Old greets new
This is an excerpt from an article in Sanctuary magazine issue 19.
An extension to a Melbourne brick terrace is highly sympathetic to the environment and the building’s heritage but adds a whole new dimension to this family home.
Words Sarah Robertson
Photography Nic Granleese
As you walk through Verity Campbell and Michael Day’s double storey terrace into their new kitchen and living room at the rear, the juxtaposition of old and new is striking – the green-flecked, black Dalsouple natural rubber floor is a clear contrast to the exposed brick wall that speaks of the change the 1870s-era building has seen. Like the extension, though, this contrast doesn’t seem out of place. Instead, it provides continuity, respecting the old and moving on to the new.
“We love it, we love it,” says Verity of the modest extension. “It’s transformed the house but it doesn’t feel wrong for the house, it’s still the same. I think because of this retained brick wall too, it’s still lived-in and intimate.”
Situated on a long thin block in Melbourne’s inner city suburb of Fitzroy North, it’s no surprise that the addition to the Campbell-Day home was designed to achieve high levels of environmental sustainability: both are former editors of Sanctuary. But for Verity and Michael, this was more than just a green refurbishment.
If you’d like to read the rest of this article you can buy this issue here.
