The Long Game A Melbourne home finally gets an energy-efficient and family-friendly update.
At first sight, all this 1980s home in Melbourne needed was a style update. But after one challenging winter, efficient heating topped the priority list.
To renovate or relocate: in 2010 that was the quandary facing Amynta and Brent Baxter, parents of three and owners of a small weatherboard in Melbourne’s east. After doing the maths, they opted for the latter. Their search area was one suburb away: a neighbourhood with a nature reserve and lake plus good transport links, making it the perfect place to raise sons Tarkyn and Mika, now 13 and 12 respectively, and daughter Maie, 10.
It took two years, but in 2012 the ideal property finally presented itself. The home had a solid brick construction and wide frontage, but its 1980s interior really needed updating. Another problem soon became apparent. The main living area – referred to by the family as the ‘circus room’ for its big top-style ceiling – was unusable when the mercury dropped. “It was too cold, even with a fireplace and ducted heating,” says Amynta. “We couldn’t heat it efficiently.”
A recommendation led to Sven Maxa, a local architect known for his commitment to sustainability. “We wanted an energy-efficient house,” says Amynta. “We also wanted to update it and have more light.”
Critical to the redesign was improving the floor plan, with minimal impact. “Rather than demolish something that was perfectly usable – more than 40 per cent of landfill in Victoria is from construction waste – we intervened as little as possible to correct the function of the spaces and achieve the passive-solar outcomes,” says Sven. His team replaced all the windows with more efficient ThermaLine ones, adjusted the ratio of glazing to floor space in some rooms to limit overheating, designed cross-ventilation and shading solutions, and installed highperformance wall batts. New hydronic heating was put in to complement the existing evaporative cooling system. Between the kitchen and dining room, a wall was demolished and the opened-up space fitted out with energy-saving appliances.
The house was extended by just one metre at the rear, where stacking glass doors connect it to the backyard. An existing pool was replaced by underground water-storage tanks, and a new pool installed at the rear of the property. Now there’s a much larger space for outdoor entertaining that flows organically from the kitchen and completes
a well-staged line of sight. “You used to walk in and face a wall,” says Amynta. “Now you can see right through the house to the backyard.”
Arranged around the central alignment of foyer-to-back-door are a study, laundry and powder room, study nook and living room. A circular staircase leads up to the first floor, where there are three bedrooms for the children, a family bathroom and a spectacular main bedroom suite.
Early in the project, interior designer Dominique Hunter of Hunter & Richards advised on the colours and finishes. “We knew we wanted neutral, earthy colours to go with the concrete and timber, and everything else flowed from that,” says Amynta. “The textures and materials we chose are also quite hardy – to withstand the kids!” she adds. “We had put off buying nice furniture but have finally bought a sofa that fits all of us. When we’re curled up on it together, it’s lovely.”
Maxa Design, Blackburn, Victoria; (03) 9013 0449 or maxadesign.com.au. Hunter & Richards, Prahran, Victoria; (03) 9533 8000 or interiordesignmelbourne.com.