Harry House by Archier
In suburban Melbourne, a weatherboard home is transformed into a modernist vision blending Japanese design and an Australian embrace of outdoor spaces.
Words: Emma-Kate Wilson | Photography: Peter Bennetts
With an unassuming façade immersed in an abundance of green shrub and trees, Harry House takes the visitor on a journey suitable for a Studio Ghibli movie as they transcend suburbia.
Fittingly inspired by living in Japan, the clients of Harry House employed the use of Melbourne-based Archier to provide extra space for their family of five while being conscious of the useability of space. Grounded in philosophies of functional and innovative design, the project is mindful of ‘less is more’.
With three young boys, the Coburg home had to be practical and embrace the growing demands of the family. “We took time to understand how they currently lived,” explains the firm, “while also considering their future, to ensure that the house will support their needs as they changed with time.”
Taking the frame of the former weatherboard home, the new addition extends into the rear with a contemporary contrast that provides a welcoming open plan kitchen/ dining effortlessly flowing out to the backyard. Floor to ceiling glass walls grounds the addition in the external environment, which sits neatly behind the original home.
Grounded in philosophies of functional and innovative design, the project is mindful of ‘less is more’. Photo - Peter Bennetts.
The new two-storey addition, clad in charred timber, was carefully designed to preserve the connection to the yard, bringing the master suite on the top floor into a canopy of two large fig trees. On this level, the new bathroom deliberately invites the old world in with timber cladding, stone flooring, and polished vintage green tiles evoking a Japanese bathhouse—all while looking out to the foliage.
“The kitchen-dining area is the centre of the family home, so it made sense to group the most functional areas around this heart.”
Continually throughout the design, Archier was thinking about how the whole family would use the space. “In the kitchen… we stepped the floor level down, reducing the visual impact of the island bench in the dining space,” they share. “This allowed for a greater sense of social connection between zones, with even the youngest child having the ability to peer over the bench to see what’s going on.”
The exterior of Harry House designed by Archier. Photo - Peter Bennetts.
Suitability for a young family, predominantly hard materials feature in the interiors. Photo - Peter Bennetts.
This approach also channels into the ‘fun zones’, such as netting hammocks covering voids that connect the various rooms of the house—each providing a spot to play or relax while engaging the entire household.
Suitability for the young family, predominantly hard materials feature in the interiors. Polished concrete floors juxtapose theVictorian ash timber cladding that covers the walls and kitchen bench, providing a seamless finish throughout. And an overarching timber ceiling nestles the family within their retreat. A delicate balance of ceramics, dreamy abstract artworks, and well-loved house plants soften the lines, with gold details and a marble top adding luxe to the kitchen.
Thoughtful landscape design by Philip Withers extends the home into the surrounding garden that envelopes the structure. Proving again, that a new build can have a minimal footprint on the land yet engage a maximum of (green) space.
The new bathroom features timber cladding, stone flooring, and polished vintage green tiles which evoke a Japanese bathhouse. Photo - Peter Bennetts.
The interior features ‘fun zones’, such as netting hammocks covering voids that connect the various rooms of the house. Photo - Peter Bennetts.
“We suspended netting hammocks in the void spaces, so they become a play space for the kids, avoiding the need for an additional room and connecting the family across levels.”
“We suspended netting hammocks in the void spaces, so they become a play space for the kids, avoiding the need for an additional room and connecting the family across levels,'“ say Archier. Photo - Peter Bennetts.
Photo - Peter Bennetts.