Fitzroy, Melbourne is a busy inner-city suburb that sports a crop of low-rise, high density buildings. It’s narrow streets and laneways of built-to-boundary terraces and shopfronts, support the jostling of lives and livelihoods that colour the neighborhood in rich, urbane and edgy tones.

Just behind the main drag stands a row of two-story townhouses. One of them was stripped of its concrete, blockwork, framework and fenestration to expose the bare bones of the building. The buildings remake was guided by the pursuit of simplicity, an adherence to a minimal palette, and a determination to keep the alterations to a minimum whilst maximising opportunities for natural light and spaciousness.

Fitzroy Terrace is a space for expansive living; deliciously light and bright, a deliberate respite from the hard edges of the grungy, bustling city streets right at its doorstep.

Cleverly poised to one side of the terrace’s entry, the dining space creates a sense of arrival, a place to pause and shrug off your coat and the busy world outside. It features an upholstered banquette set against a vertically lined timber wall, and furnished with a slight and simple dining setting, the space feels lofty, its proportions an elegant backdrop for the sample of textures honed and repeated throughout the house: timber, polished concrete, matte white walls and surfaces, splashes of metal, plush, simple fabrics and dollops of greenery. Light bathes all of the space, and shadows play against volumes of simple detailing and carefully-chosen ornamentation.