Merri Creek House by Breathe Architecture

When the family, a couple with two children, purchased the house a few years ago, it had already experienced a few changes. A third level had been added by the previous owners, along with a few minor alterations from others over its relatively short history of 36 years. Located on the edge of Merri Creek in Northcote, the heavily timbered house (originally commissioned by a timber manufacturer) also came with a few unusual features.

“For some reason that wasn’t quite clear, the entry was from the rear of the house (orientated to the north). The kitchen at the front of the house was also interrupting the view of the creek,” says project architect Emily McBain, who worked closely with architects Sarah Mealy and Bettina Robinson. “Our clients also suffered from slight heat overload,” adds Emily, pointing out some of the western walls that Breathe concealed with timber, like much of the house itself. Given 1990 wasn’t at the forefront of thermal insulation, one of the required changes was new double-glazed windows. The garden also needed reworking, with landscape architect Sam Cox designing a native garden that captured the home’s setting.

While the owners were, like the architects, keen to respect the past, they were also excited about the possibility of using a number of bold primary colours that featured in their artwork. Some of the colour, such as the original reddish hue painted on the treads of the staircase and the exterior, also made both parties keen to embrace colour.

One of the strategic moves was to create a new entrance sequence, starting with the front of the home. A timber pod was carefully inserted, made of timber with a vibrant cobalt console, for the owners to drop their keys and other personal items. A built-in set of cupboards also allowed coats to be hung. When it came to reworking the kitchen, which originally came with two steel flues, Breathe rotated the configuration of the island bench to provide greater transparency through the floorplan. As with the colour of the joinery used for the entrance, the kitchen, made from MDF with a two-pack paint and framed with a tiled splashback, is also a complementary blue. “Breathe isn’t particularly known for using strong colours but it felt appropriate for this project,” says Emily, who also went for bold primary colours in the new bathrooms and bright yellow for the laundry.

Some rooms, such as the main bedroom located on the first level, and orientated to the creek, was simply too large in scale. Expanding on the entire width of the house, the little area that remained was given over to a bathroom. For the new scheme, Breathe went for a slightly Japanese aesthetic – with a shoji screen separating the timber tub in the ensuite. With this reduction also came the opportunity to install a generous walk-in dressing area. And on the top level, even though there had been an addition from the early naughties by Fink & McMahon Architects, the approach was to go lightly. “The two children’s bedrooms, bathroom and rumpus room really just needed a paint and a few tweaks,” says Emily.

People often bag an architecture period that’s fairly close to the present. But in this case, the house was endowed with some great features, including a void that accommodated the curvaceous staircase. It also had great ‘bones’ and architectural ‘names,’ such as Professor Phillip Goad who made his indelible mark, not only in academic circles but, as importantly, for the few houses he designed while practicing with architect Leon Fink in the 1990s. It still carries their hallmark but now has another layer by Breathe, one of Melbourne’s leading practices.

You can find out more about Lachlan Seegers Architect via their website or Instagram. Story by Stephen Crafti. Images by Tom Ross.