Dancing House

A renovation and rear extension by Craig Tan Architects in Preston, Victoria, the Dancing House sets a new open, dynamic order against the cellular plan of the existing Californian Bungalow. The brief drew on the client's love of tranquil, forested clearings, and the new work frames three courtyards that pace the journey through the home and pull the surrounding landscape inside.

Named the sun terrace, the bridge and the forest courtyard, these spaces are intended to be planted with trees and read together as an unfolding sequence, supplying daylight and cross ventilation through the plan. Above the new open-plan living areas a pleated roof lined with grey-stained plywood lowers the ceiling intimately, ties the carport into the composition, and echoes the rhythm of the existing roof line.

The project is designed for a client who uses a wheelchair, with a new accessible bathroom and kitchen connected by ramps integrated through the key threshold points. A timber screen along the external ramp meets the urban scale of the street, counterweighting the mass of the original bungalow while sheltering the sun terrace from view.

Project size: 70 m2. Completed 2016.

Architect: Craig Tan Architects. Photography: Mark Allan, VIA.