Salvage – Stable and Cart House by Clare Cousins Architects
From the street, the transformation of the Stable and Cart House is barely noticeable. It sits as it always has, layered with the patina of the last 100 years. Yet internally, this warehouse has been considerately converted to a domestic residence by Clare Cousins Architects through a series of key insertions that modify function even as they retain and emphasise the building’s history.
Nestled in the laneways of North Melbourne, ‘Salvage’ is marked in bold letters above the entryway of the old warehouse. The word is an imprinted memory from one of the building’s past lives but also aptly highlights the work of preservation undertaken here by Clare Cousins Architects, for Stable and Cart House is the result of a careful balance of respect for what came before and attention to the domestic requirements of 21st-century living.
Harry A Norris designed the original building in the 1920s as a 10-stall stable and cart store. Norris was an esteemed Melbourne architect, notable for his contribution to the art deco style. He was the designer of the 1926 Nicholas Building in Melbourne’s CBD, which was listed for sale in mid-2021. While the heritage-listed building was never at risk of demolition, a campaign was launched to reframe the listing of the building in an effort to retain the ongoing social, cultural and contemporary histories housed there. The campaign considered the history of the building beyond its physical presence and asked how these elements can be preserved and managed when examining the value of architecture – ideals whose relevance to Stable and Cart House is similarly notable.
Over the past century, the building that is now Stable and Cart House has had many lives, with many people passing through its doors. After its initial purpose as a stable and cart store, the warehouse functioned as an ironworks, a salvage warehouse and, most recently, as a dressmaking atelier. The client, having owned the property for the last 25 years, was keen to preserve the marks left from the building’s past uses. Its life history can be detected in the detail of the fabric retained; there is a roughness to the building’s quality. The architects have considerately left traces of the past; “corrosion holes and 100 years of ad hoc repairs remain as found, creating a patchwork of patina.” These textures provide support for narratives of the past to dwell within the new function of the building. In turn, the building becomes a palimpsest of its past lives.
These beautifully executed features, constructed on site, echo the ironworks that were previously housed here.
From the exterior, the rich red bricks are marked with traces of what came before; the original façade has been retained – it is “in its found condition,” says Clare Cousins, Director of the practice. However, from the outside, you are afforded a glimpse to the insertion of an internal courtyard. This glimpse is the only suggestion to the public that the warehouse, one of many in its locale, has perhaps been altered. Internally, a veil of scratched white paint lingers on the brick walls. A sign, painted on the wall looking over the now living room, still reads, “Employees Are Requested To Be Tidy in Every Respect About The Stables And Thus Give Pleasure To Those in Charge.” These traces provide more than a stylistic backdrop to the warehouse aesthetic. As authentic touchpoints, they give space to voices of the people that have previously passed through these doors.
Clare speaks of the challenge of introducing “the obligatory domestic program while preserving the warehouse scale of the interior and memories of the past.” To resolve this, a series of decisive insertions were introduced to domesticate the warehouse at the same time as maintaining and celebrating the building’s layered history. Removing a section of the existing roof, a central pebbled courtyard with a solitary tree was created to anchor the plan of the house. Key domestic functions wrap the courtyard, which drives light and air into these surrounding rooms. Another striking insertion is the rust-toned painted steel staircase, which cuts through the building and connects the two storeys. The architects removed part of the feeder loft, exposing the full height of the interior. Spatially, the stair adds a sense of dynamism to the house and its presence emphasises this height. Like the steel shelving that lines the walls, the steel staircase references the industrial use of the building but also gives the house a contemporary feel. These beautifully executed features, constructed on site, echo the ironworks that were previously housed here.
The subtlety of the renewal of the Stable and Cart House from the exterior presents a perspective as to how we should value the existing fabric of the city.
In contrast, rich blackbutt timber-clad rooms encircle the courtyard providing utility and privacy. On the ground level, these rooms are defined by inhabited walls that house various functions. In not reaching the double-height ceiling, they help to domesticate the warehouse. Further, the timber warms and softens the interior. Likewise, the timber bath, surrounded by a timber floor and walls, feels casually luxurious and provides an elegant point of contrast to the industrial feel of the steel additions.
Less explicit insertions are also present here; there are things at work beneath the surface that appropriately fit the house for contemporary life. Subfloor insulation and a highly insulated ceiling structure, hidden underneath the galvanised corrugated roof, enable the house’s history to be read but also ensure the interior is comfortable and thermally secure. Operable skylights have also been added to allow for thermal purging. It is the balance between the prominent new features, which have thoughtful links with the past, and these hidden insertions that demonstrate the careful line tread by the architects between new and old.
Over the past century, the building that is now Stable and Cart House has had many lives, with many people passing through its doors.
The subtlety of the renewal of the Stable and Cart House from the exterior presents a perspective as to how we should value the existing fabric of the city. A hundred years ago, at the time this building was being constructed, a prominent idea in modernist architectural thinking was to rebuild the world from scratch. Now, the background condition to most building is understanding the context of what is already there. This notion is taken further by Clare Cousins Architects, in the care taken for the existing building. The architects’ stewardship of the conversion and of the memory of what was there before demonstrates an environmentally considerate approach. Clare expresses that today, “there is a responsibility for the broader profession to practice responsibly, to salvage, re-use, restore and to build quality design that will last.”
There is a careful elegance to the new insertions made at the Stable and Cart House. Links have been made between the new additions and the found. Layers of the past meet a layering of contemporary material. The result is a building redefined in typology, but the same in nature. Both the clients and architects saw what was worthwhile about the existing architecture. In building with restraint, in prioritising what exists, Clare Cousins Architects has demonstrated what it is to design with care.
