Architecture Matters P/L
The Architecture Matters office currently comprises seven staff, including two architect-directors and specializes in contemporary residential, commercial and local government projects throughout metropolitan Melbourne and regional and rural Victoria. We value close interaction with our clients in a collaborative and consultative design process that underpins the delivery of timely and cost-effective projects.
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Projects:
Universal Access Portal
Fitzroy Town Hall, 2008
The Fitzroy Town Hall Universal Access Portal project brief, called for the construction of a new formal entry and building access point into the existing 19th Century Town Hall that would meet the relevant disabled access requirements of the 21st Century. Prior to this project being undertaken the disabled access to the Fitzroy Town Hall was non-compliant with the current Building Code of Australia and the crux of this project was to resolve this issue. Being a building with significant heritage importance it was imperative that the design response was respectful to the existing building, minimising the interference with the existing building fabric and retained the integrity of the original built form. Further to the enclosed column and ashlar strength of the original 19th century government buildings, our contemporary Re-imaging of the traditional Town Hall portico reveals a transparency to the detail and workings of the circulation between the existing building elements and is an analogy to the required transparency of Modern local government.
Westgarth Street Renovations
Fitzroy, 2006
Constructed in three stages over four years, this project saw a virtually derelict Edwardian villa was extensively remodelled and enlarged. The front four rooms were retained but with an ensuite/bathroom and powder room inserted in one room whilst small internal courtyards flanking the extended central corridor were introduced to separate the ‘old’ front bed/bath rooms from the ‘new’ rear open-plan living areas. The courtyards served not only to provide a physical and visual break between the differing eras and functional zones of the house but also allowed for the introduction of greatly increased natural light throughout. A highly articulated gable-ended rear elevation maintained the roof pitch and ridge height of the existing house however a second-storey ‘attic’ room was able to be incorporated within in through by dropping this volume down into the tall volume of the rear room, breaking-up the otherwise open floor plan into clearly defined areas for the combined kitchen/laundry, meals and living areas.
Elwood Renovation and New Garage
Elwood, 2009
Through the refurbishment of the rear ground floor of the already twice renovated and extended 1920s villa and the rebuilding of the garage to form a visually arresting backdrop to the rear courtyard, this project significantly improved the feel, function and the thermal performance of the house whilst greatly enhancing the relationship between the property’s inside and outside spaces. The visual prominence of the garage from the house presented the opportunity to make an interesting architectural statement on a building element that rarely warrants or achieves such attention. A strongly geometric array of steel framed bi-fold doors glazed with three types of obscured polycarbonate panelling creates a vibrant screen to the otherwise conventional garage behind ‘ this is ‘thin’ architecture’.
