Nature Study
An architectural intervention utterly transforms a century-old weekender in Victoria.
LIVING A window seat in the new west-facing living room is a favourite spot for owner Cheryl May. The dramatic roof overhang shades the windows on the north side and leads the eye down to a nearby gully. Shiplap silvertop ash battens, Radial Timber. Composite aluminium and timber windows (throughout), Miglas High Performance Windows. ENTRANCE Architect Antony Martin designed a second entrance at the side to bring visitors directly into the heart of the home. Rug, Halcyon Lake Rugs and Carpets.
There wasn’t much to this circa-1900 worker’s cottage in Daylesford, about 90 minutes’ drive north-west of Melbourne. Rudimentary though it was, it proved a handy weekend getaway for owners Martin and Cheryl May and their two children for nearly 20 years. In 2015, they decided it was time to renovate, with a view to making the structure a more comfortable place to be, as well as more sustainable.
“We wanted our home to be high performing, energy efficient and use as many reclaimed or recycled materials as possible,” says Martin. Given the site’s 2000m2 size and its proximity to a nature reserve, bushfire-resistance was also crucial. The couple engaged architect Antony Martin, director of MRTN Architects, to help realise their vision.
From the street, there’s no sense that the cottage has had recent intervention. You see white-painted weatherboards and a corrugatedsteel roof, shading a verandah complete with wicker armchair and potted agapanthus. The rear of the home couldn’t be more different, however. Conceived as a “three-dimensional shadow” of the cottage, the cabin-like extension is sharply angular. Clad in stained silvertop ash and capped with charcoal-toned Colorbond, there’s a distinctly Japanese feel to it, inspired by the Mays’ travels to Tokyo (where their son now lives) and visits to the spectacular Nezu Museum.