Ensconced—Heritage-listed Building Turned Carlton North Family Home

Architects can struggle to get a foothold in the housing market like the rest of us. When Multiplicity’s Ellen Kwek and Six Degrees Architects’ Michael Frazzetto teamed up with a pair of former sharehouse flatmates in 2011 to pool their resources and buy a beige 90s office in a former 1890s tram warehouse, they knew they’d be able to subdivide the heritage-listed property into two interesting homes.

Sitting in what was once the printer room – now a convivial kitchen filled with light from all directions and views across a front courtyard through to Carlton North’s lovely strip parkland opposite – they wryly recall initial plans to subdivide within a year, retain the heritage-listed brick walls and gut the interior to start again. In reality, by the time they got a feel for the place (including elements like courtyards worth retaining), saved for a renovation, designed and re-designed it as many times as you’d imagine a pair of architects might, and obtained planning and heritage approvals, the subdivision happened four years later and the renovation eight. “It was good thinking time,” Ellen says. “Being architects, you can’t not keep thinking about the next option.”

The pair brought with them complementary architectural A-games. Ellen’s a detail-oriented residential architect whose thoughtful materiality is evident throughout, from earthy, hexagonal Japanese tiles in the elegant upstairs bathrooms to joinery veneer of spotted gum cut thicker than usual to enhance tonal variations. Michael has studied landscape and planning and is drawn to the big picture and memorable gestures inspired by years of hospitality projects. Hence a café aesthetic so alluring it occasionally draws in passersby ready to order coffees, and an outdoor shower positioned on an upstairs deck to frame moonlit skies. The latter created a ritual so comforting at day’s end (followed by marshmallows toasted on the living room fireplace) that it helped the young family of four through Melbourne’s arduous extended lockdown last winter.

Ellen and Michael agreed early on that to maximise light, ventilation, greenery, functionality and flow in the 60-square-metre interior, they’d place a north-facing front courtyard inside heritage-listed brick walls flush to the street, linked via floor-to-ceiling bifold doors to a kitchen and dining space that’s the setting for “80 per cent of family life”. It’s an unconventional entrance for an inner-Melbourne suburb more accustomed to internalised Victorian terraces. But it works, and it’s inspired by the designers’ travels to Mexico and Morocco, where front courtyard gardens are warmly embraced for their intriguing semi-seclusion and element of surprise.

“Most terraces have a front yard but it’s not really used, it’s more public,” Ellen says. “This has got a semi-private feel.” “We love courtyard housing,” Michael adds. “The house is built to zero lot lines and you step into this world that’s protected. A sanctuary.” “In our situation, there is still a lot of interaction with the street,” Ellen says. “We have visual connection when we want through a gate – you can completely close it off or have it half open. You can glance through from our kitchen to the street, and people who know us do wander in,” she says with a laugh. “We can hear the school, we can hear kids outside, and there is a bit of incidental interaction because of that. By having the kitchen and dining space at the front of the house it is still quite social.”

To create maximum bang for buck they prioritised interiors. Opting for simplicity of forms and external finishes allowed them to use beautiful, robust, semi-industrial materials they love and deploy purposefully. Hence concrete and granite floors, rafters of Tasmanian oak with herringbone blocking, reflective surfaces like mirrored splashbacks that amplify space and green vistas, and textural spotted gum feature walls and freestanding service pods at the centre of both levels. The latter conceal practicalities like stairs, storage, bathrooms and laundry, leaving surrounding space free-flowing and functional. Black steel is applied liberally throughout: in window frames, kitchen detailing and even a shimmering feature wall in the light-filled living room at the rear of the ground floor.

A side courtyard floods the home’s core with light, downstairs and above, where the children’s subtly different bedroom nooks feel like treehouse cubbies. The adults luxuriate in a relatively palatial retreat that makes compact living feasible.

“Partly the idea was maybe we can just build a very simple box, and the money then goes into the fit-out,” Michael says. “We definitely weren’t of the school of having a heroic external form. That’s just a bit of a yawn to be honest.” “We come from practices that use semi-industrial materials for their natural patina and textural qualities,” Ellen says.

Working closely with trusted builder Nick Wilson was central to the project’s success. “We had 100 per cent trust in the builder,” Michael says. “He did all these things he knew we’d love.” That included making the kitchen’s brass-lined pendant light and leaving a little leaf print in the slab. “We left his name on that bit of steel there,” he adds. “I love that they spelled his surname wrong.”

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