Architecture

Bringing Light and Space Into A Fitzroy Terrace House

Victorian and Edwardian era terrace homes line many streets in Sydney and Melbourne, and are notoriously dark and narrow. We have featured many clever renovated terraces on TDF (ding, ding, ding), but none with a concrete ceiling quite like this! 

Taylor Knights Architecture and Interior Design share their renovations of Fitzroy terrace, where a sunken living room, shifting ceiling volumes and renewed outdoor living spaces transform the home.

Written
by
Miriam McGarry
Supports The Design Files

A bright renovation for the Fitzroy Terrace house by Taylor Knights Architecture and Interior Design. Photo – Peter Clarke.

A dark terrace with limited ventilation undergoes a major renovation. Photo – Peter Clarke.

Embracing the outdoors with terrace living. Photo – Peter Clarke.

The sunken living room, bathed in light.  Photo – Peter Clarke.

Let there be light! Photo – Peter Clarke.

By introducing shifting volumes, the space feels larger. Photo – Peter Clarke.

Plenty of room for entertaining. Photo – Peter Clarke.

The concrete ceiling gently hugs the living room. Photo – Peter Clarke.

Kitchen detail. Photo – Peter Clarke.

A home of shifting volumes and light! Photo – Peter Clarke.

The surface finishes were selected to either reflect or absorb light. Photo – Peter Clarke.

A cosy corner. Photo – Peter Clarke.

A grown up living space! Photo – Peter Clarke.

Bedroom details. Photo – Peter Clarke.

A serene bathroom. Photo – Peter Clarke.

Bathroom details. Photo – Peter Clarke.

Writer
Miriam McGarry
15th of August 2019

The Fitzroy Terrace by Taylor Knights Architecture and Interior Design transforms a ‘dark, damp and poorly ventilated’ home into a naturally lit and expansive feeling home. The brief from the clients was to create a series of flexible connected spaces ‘that would host not only their private lives but also their love for entertaining.’ They also specified that while they wanted a refined and resolved new design, the architecture should still retain the ‘grittiness and honesty of its past.’ 

The architects have created a flexible space to reflect the owner’s lifestyle, with two bedrooms, two living areas, a study, one bathroom, a kitchen for entertaining and abundant outdoor spaces. The initial focus was to welcome light into the narrow site ‘through a series of light-catching volumes and openings.’ This was achieved through the sunken living room, sweeping ceiling and high windows, and the addition of more outdoor living space to ‘diffuse lightness and distill darkness.’ 

Taylor Knights describe the material palette as one of ‘delicate opposition’, where finishes either absorb or reflect the newly introduced light in the home. The robust materials of concrete and brick also extend the longevity of the home, which has already stood the test of time. The wave form of the concrete ceiling introduces a contemporary form to the historic home, and the long-lasting materials helps tie together the old and new. 

 

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