Australian suburban context.

Considered design and construction elements comprise the thorough alterations and additions made by Cale Peters Constructions and C. Kairouz Architects. With consideration for the existing structure and its connection to the streetscape, the architect and builder ensure the standalone, double-fronted block weatherboard is retained and reframed, establishing the ‘front’. Meanwhile, a contemporary addition is added to the rear, articulated and differentiated from the existing structure at the front, establishing the ‘back’.

With consideration for the existing structure and its connection to the streetscape, the architect and builder ensure the standalone, double-fronted block weatherboard is retained and reframed, establishing the ‘front’.

Situated on Wurundjeri Country, the proportion and position of the existing house, along with many other residences, demonstrate how the division of land into narrow and deep allotments has defined the parameters – public façade to the front, private yard to the back – of residential buildings to date. Yet, as we move away from such arrangements, residences could occupy sites in far more varied ways, just as the manner in which the homes themselves are occupied has evolved. Negotiating the tension between preservation of heritage on the one hand and contemporary alteration and addition on the other, Overend Street Residence exemplifies how we currently treat the fronts and backs of our houses.

The front of the existing home is carefully treated, retaining its position on the allotment and its relationship to the streetscape. A portion of the back, however, is demolished. The new addition is constructed as if it were always attached and, at the same time, is expressed distinctly from the original front. The external surface of the front is treated with a light colour; the back is consistently applied with a dark stain. Windows and doors are a few small moments on the front façade, whilst those on the new back addition join to make up most of the rear. Visible gutters, downpipes, a protruding verandah and a visible roof frame the existing front. Meanwhile, the new concealed box gutter and an external parapet eave consistent with the new side walls frame the new back.

Cale Peters Constructions and their subcontractors propped up the old front, ensuring the new back was attached, and C. Kairouz Architects curated the articulations of front and back. Whilst the roof structure of the new back is attached structurally at a line approximately halfway through the kitchen island, substantial attention and care have been given to conceal this moment of connection. In the alterations, the bathroom has moved closer to the centre of the floor plan; the rear addition extends three metres further into the backyard; the kitchen seamlessly connects to the living room; the laundry is transformed from a room into a cupboard; and one bathroom becomes two.

The new addition is constructed as if it were always attached and, at the same time, is expressed distinctly from the original front.

In designing and constructing new elements in and around Overend Street Residence, the architect and builder expertly enact the choices made in defining the front and back of the house. The clear and concise work from Cale Peters Constructions and C. Kairouz Architects highlights how the dichotomy of ‘fronts and backs’ is evolving in the contemporary suburban context.