The old adage of the worst house in the best street applied to this property in St Kilda. Built in the eighties without much apparent concern for the existing context of the existing Georgian and Edwardian villas that dominate this area the existing two-storey red brick house stood out in the street for all the wrong reasons.

An existing two storey volume on a slender site with an over scaled bay window (sized in plan to accommodate the original owners baby grand piano) resulted in a very erect structure that highly contrasted to the single storey villas and art deco apartment blocks adjacent and opposite.

The owners first choice was to demolish most of the existing house and re-build however on consideration of what could be gained by way of amenity and the cost of a re-build it was decided to address the presence of the front of the house in the neighborhood and to create welcoming presence for the owners while enhancing their sense of privacy on the corner site.

The project is one part elegant wallpaper and one part form making using the bones of the original house. The existing brick is covered with a light grey textured render and battens applied over the bay window, now reduced in height to bring the scale of the bay in line with the height of the façade. The other move was to create a heavy triangular roof form from the existing framing to create the impression of a single storey villa type residence reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Oak Park Home.

To reside in a neighborhood often requires a neighborly face and a neighborly disposition, the owners of this house while now enjoying the comforts of their home are also happy with the face they present to the street.

Short listed in the 2012 Victorian Architecture Awards