Inquisitive and Bold – Wellington Wall by Wolveridge Architects
Inspired by the client’s love of Brutalist architecture, Wellington Wall is a study of merging the heritage with the contemporary. Wolveridge Architects’ inquisitive and bold approach unveils a dynamic and finely detailed home.
Nestled into the tightly woven streets of Collingwood, in Melbourne’s inner north, Wellington Wall straddles the line between heritage compliance and creating architecture that responds to the client’s personality and aesthetic. Through a passion for Brutalism, the client wanted to bring a sense of boldness to the existing bones of this two-storey terrace mid-Victorian terrace home. With the terrace one of four adjoining homes, emphasising a sense of place and identity in such a heritage-rich area was key, whilst maintaining the character of the original was both necessary and challenging. Wolveridge Architects’ inquisitive rigor sees Wellington Wall carves itself in this crossroads between the important concerns of heritage and history and a need for the contemporary and convenient.
Through a finely detailed and expertly executed lens, together with their clients, Wolveridge Architects wanted to create a home that felt like its own private and removed sanctuary, set back from its streetscape and neighbours. On its narrow allotment, with limited access to natural light, the brief involved opening the existing as much as possible, welcoming in more natural light to the ground floor areas, creating new kitchen, living, and dining areas, adding a powder room and master suite, and connecting to the rear outdoor landscaped areas. For many Victorian-era homes in the area, and indeed more widely in many of Australia’s inner-city locations, this brief rarely changes, but it is the interpretation of that brief into something unique as an expression of its clients that makes the resulting architecture interesting. Wellington Wall is one such project.
Removing the existing lean-to structure, the rear was opened as a two-storey massed volume, as part of stage one works. Stage two will involve the reinvigoration of the streetscape, additional landscaping and an entry courtyard, within the restrictive heritage overlay requirements. To the rear, and taking inspiration from the client’s love of concrete, the new addition was to reflect to its own contemporary language, and not compete with the original Victorian heritage vernacular. The new works are a study on enhancement, and a celebration of the past, with the new adding only a true value to the site.
Custom-made steel pivot doors and a large steel sliding window allow the upper level to float about the ground below, teetering out over the landscaped backyard by Tim Nicholas Landscape Architects. In-situ concrete retaining walls within the garden act as a direct expression of the Brutalist style, as does the custom in-situ dining table internally. This extended use of concrete both internally and externally becomes an expression of the intended flow between in and out. Through the insertion of skylights on the upper level, and voids through the slab, natural light floods throughout the home to create the sense of connection intended.
Wellington Wall sees Wolveridge Architects cleverly combine the heralded existing Victorian features with a new and deliberate sense of place, infusing a sense of identity for its owners amongst the rows of similar heritage facades that characterise the neighbourhood.
