TOORAK
TYPE
LOCATION
STATUS
CLIENT
SITE AREA
FLOOR AREA
TEAM
Residential Alteration & Addition
North Perth, Western Australia
Development Approval Granted
Private
460m²
88m² alt — 126m² add — Total 214m²
Craig Nener
James Russell
Toorak is a considered reworking of a heritage cottage, where a series of atmospheric rooms and courtyards are carved around the retained original structure to bring light, coherence, and intimacy back into the home.
North Perth, WA
Nestled behind a richly detailed heritage façade, Toorak is a quiet reworking of a suburban villa—one that honours its age while gently stepping into the present.
Over the decades, a series of ad-hoc additions had obscured the home’s spatial clarity and fractured its relationship with the landscape. Our role was to bring coherence and light back into the home. The original walls and stained-glass windows were retained as a kind of internal ruin—preserved, framed, and reanimated by a new structure that wraps around them like a second skin.
Rather than an open-plan overhaul, the extension is a choreography of distinct rooms, each tuned to a different atmosphere—some dark and grounded, others open and bright. A sunken golden bathing space, timber-lined reading room, and reimagined bay window offer quiet moments of retreat and comfort. Thick walls, level changes, and deep reveals lend the plan a sense of mass and sculptural depth, as if carved rather than constructed.
Two new courtyards punctuate the plan. The primary courtyard buffers the main living spaces from the new garage and pool, drawing light and greenery into the home. A secondary courtyard, located where the old bathroom once stood, introduces natural light and ventilation into the new rumpus room, library, and dining space—enhancing their sense of depth and intimacy.
Above, the master suite is tucked fully within the roof form. A singular triangular peak pierces the heritage silhouette, subtly marking the home’s transformation.
TYPE
LOCATION
STATUS
CLIENT
SITE AREA
FLOOR AREA
TEAM
Residential Alteration & Addition
North Perth, Western Australia
Development Approval Granted
Private
460m²
88m² alt — 126m² add — Total 214m²
Craig Nener
James Russell
Toorak is a considered reworking of a heritage cottage, where a series of atmospheric rooms and courtyards are carved around the retained original structure to bring light, coherence, and intimacy back into the home.
North Perth, WA
Nestled behind a richly detailed heritage façade, Toorak is a quiet reworking of a suburban villa—one that honours its age while gently stepping into the present.
Over the decades, a series of ad-hoc additions had obscured the home’s spatial clarity and fractured its relationship with the landscape. Our role was to bring coherence and light back into the home. The original walls and stained-glass windows were retained as a kind of internal ruin—preserved, framed, and reanimated by a new structure that wraps around them like a second skin.
Rather than an open-plan overhaul, the extension is a choreography of distinct rooms, each tuned to a different atmosphere—some dark and grounded, others open and bright. A sunken golden bathing space, timber-lined reading room, and reimagined bay window offer quiet moments of retreat and comfort. Thick walls, level changes, and deep reveals lend the plan a sense of mass and sculptural depth, as if carved rather than constructed.
Two new courtyards punctuate the plan. The primary courtyard buffers the main living spaces from the new garage and pool, drawing light and greenery into the home. A secondary courtyard, located where the old bathroom once stood, introduces natural light and ventilation into the new rumpus room, library, and dining space—enhancing their sense of depth and intimacy.
Above, the master suite is tucked fully within the roof form. A singular triangular peak pierces the heritage silhouette, subtly marking the home’s transformation.