A Reinvigorated Parkside Home– Victoria Gardens Home by Lucy Clemenger
Taking residency overlooking the existing established park of the same name, Victoria Gardens House takes full advantage of its frontage and creates key connections between built and landscaped elements. Lucy Clemenger combines a considered refinement with a contemporary approach to create a light-filled home.
Located into the vibrant enclave of Melbourne’s inner south, Victoria Gardens House sits amongst other familiar-era Victorian terrace homes in Prahran, some converted and others remaining as originally constructed. Fusing an approach that both retains and extends, the combined efforts to celebrate the existing features and crafted nuances are balanced by the clean and minimal methodology of the addition. The contemporary then meets the heritage with a sense of clarity and purpose. Unique to the site, and its namesake, is the home’s convenient and enviable connection to the adjacent greenspace. Creating a meaningful connection between the built and the natural then became a key focus for the resulting works. Lucy Clemenger injects a contemporary and relevant sense of space through open and connected family living, while still retaining an association with the original architectural details and proportions.
The original frontage was built in 1880 and, like most original Victorian terrace houses, was in need to repair and restoration. Through a combined approach, both the old and new flow together harmoniously, offering a balance to one another. While the older elements are more formal and highly detailed, the new are casual, open and offer a more concise and refined level of detailing. As a double-fronted home, the scale and grandeur of the original needed to be maintained and become the guiding silhouette for the extension. Resultingly, the renovated heritage portion now houses a private master suite, study and formal sitting area, adding a natural hierarchy within the home. The new then becomes an open and inviting series of spaces, connected through full-height glazing.
Fusing an approach that both retains and extends, the combined efforts to celebrate the existing features and crafted nuances are balanced by the clean and minimal methodology of the addition.
At the heart of the home is the allowance for multi-generation living and the provision for areas to be separated for functional, acoustic and climactic purposes. The extension allows for the incorporation of additional bedrooms, while being visually connected to the park, sitting up high amongst the canopies. The spill-over into lush and established garden settings was also integral to the design. The adjacent generous landscape is accessed to the east through a stepped courtyard arrangement, slowly transitioning from the built to the natural.
Lucy Clemenger has dissolved boundaries between inside and out such that Victoria Gardens House embraces its location, while preserving an element of history in the process. The extended narrative now endowed on the home allows for a prosperous future.
