An extension to a single fronted Victorian Terrace located within Melbourne’s inner-north.

Storybook House is a study of inner city living, this project optimises the existing footprint to create a functional small family home with a series of multi-use spaces.

The building is curated to frame views into a series of open garden spaces – including internal courtyards, a roof garden and borrowing the landscape from the adjacent park and outlook to Melbourne’s skyline.

The implementation of these open spaces connects the home to its local context and environment – while supporting passive ventilation, natural daylight and environmentally sustainable design principles.

The functional planning is tight however the ceiling heights, mezzanine levels, active circulation spaces that conceal laundry, services, kitchen and storage under an in built sofa help to create the perception of a larger volume that is efficient and pragmatic.

The material palette supports this clarity and perceived volume, its neutral in tone and texture and subservient to the neighbourhood within which it sits. White and cream terracotta tiles clad the exterior of the addition to emphasis its formal qualities and the vocabulary it mimics – the traditional pitched tile roof.