Northcote Federation Home Renovation
A couple nearing retirement need to rethink their home so that it will suit them for the next 20+ years. Their beautiful red brick federation-era home has served them well for the last decade, but their living areas feel compressed into the rear (fortunately north-facing) part of the home. Meanwhile, there are rooms like the spacious formal dining room which are barely used.
They love to cook and, with retirement approaching, they plan to spend more time in their home and kitchen. They want a home that feels filled with light and views of the garden, with space for their family to stay on occasion and separate study spaces for their post-retirement pursuits.
As always, we started with Design Diagnosis and Masterplanning where we identified several options for how the house could be transformed into the perfect aging-in-place oasis for our clients.
The option the clients fell in love with transforms the neglected dining room into two separate spaces: a new study connected to the main living areas with views overlooking the lush garden, and a versatile laundry/pantry space that takes advantage of an existing second entry to serve as a service entry/mud room.
The other key design move was creating a stunning new window seat in the existing lounge room. Previously, the space didn't take advantage of its north orientation overlooking the garden. The new window and integrated seat mean the lounge is now light-filled and feels much larger thanks to its leafy outlook. Plus, we've been able to incorporate additional built-in storage which never goes astray.
Aging in place has been carefully considered without making the home look or feel institutional. The alterations achieve a Livable Housing Australia gold standard by planning things like wide clearances in the kitchen and bathroom, non-slip flooring that extends under cabinetry, and the provision of additional timber framing in walls for the future installation of grab rails if required. The bathroom has also been reconfigured to provide better access and create a powder room for guests.
This means residents or guests using either a wheelchair, walking frame or mobility aid will find it easier and safer to navigate the home. This has benefits not just for people planning to age in place, but also benefits people who are temporarily or permanently disabled. Research suggests there is a 60 percent chance that a house will be occupied by a person with a disability at some point over its life.1 It makes sense to plan these simple changes in the design of your home when you're building or renovating. This avoids the need for costly changes and upgrades in the future. Similarly, if upgrades do need to be made to cabinetry to accommodate a wheelchair, the floor finish will be intact underneath, so it's possible to simply replace the cabinetry rather than trying to patch and replace flooring in addition.
The interiors are inspired by the colours and textures of the existing home. Reinterpreting reds and soft blues found in the heritage tessellated tiles and stained glass as well as the reds of the brickwork. The brickwork is quite literally brought inside to create the dramatic island bench which zig-zags to create a sense of movement and soften the typically solid-feeling material. Combined with a whole wall of windows and new sliding doors opening onto the rear verandah, the separation between indoors and outdoors becomes blurred.
The reconfiguration minimises structural alterations to the existing home, while maximising the functionality and flexibility of the spaces. Very often it's the small, considered moves that create the greatest impact. Two new internal openings from the original dining area and a new external opening onto the garden plus internal renovation have dramatically transformed this grand old home for many decades to come.
If you're planning to stay in your home for the longer term or if your dream is to retire and stay in your home for as long as possible, now is the perfect time to invest in your future and make the changes that will both improve your lifestyle now and support you for the future.
1. Smith, S., Rayer, S., & Smith, E. (2008) Ageing & disability: Implications for the housing industry and housing policy in the United States. Journal of the American Planning Association, 74:3, 289 – 306.