Adding Warmth – Swanston Street House by Robert Simeoni Architects

Subtly adding warmth to a Victorian-fronted terrace, Swanston Street House sees the use of colour and texture evoke mood and infuse character. Robert Simeoni Architects has opened up the existing home, adding light and connecting the internal spaces.

Sitting in a row of period homes, Swanston Street House sees the renovation, restoration and new addition works within its Victorian-fronted terrace home. Through the use of colour, materiality and texture, a subtle warmth is added, evoking mood and infusing character. The opening up of the internal zones behind the heritage façade allows for a stream of natural light to be welcomed inward and for more transitional spaces, which are now connected through the removal of the original rigid and traditional formality to planning. Robert Simeoni Architects has cleverly adopted a number of mechanisms to restructure the contemporary addition, dismantling the original, but still paying respect to its history.

In a familiar story, the existing heritage façade and the attached front rooms are retained, and from that point backward, a contemporary exploration of space ensues. Swanston Street House’s long and narrow site resulted in dark lower-level rooms, and the formal planning of the internal spaces spoke to a bygone way of residing in a home. Countering these challenging aspects, the original façade, front rooms and entry hallway were retained, and the remainder of the home was rebuilt.

Located in Melbourne’s inner north, Swanston Street House is surrounded by similar properties in Carlton that straddle an impractical heritage formality and beckon a contemporary connectedness. Key to the success of the transformation is the essential comprising parts – namely light, materiality and connections. Above the new lounge area sits a newly formed lightwell that floods the lower level in natural light from this central location. This opening also allows for a visual and formal connection between the upper and lower levels, further emphasises by circulation spaces reinterpreted through movable screens and drapery. These nuances allow for a sense of theatre and drama to be added to the space.

Through the use of dark and textured materiality, a deeper mood is created, and the combination of heavily textured elements layered together throughout the home enables the owner’s personality to be captured. Sitting quietly and purposely behind the heritage façade, Swanston Street House unfolds as an expression of its contemporary and projected future purpose. Robert Simeoni Architects combines a considered sensibility with an understanding of place making through formality and materiality that proposes a home of layered warmth and significant depth.

Robert Simeoni Architects combines a considered sensibility with an understanding of place making through formality and materiality that proposes a home of layered warmth and significant depth.