Numerous red brick warehouses line the back streets of Melbourne’s buzzing inner suburbs, hangovers from an industrial past. Many of these have long since been converted into townhouses and apartments as the previously smoggy and squalid inner city gentrified, replacing blacksmiths and textile factories with hip bars and cafes. And barber shops. So. Many. Barber. Shops.
These fine old buildings are stunning, their location now unmatched and they absolutely should be preserved and adapted. But they were never designed to be homes. They were designed as storage spaces, workshops, and factories. And many of the retrofits of decades past didn’t do a very good job of turning these spaces into homes. So, while they are filled with character and charm, the plasterboard walls and new levels used to carve warehouses into homes very often leaves them feeling dark, cold and impractical. But it doesn’t have to be this way…
So, when Block Architecture Studio was given the opportunity to renovate an old warehouse conversion? They jumped at it!
The owner “wanted to be able to enjoy the lifestyle of city living, but be able to escape once the front door was closed”, explains the architect, Scott McPerson from Block Architecture Studio.
It wasn’t a straightforward project, though. The original warehouse conversion, spread over four levels, had been vacant for some time and required structural remediation and waterproofing work to bring it back to scratch. “Much of the existing structure was retained from the existing factory, and had to be incorporated into new structure to bring the dwelling in line with new building codes”, explains Scott.
The owner also wanted an additional bathroom, bedroom, laundry and toilet which meant the ground, second, and third floors needed to be redesigned. The service an architect offers goes far beyond just designing the building’s floor plan. To pull off the transformation, the architect had to work with a number of different consultants and trades and coordinate all their advice and work. It’s a challenging and technical job best left to the experts, particularly in unique projects like this.
A priority was to bring additional light into the home. But, given how narrow the site is and the four levels, careful attention had to be paid to how and where to admit light to ensure it had the maximum impact. Careful placement of skylights allows light into bathrooms and encourages light to filter down the central staircase to illuminate every level.
To help create a sanctuary behind the warehouse’s solid walls was the idea of bringing greenery into the home, something that’s often lacking in post-industrial areas. The architect added a two-storey green wall to the central courtyard which provides a lush, green outlook from virtually any part of the home.
“The materials were chosen to accentuate the existing industrial/warehouse structure and feel of the dwelling, which had once been part of a large inner city textiles factory”, explains Scott. The result is a home that is filled with 21st century style and technology which still feels very rooted to its history.
Despite being just around the corner from some of Melbourne’s best bars, cafes, (and plenty of barber shops), this inner city pad feels like a private sanctuary thanks to Block Architecture Studio’s considered renovation. Natural light and a lush outlook soften the harder industrial edges of the old warehouse to create a functional and inviting inner-city home.
