Lantern-Link House

LANTERN HOUSE

Crouched behind an unassuming streetscape of heritage brick Edwardian cottages in Brunswick,  lies Lantern House. Designed with incredibly stringent heritage controls in place, the Lantern House is a clever partial restoration and addition of one of these unique modest brick cottages.

Dilapidated and with extremely poor foundation conditions, the brief called for a  loving restoration of the existing front rooms with underpinning, repointing, new double glazing and insulation to haul it into line with modern energy rating standards. The design cleverly converts the former living spaces on the cold south side of the dwelling into service areas, in order to open up the new addition to beautiful north light.  The clients brief for the addition called for a modern 2-storey extension, however negotiating through the stringent local heritage controls proved tricky, which discouraged both 2-storey form and height along the side boundaries. Through perseverance and many iterations of 3D views, we were able to convince the planners to approve an evocative and bold 2-storey form, which is separated from the main house by a glazed link. The textural equitone-clad first floor addition appears to hover over the glazed ground floor rooms, jettying-out to the north and west to preserve garden space and provide sunshading. “The Lantern” – a double-height glazed dining room that links ground floor with first floor, serves an upper level mezzanine and bedroom wing,  bringing controlled east, north and west light deep into the heart of the dwelling.

• Location; South Melbourne, Victoria
• Site Area; 160m2
• Photographer; mcmahon and nerlich
• Year; 2020