Jewel Box House

Before Works

Image © Trevor Mein

Architectural philanthropy

A modest but dilapidated Edwardian bungalow with a history of major alterations has been returned to its community context, now a streetscape contributor to the local heritage overlay. With the support of the new owners, we unlocked the house's potential — expanding and replanning the accommodation without increasing the site coverage, returning the exterior to its original appearance and street presentation, reinstating Arts & Crafts detailing, and delivering a home with exceptional energy efficiency. Deceptively small on the outside, now spacious on the inside, the house unfolds as you walk through it — a Jewel Box, as our clients affectionately call their new home.

Our brief

The brief for the project acknowledged the modest nature of the building and our clients’ commitment to keeping it that way. More space was needed but the form of the corner-site house was to be kept in tact. To achieve this, we replanned the ‘internal’ hidden side of the building behind the two refurbished street facades, which have been returned to their original configurations, and we added an extension above an existing brick garage to the rear of the block. Some 450 sq m of living area has been created in a nominally single storey house with a 274 sq m footprint, without increasing the site coverage and working within the envelope of the existing main building.

Details

Date

2016 - 2020

Status

Completed

Location

Melbourne/Naarm

Traditional Owners

Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people

Extension

Image © Trevor Mein

Before Works

Image © Trevor Mein

"There’s something quietly noble in our clients’ brief—an act of architectural philanthropy that restores dignity to the overlooked. It reflects a care not only for fabric, but for memory and presence. That modest corner house has become a kind of civic actor; its restoration a gesture of belief in continuity and renewal.

The concealment of an additional floor within the existing volume suggests respect: the new defers to the old, not erasing but enriching it. The multilevel rear extension, tucked behind the unassuming façade, feels like a revelation reserved for those who enter—offering spatial generosity without public ostentation."

KAI CHEN, DIRECTOR AND FOUNDING PRINCIPAL

Image © Trevor Mein

Work on the building's original fabric included painstaking conservation, reinterpretation for the reinstatement of missing elements, and new works designed to match original features. A timber-clad extension linked to the main house has been added above an existing garage to the rear.

Image © Trevor Mein

Before Works

Image © Trevor Mein

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Taking advantage of the need to replace the roof structure, we extended and replanned the attic area for use as a bedroom, keeping the original roof space volume. The high ceiling in the space below was lowered a little, a mezzanine level added, new dormer windows installed on the 'inner' side of the house, and a new timber and glass staircase designed.

Image © Trevor Mein

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Image © Trevor Mein

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"Lovell Chen has created a house that is just a joy in which to live. With an Arts & Crafts heritage, it lives up to the dictum from William Morris: ‘’Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful. The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life."

OWNER