Christian Residence

Christian Residence

Matt Gibson Architecture as Architects

The renovation of this Federation dwelling requested partial demolition and a contemporary extension at the rear. The owner / builder client requested ‘a strong engineering component as a unique feature’. An early sketch drawing proposed zoning off the existing building from the new into a designated functional program – front building as sleeping & rear as living.


From early on a major idea was to have the new elements detach themselves completely for the heritage fabric. Narrow roof light connections help accentuate a reading of history as well as functionally daylight the central areas of the house. Previous red brick external walls become internal surfaces and ‘textural artwork’ for many of the new rooms.


The ‘engineering element’ takes place in the form of 2 large cantilevered plates (floor and ceiling canopies) that are inserted deep into the ‘square tube’ of the main Living pavilion. The ‘tube’ open at either end frames neatly the brick Federation building to the north, whilst at the south the ‘plates’, following the floor level of the existing building cantilever out 3.5m into the garden. The ‘plates’ are detailed such that they appear to hover seemingly free of the box.

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