Timber-Lantern House banner
Project by
Location
Brunswick, Victoria
Year of completion
2022
Project cost
$0.5m - $1m

Timber-Lantern House is a home for a young family with a two-storey rear addition located in a heritage context in Brunswick in Melbourne’s inner north. The design radically transforms this dark home into one of stunning natural light and spatial flow, with a robust and expressionist design.

The design continues our practice research into creating homes that are beautifully connected to their garden settings, that have spatial flow and clever zoning, and grow to accommodate a family through every stage of life. We are also interested in creating sculptural homes - exploring interesting architecture that sets itself apart from standard suburban house types.  

Three design cues - cantilevers, glazed links and lantern-space - inform the main elements of the design which leads to an expression of three-part form you can see when viewing the house from the garden.

The cantilever of the first floor overhangs the north glazing and deck and returns over the garage.

The double-height lantern form contains the stair, spatially connects ground and first floor, and draws the eye from everywhere within the floor plan. The first floor form appears to gently indent where the lantern glazed wall meets it, and the overall effect is a reading of three-part form of grey form above, glazed ground floor below and timber-lantern connecting the three elements. 

The three elements are convincingly read as separate from yet complementary to the heritage fabric by the double height glazed links.

The home is now sustainable, filled with natural light, and better suited to contemporary living. Strategies include active and passive solar design, capturing rainwater, raingardens, utilising low embodied energy or longevity of materials, FSC-Certified timber products via GoodWood and IronAsh, and skylights to provide transformative spatial and design quality.

The clients love their transformed home; robust enough for children, dogs and general mayhem, zoned to enable them the kids to grow into young adults with separate entertainment zones, yet extraordinarily elegant with the timber-clad elements defining structure, and a spatial 'wow' factor which celebrates the garden vie and the joys of daily living.

Awards and
recognition

2023
Trends Ideas TIDA Australia
Architect Home of the Year
2023
Timber Development Association
Timber Design Award Finalist
2023
Trends Ideas TIDA Awards Australia
Architect Main Bedroom Suite Award Runner-Up
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About the
Professional

A design-led architecture, interiors and urbanism studio in South Melbourne

McMahon and Nerlich established in 2013 with a focus on finely crafted residential and commercial projects. Directors Rob Nerlich and Kate McMahon weave together influences from the built environment, architectural urbanism and design theory to create beautiful buildings and spaces

McMahon and Nerlich is an experienced design studio based in South Melbourne, founded in 2013 by directors Rob Nerlich and Kate McMahon. Our multi-disciplinary studio brings a unique vision and dedication to each project. We work across all scales with expertise in residential, education, commercial and urban design across metropolitan and regional areas. We remain passionate about designing houses for people. Each project we undertake contributes to our practice research and our focus on design-led architecture that is sustainable and a portrait of our clients. We hold studio leader positions at the Melbourne School of Design at the University of Melbourne. We have a growing published and award-winning portfolio of built work across the residential and commercial sectors and we have a strong and clear practice/process philosophy and social sustainability ethic. We welcome you to contact us and become part of our practice journey.

At ArchiPro we recognise and acknowledge the existing, original and ancient connection Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have to the lands and waterways across the Australian continent. We pay our respects to the elders past and present. We commit to working together to build a prosperous and inclusive Australia.