Elwood House by AM Architecture
luminous, floating, reaching out to landscape

Elwood House

Elwood House is a stately California Bungalow by the beach, where new works bind heritage and garden into a cohesive whole, via an exciting new renovation and addition.

Melbourne Architecture. Shadowplay on textured stucco wall, leading to outdoor shower and swimming pool.

Melbourne Architecture. View from heritage renovation of connection to outdoors.

The new spaces achieve a strong connection to the existing heritage dwelling through a consistent character and intensity of detail and material.

                                                                                      The white timber detail on the new addition references timberwork on the heritage renovation and splays out to the garden like a Japanese roofline.
Melbourne Residential Architects. The Master Ensuite. New interior elements reference timber mouldings in the heritage architecture, and textures of white ceramic and soft marble, make further connection to the building's history.

Subtle heritage references allow the new interiors to sit comfortably with the heritage dwelling, creating a cohesive whole.

New elements have been drawn from heritage detailing, such as an existing pergola on the original façade, stucco surfaces, intricate timberwork, and the heavy brick base –  all reinterpreted in a unique architectural expression.

Heritage details of the original Californian Bungalow
Textured cement render, brickwork, & timber detailing
Regency timber shiplap
Original timber moldings
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Heritage details of the original Californian Bungalow

The conceptual heart of Elwood House is a ceiling of broad white floating rafters that reference a pergola on the existing dwelling. The floating ceiling plane reaches out into the landscape, unifying interior and exterior living, old and new architecture.

Melbourne Architects. Subtle textures of white combine with pink hues of the flooring and lighting at the meals table.

A custom table designed by the architects extends marble from the kitchen to meals.

“…..the new addition at Elwood house literally breathes fresh air into this home. When the doors are open the outside merges with the inside and the airflow promotes relaxation and wellbeing.”

 

Architecture at the Heart of the Home by Jan Henderson and Dianna Snape. Published in 2021 by Thames and Hudson.

A restrained palette, textures of white and subtle pink, allows the green outside to become a central experience of the home.

Melbourne Architects. The Master bedroom at Elwood House is a tactile combination of white stucco, white rhythmic rafters, and soft fabrics, connecting vividly to the green of the garden outside.

Happy kitty

Melbourne Architects. View from the walk-in robe through the master bedroom and the garden beyond. Soft textures and ceiling rhythms create beautifully tactile spaces, extending outside to welcome the outdoors in.

Soft textures and ceiling rhythms create beautifully tactile spaces, extending outside to welcome the outdoors in.

A red brick base extends from the Californian Bungalow to form a new broad podium, in contrast to the textural white stucco.

The corner of Elwood House where the roof overhangs the outdoor shower and reaches out to the swimming pool in foreground.

Returning from the beach to the pool, via the outdoor shower.

” Elwood House is a direct response to our client’s wish for an outdoor lifestyle, suitable to living in their new beachside suburb.”

 

Andrew Mellios, Director, AM—Architecture.

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