On the lands of the Boonwurrung people of the Kulin Nation.
Victoria
Ageing in place is about choice, dignity and autonomy. It alleviates pressure from oversubscribed aged care facilities while maintaining social and community support. It also maintains relationships with each other and family.
Eleanor, an 1890’s double storey Victorian is located at the end of a row of terraces. The prominent corner site is opposite a primary school within a heritage streetscape.
Like a faithful old suit that needs re-tailoring this house required alterations and repairs to meet the changing needs of our eighty-year-old clients. Threading a lift into the house was the project catalyst, generating a reconfiguration of spaces to simplify flow, and support intimacy and care.
Architectural incisions are clear, deliberate, and legible within the heritage fabric. Reconfiguration of the once divided upstairs layout links the two main bedrooms with a shared north lit hall. A metaphorical bridge between two distinct spaces connects two individuals, fostering independence and togetherness.
Award For Residential Architecture – Houses (alterations And Additions)
Topology Studio use the need for improved accessibility as a catalyst to reimagine a couple’s 1890s Victorian townhouse. Aging in place is explored both from functional and architectural perspectives, maintaining, in the architects’ words, ‘dignity and autonomy’, for both the owners and their home.
Through careful interventions, existing spatial organisations are dramatically reconfigured to improve liveability, longevity, thermal and structural performance while preserving character and heritage legibility. Externally, heritage character is left untouched, retaining prominence in the heritage streetscape. Internally, the typical terrace layout is mirrored, period details are retained and contemporary forms are added in configurations that feel calm, considered and instinctual despite being a reversal of heritage norms.
The arrangement brings internal circulation alongside the street facing façade, creating new connections with the street while private spaces shift inward and their unexpected material palettes are ambiently lit with borrowed light filtered through street trees and stained glass.
Eleanor’s success is as much tied to its connections with client, place, narrative and memory as it is to architectural outcomes.
Award For Residential Architecture - Houses (alterations And Additions)
Topology Studio use the need for improved accessibility as a catalyst to reimagine a couple’s 1890s Victorian townhouse. Aging in place is explored both from functional and architectural perspectives, maintaining, in the architects’ words, ‘dignity and autonomy’, for both the owners and their home.
Through careful interventions, existing spatial organisations are dramatically reconfigured to improve liveability, longevity, thermal and structural performance while preserving character and heritage legibility. Externally, heritage character is left untouched, retaining prominence in the heritage streetscape. Internally, the typical terrace layout is mirrored, period details are retained and contemporary forms are added in configurations that feel calm, considered and instinctual despite being a reversal of heritage norms.
The arrangement brings internal circulation alongside the street facing façade, creating new connections with the street while private spaces shift inward and their unexpected material palettes are ambiently lit with borrowed light filtered through street trees and stained glass.
Eleanor’s success is as much tied to its connections with client, place, narrative and memory as it is to architectural outcomes.
Topology’s renovation of our terrace house will enable us to enjoy our old age in comfort, security and safety.
The new layout including a lift has made it much more coherent, lighter and easier to navigate. The new bathrooms are “elderly” friendly, the renovated staircase feels safe to use and the relocated laundry and office are nicely tucked away behind beautiful blackbutt walls featuring ceiling high sliding doors and cabinetry that are functional and atmospheric.
Further, the design has made our gardens more accessible as well as enabling excellent views of the city and the local surroundings from upstairs.
Darren Kaye, Project Architect
Amy Hallett, Design Architect
Olivia Wright, Graduate of Architecture
Clive Steele Partners Pty Ltd, Engineer
Nelson McDermott Pty Ltd, Building Surveyor
Blue Lotus Energy Rating, ESD Consultant
Tupelo Studio, Landscape Consultant