Elm Tree Place in Melbourne by Eastop Architects.

Sitting in a dense inner-northern suburb of Melbourne, amongst a preponderance of 19th-century Victorian style dwellings and leafy green streets, is Elm Tree Place by Eastop Architects. The existing Victorian-era terrace home was designed by the prolific Nonda Katsalidis in the 1980s and has recently conjured a new identity with foundations typical of contemporary Australian architecture.

Reminiscent of Tadao Ando’s work, where restraint results in clean lines of simplicity, Eastop Architects evokes all senses through the balance of chrome, glass and stone. The highly controlled use of material and light leads to a sequence of expressive and contrasting spatial experiences, where the walls, floor and light act as tangible blades.

From the street, Elm Tree Place thrives as a black volume rising from the ground, differing starkly from the rest of the homes in the laneway. The juxtaposing exterior is clad in corten steel which has been oiled and sealed to prolong the patina. Not only providing privacy from a street level, but the black screens and exposed brick outside also indicate the recherché charisma inside.

Internally, what would have otherwise felt quite clinical with glossy surfaces, dark flooring, hard angles, instead appears calm and inviting. Eastop Architects approached the multi-level home with an emphasis on light and landscape, carefully articulated and manipulated through layers of glass. The design team reveres the 80’s by retaining the palladium marble floor and introducing a two-level glass brick wall that allows natural light to filter through.

As each space flows subtly to the next throughout this multi-level home, the textured walls and dark timber floors reflect the soft glow from the filtered natural light. While the two bedrooms are situated on the lower levels, the first level comprises the kitchen, a small sitting area with a separate dining space, and a living room that leads to an internal garden. Designed for entertainment and a place of gathering, there is an emphasis on the cyclical layout.

As we all know, Melbourne’s best-kept secrets are often found at the end of a laneway, and this is ever so true with Eastop Architects’ Elm Tree Place. A townhouse for the present century, Elm Tree Place reflects its history, celebrates its locale and is designed for longevity, welcoming a new generation to create memories.

Related: Reinventing Compact Living: Rose Street by Eastop Architects.

[Images courtesy of Eastop Architects. Photography by Rory Gardiner.]