Victorian revival
From Sanctuary issue 10. More articles like this
By Mara Ripani
Excerpt: The classic Victorian facade of Averil and Florian’s home in inner Melbourne, where they live with their two daughters Jess and Sophie, suggests dark heavy furnishings, copper boilers and wood stoves. But on closer inspection a very different aesthetic and lifestyle is revealed. The contemporary renovation forgoes fusty Victorian for contemporary sustainable chic, while opening its doors to embrace the neighbourhood. The design brief for Steffen Welsch of Steffen Welsch Architects was to create a sustainable home that would support an active and social lifestyle. These objectives were applied through every aspect of the design, from the sustainability features and open spaces to the way the design supports social cohesion and community engagement.
To Steffen, sustainability and an “active” design go hand in hand. “To achieve a sustainable design the home requires active occupants, because it needs to be occupant operated. If you want to shade your house you need to pull down the blinds. If you want to help cool your home, you need to purge heat trapped in the house at night,” explains Steffen. The house forgoes bathroom ensuites for modest size and double glazing, a concrete slab, external blinds, energy-efficient lighting and bulky insulation. The external walls downstairs plaster. While the house has fulfilled its environmental sustainability brief, its social sustainability is also worth noting. The home revolves around a central courtyard, located in the heart of the house. The courtyard offers abundant natural light and ventilation to the bedrooms, as well as the living, dining and kitchen areas. It enables Florian and Avril to supervise the children while they prepare meals and catch up with friends or each other. It creates a dynamic house with adults and children being able to choose alternative routes from the bedrooms to the living spaces, either by traipsing across the courtyard or travelling around its perimeter. And for a close-knit family like this one the courtyard fosters supported independent activities: each member can retreat to his/her own space comforted by the presence of another.
“We like to spend time at home with everybody in the family quite close together, but not necessarily in the same room all the time. The design around a central courtyard with kitchen/ dining and the children’s bedrooms facing it provides us with a sense of being close to each other. This creates a beautiful, peaceful atmosphere,” explains Florian. Along the central corridor each bedroom door is discernible by a different colour. Jess’ bedroom is bathed in beautiful natural light from clerestory windows. A lush purple curtain hangs from the ceiling and when fully drawn it hides a third of the bedroom, creating a more intimate space in winter (a smaller space to heat) and a cubby-like nook to hide in. The bedroom overlooks the front porch and native garden – and most importantly the street – and offers Jess an opportunity to scan the neighbourhood. Steffen recalls a time when Jess glimpsed neighbouring children and excitedly went out to say “come to my house and play with me”. “This was a very positive response,” explains Steffen. “I wanted to create a home that helped connect the family to neighbours and environment. By connecting, you increase opportunities to look after one another and to look after the environment.”
