Located in Crown Street in inner Melbourne, Pocket Rocket is a small footprint heritage home sharing a row of identical terraces with one uniform continuous facade. The interior layout was originally conceived as the same for each terrace – navigated via a single hallway with two living/bedrooms on one side, a kitchen facing north, a bathroom addition at the rear, and laundry and outhouse against the adjoining back fence.
The site is typically elongated (as is common of houses from the era) resulting in a scarcity of modern generous living spaces. The house had very limited available width and the existing interior was starved of natural light.
To coax more light and air into the living spaces the existing layout was rethought, reconfigured and rearranged. We introduced two new outdoor spaces, along with a large glass window sliced from ceiling to floor, all drawing light deeper into the home.
For improved living, two newly-designed bathrooms now sit at the centre of this home benefiting from light and ventilation in the courtyard. And new indoor/outdoor relationships have been formed – with roof garden views from the upstairs bedroom and via vistas from towering timber-framed glass doors that open up to a leafy courtyard from the kitchen.
This bespoke, well-crafted design approach allowed for the kitchen, newly integrated laundry and communal dining space to absolutely maximise the full width of the site footprint – generating a feeling of expanse, connection and comfort for the family.
Team:
Timmins + Whyte - Architecture
Sally Timmins - Director /Architect
David Whyte - Director
Tatjana Plitt - Photographer
