A Fitting Addition – Pereira House by Enoki
As a response to its existing grand proportions, Pereira House is given a new lease on life by extending a similar sensibility to scale and elevated detailing. Enoki combines an open focus on connectivity to bind the old and new, embedding a similar heightened experience to the contemporary areas of the newly sculpted home.
Located in Adelaide’s inner Medindie, the heritage surrounds reinforce the retention and preservation of the storied home. The extension shows clear reference to the original proportions and scale of the detailed home. The newly conceived rear volume acts as an evolution of sorts, extruding outward, with a matched sense of proportion and height. The continuation of a comparable palette draws elements between both eras while allowing the newly connected living and kitchen area to become its own light filled portal between of transition. Enoki employs a familiar and classic approach to materiality to create a sense of endurability through the new works, setting up the owners for their next chapter within the space.
Connection underpins the new gestures throughout Pereira House, both internally and between the built and the natural elements of the home. Built by Gray Construct, the resulting expansion allows the previously established humility and ornate detailing of the original home to be extended, while the revisions link the other areas of the home help to connect a sense of relevance throughout. The existing planning, like many older homes, was the result of structural capabilities of its time and needing to reinforce the overall form by a regular and consistent patterning amongst the planning. Opening this rigidity, the new heart of the residence – the kitchen, dining and living space to the rear – speaks to the importance of being able to come together in a contemporary home.
Allowing for natural interactions within the home formed an important part of the brief. A blanket approach to bring the old and new together focuses on a shared materiality, allowing the existing detailing to sit comfortably amongst the new insertions. The continued elegance and classic references of scale carry through also, reinforcing an enduring nature. As a family who enjoy entertaining, the expanded living space allows for larger groups to convene, while also being connected to the kitchen area at the same time. Housing their impressive art collection was also important, as was allowing a better connection to the natural elements.
Through a focus on lineage and sharing their collections, Pereira House extends the timeless nature of the original home. Focusing on subtleties, Enoki has extended relevance of the original while updating it for contemporary living.
