• Location
    Elsternwick, VIC
  • Status
    Complete
  • Type
    Multi-residential
  • Size
    280sqm
  • Internal Area
    150sqm
  • Team
    Rob Kennon, Emlyn Olaver
  • Collaborators
    Project Group Construction, HTD Consultant Structural Engineers
  • Photographer
    Derek Swalwell
  • Publications
    Clarence Houses
  • Tags
    Town House, Renovation, Brick, Inner City

Located between a 1960s block of flats and a stand-alone dwelling, the Clarence Houses have public faces that are in tune with the diverse streetscape, breaking up the rhythm instead of simply mirroring the speculative development common in the area. While very similar to each other, each has a unique identity, with one clad in brick, the other in zinc.

The asymmetry wasn't just for the sake of difference, either. While both houses share the same brief and program, their positions on the street presented different constraints and opportunities. The brick-clad house could be built to the side boundary but the zinc-clad one couldn't, largely because of the same tree that provides the boon of a borrowed landscape. With input from the professional arborists, the design goes to great lengths to protect the root system.

Words by Toby Horrocks, Houses Magazine

Rectangular skylights are offset from the kitchen and dining space, positioned next to the shared party wall to illuminate the plywood paneling's subtle texture
1/2
The hit-and-miss brick pattern considers the surrounding context and immediate privacy, allowing the occupants to look out, but no-one can see in. Whilst the zinc cladding has a window punched through to take advantage of a borrowed view of a tree canopy
Hoop pine veneer wall panelling and American oak timber joinery are integrated seamlessly to create a sense of warmth in key areas

More Projects