Crazy About Cats? We May Have Found Your Perfect Inner-City Abode...

Casa de Gatos by WOWOWA Architecture

Architect: WOWOWA Architecture Photographs: Martina Gemmola article Size: 95 m2 Location: Fitzroy North, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Tags: Urban Homes, Renovations

Fur-babies. Travel. Colour. Fun.

Do I have your attention?

If that ticked some mental boxes for you, you'll love Casa de Gatos (or 'House of Cats' in Spanish). It's a home designed for a couple, their two dogs and two cats. Forget the average cat scratching post - this house has an entire wall for scratching! Because when you're designing a home for people with pets, it's important to make sure every member of the family is comfortable in their new digs...

Crazy About Cats? We May Have Found Your Perfect Inner-City Abode...

On a tiny double-fronted site in Fitzroy North, this renovation was certainly a challenge for architects WOWOWA. With a Victorian workers' cottage at the front and a DIY modernist '70s reno at the back, the original home was a "visual language fiesta" Monique Woodward from WOWOWA jokes.

Crazy About Cats? We May Have Found Your Perfect Inner-City Abode...
Crazy About Cats? We May Have Found Your Perfect Inner-City Abode...
Crazy About Cats? We May Have Found Your Perfect Inner-City Abode...

The new home is still a fiesta, but it feels a lot more cohesive and practical now! The project added a new bathroom pod and a new kitchen into the existing envelope. Along with some reconfiguration of the existing rooms, the home is now more flexible and functional for the clients and their fur-family.

Crazy About Cats? We May Have Found Your Perfect Inner-City Abode...
Crazy About Cats? We May Have Found Your Perfect Inner-City Abode...

With a love of travel, the clients weren't afraid to translate their sense of adventure into a vibrant palette of Mexican-inspired terracotta and aqua. The orange cat scratching wall is the primary burst of colour in the living area. Combined with the timber ceilings and floors, the home feels fresh and clean.

Crazy About Cats? We May Have Found Your Perfect Inner-City Abode...

A cat super-highway runs throughout the house, allowing the two feline family members to command the highest spot in the house and look down upon their minions.

Crazy About Cats? We May Have Found Your Perfect Inner-City Abode...
Tiles

The colour scheme is carried through into the bathroom where aqua tiles with terracotta grout make for a zesty start to the day.

Crazy About Cats? We May Have Found Your Perfect Inner-City Abode...

With internal clerestory windows, spaces like the new bathroom pod can borrow light from adjacent rooms. Combined with skylights, a clerestory window where the workers' cottage and the '70s addition meet and a new bank of sliding doors onto the courtyard, the home feels remarkably light for such a tight site.

Crazy About Cats? We May Have Found Your Perfect Inner-City Abode...

Monique talks about the project's "liveability and lovability". We couldn't agree more. Casa de Gatos is fun and functional for the whole family - human, canine and feline alike.

Crazy About Cats? We May Have Found Your Perfect Inner-City Abode...
House Plans
Crazy About Cats? We May Have Found Your Perfect Inner-City Abode...

What would you do to create a home that your fury friends can enjoy? Tell us what you love about Casa de Gatos...

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