Set within the quiet, leafy grain of Malvern East, Hughes House began with a familiar Melbourne condition: a Federation-era bungalow with a strong street presence, and a growing family asking for more than simply “extra space”.
The approach is deliberately restrained from the street. The original front form remains the anchor — its scale and character intact — while a new volume sits beyond like a shadow, reading as a quieter counterpart rather than a competing statement. It is a measured transition: respectful, recessive, and confident in its simplicity.
In a process that reimagines an existing narrow rear addition; the formal symmetry of the original informs the new, together with a heightened need for connectivity. Restructuring the front four rooms into a dedicated master suite, study and separate guest accommodation, the transition between the old and new is defined by a clearly marked break in the form and through shifts in materiality. Stepping down to the shared family volume, the openness of the addition is felt immediately as a key place to come together within the home.
– Design & Interiors
DESIGN BY AD
Intersecting
Strategy with
Design
At the rear, the language shifts. Charred timber cladding wraps the addition in a dark, textural skin designed to recede into the established garden. The intent was to allow the architecture to merge with the greenery — less “new extension”, more treehouse — where the children’s bedroom windows sit amongst the foliage and borrow the feeling of the canopy beyond. It’s a project that leans into contrast, but never into noise.
Inside, the home opens into a robust central heart: kitchen, dining and living stitched together for the way this family hosts. A monolithic stone island grounds the space — equal parts workbench and gathering point — while darker joinery and layered material selections provide warmth and depth. Light is treated with a steady hand, softened through wide openings and garden outlooks, allowing the home to feel calm even when full.
A key moment arrives in the rear rumpus, where large doors open to a veil of vertical fins. This screen becomes both threshold and filter — offering privacy and shade while allowing connection to the outdoors. With the doors open, the room spills onto a small balcony, giving the upper level a sense of outlook and breathing space, always tied back to the landscape.
It’s a family home shaped by contrast and clarity: heritage held gently at the front, and a contemporary retreat nestled quietly into the trees behind.
