BBW House by Tecture
Designed by Tecture, BBW House respects its heritage roots while forging a relationship with its new extension.
Photography: Shannon McGrath
Set in Geelong’s established inner-west suburb of Newtown is BBW House - a restoration of an original weatherboard home. Designed by Tecture the new design remains sensitive to the original home’s heritage roots with formality high on the priority list for the architects. The new contemporary addition sits behind the original weatherboard cottage frontage, and forges the old and the new design seamlessly through tiered volumes and layering on the site. From the front of the home, the new design is almost completely concealed, while making the most of the northern light and aspect. The interior is a series of tiered volumes — a sense of layering and stepping mitigates the significant fall on the site, integrating the landscape as an extension of the interiors.
“Internally, the four main existing rooms have been maintained, but from the entry, the blur between scale and form becomes present with clear views through the home to the garden and sky, via two balanced rear windows made visible from the tiering addition,” explains Ben Robertson, director at Tecture. The internal stairs create a light-filled void between the old and the new, meandering down to the rear living spaces, where a large double height void graces the dining room. The upper level of the extension then houses three children’s bedrooms and a north-facing living space. The restorative and sensitive new extension allows the home to embark on a brand new journey for the occupants.
“BBW House balances and respects the relationship between the heritage dwelling and the new, with tonality that’s consistent. ”
“Light, warmth and scale are proportionally composed to the façade... the result is a delicate and harmonious design, that deceptively conceals itself from the streetscape, while embracing the northern light.”
“ The planning of the spaces reference the formality of the home’s age, with a sense or ordered symmetry throughout.”
