Our clients’ brief for the renovation of their single-fronted Victorian weatherboard was a first: as well as another bedroom and ensuite, they wanted a refurbished music studio in the 130-year-old rear dairy. Another request was to avoid the common open-plan kitchen/living/dining scenario and create separate areas they could retreat to as needed.

We designed a new addition with the ground floor containing a stair void – with desk area underneath – bathroom, kitchen and meals area, and a bedroom, ensuite, dressing room and parents’ retreat upstairs. The first floor is perched on the dairy, the supporting structural steel extending beyond the building to define an outdoor terrace below.

The dairy’s aged northern façade forms a characterful backdrop to the new kitchen and dining room.

Elsewhere, the materials selected are hardworking, cost-effective and aesthetically suitable for Melbourne’s iconic inner-west. Details such as the Victorian Ash staircase, square pastel tiling in the bathrooms and custom steel balustrade, all contribute to what our lovely clients have called their dream home.