Castlemaine House 5

This house in central Castlemaine involved major alterations and additions to a brick veneer dwelling constructed in the 1930’s. The house has a Mt Alexander Council heritage overlay. The original house was a simple extruded gable structure with lean-to’s to the front and rear added more recently. It was decided early in the project to work with the existing fabric and keep the essential form the original house consisting of the extruded gable and remove the front and rear lean-to’s. The new kitchen, living area and study were located where the northern lean-to was removed to take advantage of the north facing aspect, as well as the potential for an enclosed urban garden outlook. The street elevation faces south. Where the southern lean-to was removed a second bedroom / office is located with a bay window looking to the street.

The original extruded gable roof form was extended to enclose the new extensions as well as create an outdoor covered room to the north connecting the house to the garden. A restrained material palette was chosen to make clear the extent of the original rendered brick fabric and the new work in oiled ship-lap timber cladding.

The architecture of the interior is kept understated to frame the clients collection of art and books. During construction the clients commissioned particular pieces of joinery, by a local craftsperson, including bookshelves and storage units for the study, kitchen and living area.