CLIFTON HOUSE

Location: Peppermint Grove, Western Australia

Status: Completed

Builder: RK Brine

This project involved a careful renovation of Clifton house, built in 1951 to an original design by Marshall Clifton. While in desperate need of rejuvenation it was a good example of his approach of suburban vernacular with Spanish details. This renovation revolved around preserving the charm of the original structure while meeting the needs of a modern family. Former clients had recognised the potential, hidden beneath layers of neglect, and commissioned us to work with them to realise a sensitive modern liveable exciting new era for the house.

Conceived as a courtyard typology one of the key challenges was to introduce new modern living expectations including outdoor living room, a pool and totally new landscaping into the central courtyard while maintaining the sense of space and intimacy from the inside of the house. The relationship between interior and exterior was further enhanced through the expansion of the circulation to wrap around the courtyard. Previously the hall stopped at the kitchen cutting it off from the courtyard and shed. The expansion of the hall is used to allow permeability between kitchen, living spaces acting as a container for north light.

The other key move was to re-imagine the front garden, entry narrative and sensitively add a carport. The front entry portico, as an insensitive post build earlier renovation, was removed and replaced allowing us to restore the intended visual balance of the front elevation. A new flat-roofed entry portico was introduced inspired by Clifton’s original intent. Which informed all new built form to be flat roofed leaving the existing house tiled. The flat roofed additions allow for a transparency letting the existing house read as the dominate structure.

Materiality defines the reading of new work throughout the house. A set of rules were established for new materials that borrow from Clifton in an exchange of new and old. Telling a story throughout the house. For example where baltic pine defined external eave and the extending of the hall way, the new ceiling became baltic pine to honour its past. New materials were asked to balance the existing white of the house, a soft pale travertine with subtle grey vein used for new flooring throughout.

The end result is a meeting of old and new represented in an exchange of materiality throughout the house. The careful addition and substation of spaces seek to reinforce the courtyard typology fostering new connections, both functional and adaptive to suit a family’s needs.

Photography Jack Lovel