Mason

Mason is a two-level Melbourne home in which Bryant Alsop reworks a Victorian dwelling into a sculptural vessel for family and friends to gather. The brief called for a bold, heroic design that steers clear of opulence.

Because the new owner bought the property from a family friend, the existing house arrived imbued with memories. A sense of layering, across families, childhoods and recollections, runs strongly through the scheme. The original dwelling was restored, and the formality and vertical language of the Victorian building were used to set up a dialogue between the existing and contemporary forms, with the scale of the new spaces kept proportionate to the original house.

The singular form of the extension is defined by the rhythm and repetition of curved elements, deployed as simple, broad sweeping gestures. Hard materials are tempered by these soft shapes to create enveloping spaces, while the backyard is celebrated with a garden designed to evolve with the family over time.

The home covers 286 square metres on a 734 square metre site and was completed in 2018.

Architect: Bryant Alsop (Sarah Bryant, project director; Rob Randell, project architect). Photography by Jack Lovel.