Hansen Street

Location: West Footscray

Status: Complete in 2010

Alterations to existing single residence with single-storey addition.

The single-storey addition is a formal mirroring of the alteration to the existing single residence. The design proposal relocated the entry to create a lobby at the centre that separates the quiet zone from the living zone. The extruded timber kitchen from the back of the new addition reflects the entrance extruding sideways from the peripheral centre of the house. This intervention permits the previous entrance to be closed off to create a veranda while the awkward slanting wall at the back end of the existing residence transforms into an acoustic and visual barrier to the quiet zones. The skylight cut out above this wall generates a variety of shadows, transforming the wall into a blank canvas for the natural light to work its magic.

Photo credit: Steve Suteadja