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Architects: Claire Scorpo Architects
- Area: 11 m²
- Year: 2015
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Photographs:Tom Ross
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Manufacturers: Dioscuri, I-O-N, Like Butter, Mikado, Opal, Porcelain Bear, Trim Deck Basalt
Text description provided by the architects. St Kilda East House is a tiny addition to an existing Edwardian House in Melbourne, Australia. With just 11m2 of new building works, this project engaged with big ideas within a modest footprint and budget to enhance the quality of everyday experience for the family living here.
The form of the addition borrows directly from the existing house, matching the height and pitch of the roofline. This is expressed in the repeated portal frame module that is cutback to enhance the relationship between existing house and garden, and give a direct northern face for light and shadows.
The act of pushing the kitchen out into the garden allows an activation of the outside throughout the year. Within the house, each of the living spaces are connected, yet in a push away from open plan, have their own independence allowing the space to be used in a range of ways as the family grows.
There are some bigger ideas engaged with through the design of this addition. The main of these were: Modest footprint, high engagement with landscape, capturing of light and shadow, delight of verticality in a small plan area, space that changes continually throughout the day, adaptive planning that hugs this small site, engagement with context, dynamic, kitchen as pivot point to activity.
The small addition retains the existing generous setback from the neighbouring property to retain a useable side yard, soon to be populated with chickens. This project re-examines a common approach to additions, by containing the new program in a tiny envelope.
