South Melbourne Terrace

Once a South Melbourne general store, this heritage terrace has been reworked into a permanent home for a couple and their two young daughters. Eliza Blair Architecture kept as many of the building's original quirks as possible, setting the character of the old store alongside a sleek, modern extension at the rear.

The design turns around the enormous gum tree in the back garden. It anchors the new spaces and is framed from the living areas, the main bedroom and an outdoor bath set beneath its canopy. A wall of timber louvres shades the western sun, screens overlooking neighbours on both sides and gives the bath its privacy, while handmade bricks pick up the texture and colour of the adjoining bluestone heritage building.

Inside, the original store stair was retained and given a lighter metal balustrade, and a portal through an existing door opening marks the transition from old to new. Original lettering uncovered on the brickwork mid-construction was left exposed, with the joinery adapted around it. A calm, neutral palette and an elongated skylight keep the compact plan feeling open, the kitchen flowing onto a deck and the existing fireplace anchoring the dining area.

The home spans three levels across a 300 square metre project on a 220 square metre site, completed in 2019.

Architecture by Eliza Blair Architecture. Interiors by Studio Tom. Builder Kleev Homes. Photography by Shannon McGrath.