A sloped part of roof joins this timber-clad extension by Melbourne studio Julie Firkin Architects to the adjacent weatherboard residence .

Fenwick Street Property was designed by Julie Firkin Architects to lengthen the existing property for a family of five in Melbourne’s Clifton Hill neighbourhood. The new two-storey addition occupies an irregularly shaped plot to the rear of the house and is made up of a kitchen, dining location and master bedroom suite.

An arrangement of angular and overlapping volumes accommodate a series of interconnected rooms, which offer you various-shaped spaces inside a limited footprint.

“The customers desired a warm, familial ambiance, expressed by way of natural materials and a assortment of spaces from generous to little and cosy,” Firkin advised Dezeen.

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The use of all-natural supplies commences with the wooden cladding for exterior, the place unpainted Australian silvertop ash applied in vertical strips distinguishes the new structure from the old developing.

“The cladding is sympathetic with the authentic weatherboards but the shiplap profile has a much more modern aesthetic,” Firkin pointed out.

The extension ascends diagonally from the rear of the authentic residence at an angle that mirrors the pitch of its hipped roof. This is designed to accentuate the transition from the single-storey construction to the two-storey addition.

The sloping roofline follows the angle of the staircase under and creates a dining area that is totally glazed on one side and characteristics an angular clerestory window on the other.

On the upper storey, the region containing the master bedroom cantilevers in the direction of the backyard and provides shade to the ground floor living regions for the duration of the summertime.

Coloured filters applied to the windows on this degree characteristic abstract shapes made by the artist Jethro Harcourt, who is also the client’s brother. The decorations prevent the bedroom from overlooking the gardens of neighbouring properties.

Wood is the predominant materials utilised for the interior, which includes the treads of an open-riser staircase – flanked by a glass balustrade to minimise its visual presence in the dining location.

White surfaces and pale concrete complement the wood and type a subtle palette that is punctuated by coloured specifics, such as the window treatment options in the kitchen and bedroom.

A lounge spot in the current home has been renovated by adding a new window bench, which projects out in the direction of the backyard and is fronted by windows that swing open upwards.

Comparable windows lining the kitchen can be raised to increase the connection among this space and the backyard, whilst a sliding glass door from the dining area opens onto a large wooden deck.

Photography is by Christine Francis.

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