At Chaucer Residence in St Kilda, an architect turns a 100-year-old home into a contemporary, pavilion-like residence.
Pohio Adams was engaged by the client – a former architect – to oversee the renovation and extension of a Federation home in St Kilda, Victoria. As such, the architect turns a 100-year-old home into an extended version of itself with a respectful heritage restoration at the front and a highly contemporary intervention at the rear.
The client had a clear vision for a courtyard-style house that presented discreetly to the street and unfolded spectacularly at the rear. This brief demanded that the architect turns a 100-year-old home into a dynamic and modern version of itself. Counting Pierre Chareau’s Maison de Verre and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion as key references, the ambitious concept was further complicated by the site’s compact size, heritage-protected facade and narrow rear laneway.
The architect turns a 100-year-old home into a residence fit for a modern lifestyle, placing emphasis on contrast while celebrating old and new in equal measure. Fluctuations in light and volume help to generate a lively experience, particularly when traversing the home from front to back. “Light and space are always key considerations for us, and to make those qualities sing, you need to set up juxtapositions.”
Restored to its former grandeur, the facade features fresh tuckpointing and newly laid tessellated tiles. Here, the architect turns a 100-year-old home into a newly minted version of itself. The contemporary extension is intentionally hidden from view, allowing the handsome structure to sit humbly yet proudly amid the streetscape. Inside, the front rooms retain their formal arrangement and detailing with pressed metal ceilings and restored cornices, architraves and skirting boards, and new pale oak floorboards and Venetian plaster offer a contemporary edge. In a small but significant move, Pohio Adams raised the heights of the door frames, introducing increased fluidity without disrupting the original framework.
The threshold between old and new is an important juncture and it’s accentuated by a shift in scale and hue. It’s evident where an architect turns a 100-year-old home into a striking modern residence. “You pop out into the living space, which is washed with light and has six-metre-high ceilings,” says Adams. “It’s a contrast from the cooler, dimmer rooms at the front.” The entire north elevation is glazed; on the ground floor, Vitrocsa sliding panels open onto a courtyard and a travertine-lined pool, and overhead, glass blocks wrap the northern and southern sides “providing a watery, dappled light.” Reflected light from the pool also dances across the ceiling, animating this vast space and placing the landscape and its changing conditions at the centre of the internal experience.
There is a staggering diversity of spaces at Chaucer Residence; a discovery made even more surprising considering the modernist-inspired extension isn’t seen from the street. It’s a convincing example of an architect turning a 100-year-old home into a contemporary residence. The takeaway is not that of a superfluous piece of architecture, but of an aspirational brief for a family home realised with conviction.
00:00 – Introduction to the 100 Year Old Home
01:29 – The Brief
02:07 – Reinstating Original Details
02:59 – Design Opportunities
03:30 – Functional Appliances
04:01 – The Glass Blocks
04:48 – Proud Moments
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Photography by Timothy Kaye.
Architecture and interior design by Pohio Adams Architects.
Build by Bacchus Constructions.
Landscape design by Grounded Gardens.
Engineering by Partridge.
Joinery by Fine Form Joinery.
Appliances by Fisher & Paykel.
Filmed and edited by Ryan Wehi.
Production by The Local Project.
Location: St Kilda, Victoria, Australia
The Local Project acknowledges the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land in Australia. We recognise the importance of Indigenous peoples in the identity of our country and continuing connections to Country and community. We pay our respect to Elders, past and present, and extend that respect to all Indigenous people of these lands.
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