Autumn House by Studio Bright Nikita Bhopti

Autumn House Studio Bright

The gardens of Autumn House are not only instrumental in gifting the clients the tranquil home they desired, but also act as an offering of urban generosity to the laneway and street. Described as two restorations and an addition, Autumn House integrates new and existing heritage elements within the addition, creating a home that “engenders the cohesion of spirit that a new house should have”.

Words by Nikita Bhopti

Photography by Rory Gardiner

Nestled among a series of single-fronted Carlton North terraces, a familiar single-storey terrace sits quite traditionally in the top corner of the site. To its south, is a deep garden – a humble surprise, giving this quiet residential street a break from the customary blockade of terrace walls. Autumn House stands proudly as an exercise in “negotiating the need for refuge, retreat and privacy” while crafting moments that engage generously with what is beyond. A series of carefully placed elements fill the site around the existing Victorian terrace, which was previously renovated in the 80s by architect Mick Jörgensen. The extensively reconfigured interior by Jörgensen sees brick walls bagged, floors paved in brickwork, clear finished timber ceilings, and an expressed central fireplace – all elements that Studio Bright describe as “quintessentially earthy Elthamesque 80s” that were “much loved and referenced in the new addition”. When speaking with Studio Bright about the project, they described it as “two restorations and an addition”, with the team working to define, refine and respect the existing features and gestures, and yet integrate them. Sitting within a heritage overlay, the new portions of the building maintain deep setbacks from the street, and are “intentionally quiet along the heritage front, with the existing Victorian restored and celebrated”. A bold brick garden wall peels off the Victorian terrace, and wraps towards the laneway, forming both the boundary wall for the ground floor of the addition, while enclosing the main garden space and mature elm tree. Above, a wedge-like mesh structure rests on the bold brick plinth, housing the main bedroom, ensuite, and a balcony looking onto the garden below. When talking through their design process for the facade walls, Studio Bright shared how “all thresholds to the courtyards and outdoor spaces are porous and defined by operable glazed doors and windows”. There was a “strong desire to renew spatial respect for the mature elm tree in the middle of the site, and to recreate the lush and private secretgarden feeling experienced in the existing house”. Internal planning around the tree embraces its canopy, “bringing the seasonal beauty of the tree into daily life”. These internal curved geometries reflect onto the curved brick laneway facade, softening the way the addition presents itself to its neighbouring context. The wedge-like structure above is dressed in a mesh

Right: Internal planning around the tree embraces its canopy and creates a lush and private garden.

system that encourages climbing planters to clad the walls of the home over time. Studio Bright saw this “garden offering to the laneway” as a humble gesture to the neighbourhood, while “further elaborating the visual allusion of the secret garden” beyond. Additionally, the garden screening also aims to work towards “filtering light and muting the immediacy of neighbours” for the private spaces within. The clients desired a home that gave them a “calm refuge and retreat” from their busy lives. Their new home sees several key relationships shaped particularly around fostering modern-day family life. Living spaces are configured to draw in the north sun, while ensuring surveillance onto the variety of intertwined garden spaces, to watch the clients’ twin girls explore and play. The plan unravels across the site, giving the home two uniquely generous pockets of green space for hosting large celebrations of family life. The much loved Jörgensen lounge and bedrooms within the existing Victorian terrace see carefully crafted outlooks to the Elm tree, while their raw timber-lined ceilings and red-brick floor remain. Courtyards and balconies allow new bedrooms and living spaces to “relate to open space outlooks beyond; the shady elm tree, the secluded roof terrace, the sociable herb garden on the street”. Studio Bright believe it is these relationships that “enrich living possibilities”. Autumn House stands as a virtuous celebration of its site’s context. This project presented Studio Bright with a rare instance of a single-fronted Victorian terrace on a double-width site, partnered with two laneway frontages and a centrally-sited mature elm tree. Their considered response is both generous to the surrounding streetscape, and the family life held within. The existing 80s Jörgensen renovation is integrated seamlessly into the fabric of the new family home, while the addition is craftily balanced with the studio’s generous ambitions for the garden and the broader Carlton North community.

Nikita Bhopti RAIA is an architect working at Sibling Architecture. A lead curator of New Architects Melbourne, Nikita is also engaged with multiple mentoring platforms as both a mentor and mentee. She is a regular contributor to Architect Victoria and The Design Writer.

Autumn House

Practice Team Melissa Bright (Director / design architect) Maia Close (Project architect) Rob McIntyre (Director for design realisation / architect) Emily Watson (Associate) Annie Suratt (Associate) Pei She Lee (Graduate of architecture)

Consultant / Construction team: Meyer Consulting (Engineer) Eckersley Garden Architecture (Landscape consultant)

Builder ProvanBuilt

Location Carlton North Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung Country

Right: The gardens of Autumn House are not only instrumental in gifting the clients the tranquil home they desired, but also act as an offering of urban generosity to the laneway and street. Left: Described as two restorations and an addition, Autumn House integrates new and existing heritage elements within the addition.