A Curated Honouring – Fitzroy Bridge House by Matt Gibson Architecture + Design

Extending from the previous heritage and lineage of the ornately detailed home, Fitzroy Bridge House fuses old and new whilst expressing an authenticity at its core. Matt Gibson Architecture + Design focuses on bringing in light and access to the natural elements in a recrafting of the existing, aligning and flowing freely between eras.

Located among similar homes in Melbourne’s inner north, Fitzroy Bridge House sits suitably in place as an important part of the character and heritage of the area. In expanding and opening the home to align with a more contemporary lived experience, the bridging between eras retains its original features and the connection to its history. Elevated to give a sense of relief of overall form, the gesture aims to celebrate the difference in styles and eras. Matt Gibson Architecture + Design draws from the crafted and handmade nature of the original home to propose an aptly fitting addition.

The street-facing façade remains intact with additional forms added to the rear, accessed by way of the bridge with an inherent sense of journey and discovery embedded along the way.

Built by Warwick Constructions, together with landscape design by Robyn Barlow, Fitzroy Bridge House is a creative interpretation. Looking beyond standard responses and wanting to create a unique arrangement, the experience of being within the home and flow of movement throughout took precedence. The resulting breezeway feature links the past with the present whilst also creating a relief in the overall massing on the site. The street-facing façade remains intact with additional forms added to the rear, accessed by way of the bridge with an inherent sense of journey and discovery embedded along the way.

On either side of the bridge sits two separate courtyard spaces, each bringing light deeper into the home. The landscape plays an important role in how the home functions, both as a passion for the owner to engage with and as a contributor to the quality of life. By connecting to nature, viewpoints out of openings and glazed elements are softened through the natural plantings dotted throughout the site. Warmth is then brought inward to the materiality of the home with timber and a subtle transition of darker and more moody colours in the old as it

The landscape plays an important role in how the home functions, both as a passion for the owner to engage with and as a contributor to the quality of life.

Matt Gibson Architecture + Design’s Fitzroy Bridge House makes a bold statement by carrying through geometries between eras. The home’s components and story seamlessly connect to create a cohesive and dynamic whole.