Matt Gibson Blends Heritage and Modernity in North Fitzroy Terrace Renovation

Australian studio Matt Gibson Architecture + Design has transformed a 19th-century North Fitzroy terrace, adding two striking brick pavilions influenced by Arts and Crafts-style design.

Named Mygunyah by the Circus, the long, narrow home in North Fitzroy has been renovated and extended by Matt Gibson Architecture + Design to better accommodate a family of seven.

GALLERY  

The word Mygunyah, which is inscribed on the home’s parapet, is a term derived from Australian Aboriginal languages that means “my hut” or “my home”, while the word circus refers to the nearby circular road system.

Mygunyah by the Circus is one of a pair of terraced homes originally built in the 1880s. Matt Gibson Architecture + Design doubled its area with the addition of two brick pavilions, which sit to the side and rear.

While providing additional space for the large family, the two distinct volumes, described by the studio as “pavilions”, are designed to help tie the existing home in with its surroundings.

“Over time, the terrace had seen little improvement or alteration, while its neighbour had long been renewed in the ornate Arts and Crafts style, boasting steep roof pitches, asymmetry, exaggerated chimneys and extensive use of brick,” explained the studio.

“This became a source of inspiration for the design team, ultimately applied in interpretive, abstracted and innovative ways, as they sought to reestablish the long-lost connection between these adjacent properties,” added Matt Gibson Architecture + Design.

“The result is a robust and relaxed home, replete with idiosyncrasy and references to a storied past and soundly positioned for a long and bright future,” it continued.

The existing volume, which the studio described as “compartmentalised and poorly lit”, has been reconfigured to form the core of the home and house a series of bedrooms.

On the western side of the original home, an abandoned strip of garden has been replaced with a black-brick pavilion containing a large shared family area that opens onto a timber-decked terrace.

Designed to reference the neighbouring Arts and Crafts home, this volume features a steeply pitched, timber-lined roof with a skylight at its centre, and an exaggerated chimney protruding from a wood burner.

At the back of the home, a previous addition was demolished to make way for a new extension on the same footprint, which contains a ground-floor kitchen and dining space and a bedroom above.

Finished in pale, rough brickwork and topped by an asymmetrical gable roof, this volume is punctured by narrow arched windows and extends to shelter a paved terrace overlooking the garden.

The divisions between new and old have been demarcated internally with a mixture of exposed and white-painted brickwork, while a narrow gap between the two pavilions forms part of a walkway that cuts through the entire site.

“The original structure is elevated to a position of preeminence within the new design scheme, and earmarked to house a variety of more formal living spaces and master bedroom suite, as it would have in the past,” said the studio.

“Freed of its unsympathetic rear addition, it is restored to its former grandeur with captivating and characterful elements highlighted, raw materials exposed, and craftsmanship celebrated.”

Mygunyah by the Circus’s garden has been divided into a series of “rooms”, including a kitchen and picnic area. They are separated by walls of climbing jasmine and punctuated by metal-framed openings that align with an opening in the side extension to create a layering of views.

Matt Gibson Architecture + Design was founded in 2003. The studio has completed several other residential renovations in Australia, including a black metal-clad extension in South Yarra and an extension linked by a glazed bridge in Melbourne.

The photography is by Derek Swalwell.

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