What was once a tired home with limited useable space has now become a functional dwelling fit for a new family. Nestled in the suburbs, this private yet well-utilized Perth residence features new injections of light, space and framed views thanks to the brilliant plans of design studio Dalecki Design.
“The vision was quite clear from day one,” says Janik Dalecki, director of Dalecki Design. “The clients expressed the need for light and ventilation, and then beyond this: functional spaces. This is where we started — less about the home’s look, more about the function.”
The solution to finding this on a north-facing frontage with an existing home in place provided some challenges to the design team. The solution then drove the form, which in turn inspired the home’s look.
The owners, a couple with two cats, rented the home before the landlord approached them to purchase. This prompted the couple to overhaul the house to prepare it for their growing family. “The couple had lived in the house for several years before engaging us and wanted to keep the well-utilised private
spaces of the front of the original house intact while creating new, open-plan living and entertaining areas at the back, capitalising on city views,” says Janik.
To achieve this, poorly oriented living spaces were given a strategic overhaul, with mindfully placed openings bringing light and moments for engagement into the newly built areas. The bold, modern forms of the new kitchen, living and outdoor entertaining spaces signify a change in the use and experience of this portion of the Perth residence yet are nicely tied to the character of the original home and surrounding neighbourhood in the application of materials such as face brick and brise soleil walls. The existing lounge room became the main bedroom, and the kitchen was cleverly converted into an open study.
“While we were designing for a future-growing family, the more immediate desire was to remove the rear sleepout, alter the flow of the existing house and make it more functional as a whole,” says Janik. “We
wanted to create a home the clients could happily not only live in, but entertain in.”
Each area of the Perth residence is fully functional, including the hallways. By creating window-seated nooks with a view, the hallways become part of the adjoining rooms rather than dead space. The use of changing volumes and ceiling heights, various glazing outlooks and natural light made the rooms of the home feel grandiose while also increasing their overall function.
“I would like to think efficiency and trying to punch as much into spaces is part of what we do here. A well-designed 300sqm house versus a badly designed house — one is going to feel large, open and bright, whereas the other could feel like a shoebox,” says Janik.
“We purposely never try to mimic the existing architecture, especially with heritage or period homes. However, we are always conscious that there must be some flow or reference element. We strive to respect the existing architecture with these references while providing a striking contrast between new and old.”
Although most of the new additions of this Perth residence are set in the rear, not seen from the street, the two purposely distinct structures have a beautiful flow between them, using red brickwork to tie them neatly together. Internally, the modern features and fittings flowed delicately from original to new, with the timber floor gently stretching its way through the home.
“I think this project is a great example of what can be achieved with these original homes without adding the largest of additions,” says Janik. “With just over 100sqm of additions, we managed to transform the quite cramped and dysfunctional house into a very open, spacious and highly functional house with a well-zoned plan to provide three distinct areas of the house — living, parents’ wings and secondary sleeping wing. The design is compact and easy to navigate, but still spacious, open and dramatic.”
