the [back]yard goes on forever

where do we start
at the beginning of course
“vicky, clinton, cecil and a record collection”
that kind of sums up the brief


kind of sums up their attitude to the whole architect renovation build process thinking about it now
vicky, clinton, cecil and a record collection
of course they weren’t quite so initially upfront about their various collections
but eventually their wine collection entered the fray


one thing that stays with me from this project was the phrase; “we like what you do… you decide”

god love them

a whole manner of questions
“what sort of taps would you like?”
“you decide!”

somewhere there should be a statue

depicting vicky, clinton, cecil and their fabulous record collection




they had bought a simple but quite beautiful early victorian timber home that came with... well let’s just say it, a 1970’s disaster attached
that in turn had been even further decimated by someone in the early noughties probably intending a quick turnover

but a wonderful backyard

as the legendary ed keupper once penned, “the yard goes on forever”

so did this one

with a various collection of fruit bearing trees of decent age
you’d wander through these fruit bearing beautifies for half an hour before you’d hit the back fence

i’m exaggerating a tad bit but it just adds to the drama of it all




their aim was reasonably universal

3 bedrooms
ensuite and a main bath
living, dining, kitchen… big kitchen to make mess in
space, light

and somewhere to store their record collection


we presented 8 design options

they went with option 7

well why wouldn’t you
it’s a lucky number the number 7

from that initial sketched schematic design to the finished product, it hardly changed
hardly changed, but certainly developed


now when l was a fresh faced student studying at w.a.i.t. in bentley w.a, something that was drummed into me by the astute tutors was “corridors are bad… always reduce corridors, corridors are a waste of space… oh my god is that a corridor???? fail!!!!”

but you gotta love a good corridor don’t you
corridors are where you bump into people

jona lewis suggested that you’d always find him in the kitchen at parties

i always ended up in the corridor

with dozens of others

all of us drunk and happy to be in that corridor with all these other happy drunk people


obviously people love corridors

only lecturers and tutors of architecture despise them

the rest of us… corridors… bring them on




so the chosen design… it is really a celebration of the corridor

it embraces the traditional front door central to the facade opening on to the central corridor which leads into the house
the corridor is the spine of the building

we removed the 70’s disaster …. why, so we could continue the corridor of course

the corridor leads to everything

the corridor is like a tree trunk off which both internal and external spaces hang like branches
it allowed us to stretch the whole building so we could embrace the depth of the backyard
where there was an old fruit tree we left a courtyard and the corridor provided a bench seat and large sliders to open onto the court

this corridor made you travel

it gave you no option


all the bedrooms located in the front original weatherboard

in the centre, courtyards, the bathroom, a study nook, a record collection, a meeting bench, a laundry...





and all the dining & living spaces out the back




vicky and clinton had spent a stint in port fairy, before that, portland - prior to buying in geelong anyway

besides admiring what we had done with drifthouse in port fairy, they held in high esteem the stamina and determination of john and colleen [owners of drifthouse as well  as homeowner clients of our “marvellous what a difference milo makes” project]

ultimately i think because john and colleen had used us… well that was more than good enough for vicky, clinton, cecil and their record collection


there was a country feel to them as clients

can’t help it… when i think country… i think sheds

wool sheds, wood sheds, shearing sheds, storage sheds and engineering sheds... anything corrugated and slightly raised off the ground




that thinking dictated the approach to our materiality and finishing

that helped our bottom line as we were very open to practical everyday materials as well as the texture, patina, and sense of memory contained within recycled and found materials

during demo as layers of plaster were coming off the walls, this response was reinforced as we discovered old rough cut timber lining boards as well as hessian lining hidden under the plaster

the art is to tie all these materials together

so that many elements come together to feel as a whole
in that respect the corridor came into its own
allowing the layering of materials to unfold and to represent themselves in a different form, a different usage

in the main ensuite where we discovered the old rough cut timber lining boards we really embraced and retained them




the hessian we removed but then re introduced by wrapping 3 large sliding doors in hessian

of course finding any artisan with the skills and know how of working with a material used a century ago wasn’t difficult

not when you’ve got cimone and myself sitting around looking for a side project


in the new section of the build we used bracing ply with exposed manual fixings to reinforce this earthy textural rural feel
we counterbalanced these earthy tactile elements by using exuberant marbles, full walls of colourful tiles, cantilevering kitchen benches...




the bathroom has a second hand green enamel 1950’s bathtub…. $200 off facebook marketplace and just around the corner from the site

as architects of course we reinvented it by designing in supports so that it appears to hover




we trick the senses into coming alive…. in a very relaxed casual sort of way

and if that’s not enough for you … we threw in a bright green exposed steel truss just for good measure




the 100-year-old orange tree sitting in the kitchen courtyard, well it’s not a 100 percent happy about its treatment from the roof plumbers... but who is nowadays

but it’s still hanging in there and still bearing fruit all the same

a bit like multiplicity one might suggest


a big thanks to our wonderful clients
and their record collection
not to mention their wine collection

to maria, pete and gaz from mathersons construction group
vincent yeap our engineer

and last but by no means least ryan the wonder painter