Hobart Homes

HAMPDEN ROAD HOUSE, BATTERY POINT

Interview: Stephanie Williams Images: Adam Gibson

Josh FitzGerald is the Hobart based director and co-founder of Archier. They recently completed a heritage renovation project in the heart of Battery Point. The Hampden Road House effortlessly blends history with the contemporary.

There’s skill in taking a heritage house and turning it into something so modern and original. What were the main chal

lenges the project faced? Our first challenge was in approaching the site - a dense inner city block that didn’t instantly lend itself to privacy or peace. By wrapping the house around the perimeter, we created an inner courtyard which can be seen from every room in the extension; which provides an intimate and serene space, inwardly focused, and totally sheltered from the business of Battery Point. This still stands true during summer when all internal doors are opened up into that space. We also wanted to find a respectful transition between old and new, which didn’t isolate one from the other, creating a disjointed experience. We kept the rumpus and office in the original house to maintain a flow between the two spaces, rejuvenating the old cottage to be engaged in the new space, whilst maintaining a respectful threshold which transitions you from one space to the next.

The dark palette is a beautiful counterpoint to the usual light and bright renovations in the market. What was the inspira

tion here? The palette is dark, however the spaces are flooded with natural light so it’s not dim and gloomy by any means. The deep tones are counteracted with natural light that floods in through the full height windows, playfully shaping it throughout the day as the sun tracks by. The internal contrast to the external colours of the garden lets the foliage really pop and invites your sight line to these framed garden views. The outdoor palette is continually interacting with the indoor palette, calmly connecting the two. These darker colours are all embodied in natural and raw materials, they patina well with a story, perhaps more so than bright white plasterboard boxes, which typically deteriorate with time. The lack of pristine bright white also allows for moments of shadow and light to interact, a reflection of the daily rhythm of life.

What do you know of the history of the house, especially

being in the heart of Battery Point? The cottage was built around 1870 and was the old Milkman’s depot, formerly known as Battery Point Milk Supply, which was trading around 1930. It sits on one of the very few remaining titles that reflects the original Arthur Circus subdivision. The majority of the titles have been further subdivided.

Is Hobart an easy or hard city to do a heritage build in? We can’t speak for everyone, but with this particular project, we endeavoured to engage with the main stakeholders (clients, neighbours, council and Heritage Tasmania) from the get go, to consciously tap into those knowledge sources, and incorporate their feedback into our design response. Given that these needs could harmoniously align, we were able to design something that kept everyone happy, so it ended up being a smooth process.