Thornbury House

Thornbury House
© Peter Clarke

Thornbury House 

Mesh Design

ARCHITECTS
Mesh Design

MANUFACTURERS
Bradford, Resene

PHOTOGRAPHS
Peter Clarke

AREA
85 M²

YEAR
2013

LOCATION
Thornbury, Australia

CATEGORY
Houses

Text description provided by architect.

The home is located in Thornbury, an inner northern suburb of Victoria (Australia) which has a number of early century homes, whose aesthetic we admire.

Thornbury House
© Peter Clarke
Thornbury House
© Peter Clarke
Thornbury House
© Peter Clarke

We therefore didn’t want to change the nearly 100 year old part of our house, nor the streetscape but were looking for a contemporary renovation that suited our needs.

Whilst we also required a basic open plan design we didn’t want to live in a large open box and wanted defined areas of functionality.

The north facing design encompasses the kitchen as the hub, with a large island bench plus more formal dining area and has copious natural light.

Thornbury House
© Peter Clarke
Thornbury House
© Peter Clarke

The living area to the east protected from the sun and the play area for our small children with a recessed fish tank in the wall surrounded by hidden storage cupboards.

We designed the rear of the home to include passive solar design, so we were blocking out the summer sun but letting in the winter sun that would heat up the polished concrete slab and release heat into the home when needed most in winter.

Thornbury House
© Peter Clarke
Thornbury House
© Peter Clarke

The windows are double glazed with lowe glass, walls and ceiling had highest r-value insulation possible. The exterior was clad in solid timber ‘spotted gum’ vertical planking that has a beautiful natural feeling, it softens the sharp angles of the rear and keeps within our palette of natural materials. We wanted to showcase that a solar passive home is functional but can also be visually appealing.

One of our main aims was not to over build, respect the neighbours and retain a comfortable and practical rear yard.

Thornbury House
© Peter Clarke


Thornbury House
© Peter Clarke
Thornbury House
© Peter Clarke
Thornbury House
© Peter Clarke
Thornbury House
© Peter Clarke
Thornbury House
© Peter Clarke


Thornbury House
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Thornbury House
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Thornbury House
Floor Plan