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The modest renovation of a postwar bungalow in Melbourne’s West Preston scores a double victory for heritage conservation and for sustainability.
ModestMakeover
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brenton’s roof garden-topped garage is a uti-funtiona spae oeringte fai an outdoorworkspae, storage spaeand additiona gardeningopportunities. up touid it ost i around$1000 wit pent of freeaour fro friends andfai. nstaation of teroof garden ost te saeagain, wit a working eeof a aaiae ands iftingte soi sste up addersin one ong da.
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west Preston is a Melbourne suburb briMMing
with postwar brick bungalows and a mix of long-timeresidents and young families lured to the area by itsroomy houses and large backyards.It’s a familiar story in Melbourne’s inner north,and one which has led to not a few unsympatheticrenovations and boxy additions. But what makes thisstory unusual is that instead of modernising the homeand extending its footprint, architect-owner Brentonand his family chose to retain and uncover the home’soriginal features and layout, creating a comfortablehome on a modest budget. Not only does it preservethe architectural heritage of a suburb, but from anenvironmental point of view it has resulted in significantsavings by reusing and revitalising the home’s existingmaterials. It’s a modest project, but it speaks volumes forsustainable development.Brenton began with the kitchen. He decided to keepthe room’s original configuration, which had served thehouse well for decades, and the fireplace.“We chose not to knock down the original kitchenfireplace. Lots of the houses around here have thefireplace knocked out for more space, but we think itadds to the charm of the room.”The kitchen cabinetry was also kept, but a new benchtop was necessary. Brenton sourced stone offcuts, but inhindsight would have preferred a laminate – “the stone benchtops that we have are quite irritating because they are very ‘clacky’. I feel like I am always about to break my glass when I put it down.” They built new joinery aroundthe stove, and found taps at the Coburg Trash andTreasure market. The cabinetry handles came from afriend’s old kitchen which was being demolished. All upthe family spent around $6000 on the kitchen, includingnew appliances – about two thirds of the minimum costestimate in Archicentre’s 2009/10
Cost Guide
(Archicentre prices kitchen renovations at between$10,400 and $31,100). Brenton is quick to point outthat such a low budget relied on being able to retain theexisting cabinetry and to undertake pretty much all the work himself (apart from service connections and new joinery). “I would never want to clean the inside of an oldchimney from 60 years of fatty cooking again,” he says.“And the two years that we lived with half finished tiling were not really an advertisement for ‘architecturally designed lifestyle choice’”.
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ording to brenton,“e utensi rai is astandard towe rai witooks we ougt fro ansian groer on vitoriastreet. e sees aefro a friend wo adte sitting on is aonfor two ears and neer gotaround to aking wat ewas going to fro te.e sees are it wit oneuoresent u, and we‘gapped’ te sees ote wa to gie te igtore eet.”
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between 10 and 20% ofeat oss in winter anour troug oors,so idea, tier oorssoud e instaed witunderoor insuation.Wit an existingoes underooraess isn’t possietoug, so a tik rugas sown ere is anadequate sustitute.
“I would never want to clean theinside of an old chimney from 60 years of fatty cooking again”
After the kitchen, Brenton set to work on the bathroom. He had the original cast iron bathre-enamelled
in situ
. After digging down through threelayers of vinyl Brenton discovered an original concretefloor, and was delighted to find it had original covededges. “You can’t find a builder willing to make anintegral concrete skirting or cove these days.” Hereplaced the vanity unit and decided to “float” orsuspend it over the floor – to make the room appear bigger than it is and to enable his prized coved concretefloor to be enjoyed in its entirety. The floor was finished with an Italian wax sealer (the
fondo woplus
system), which was trialled on the kitchen hearth before using onthe bathroom and in the reconfigured sunroom andlaundry. He chose a traditional curtain rail over the bathrather than a fixed glass screen: it’s much easier to cleanand replace a curtain than it is to keep a glass showerscreen free of mould and mildew, he reasoned.To create a connection to the backyard Brenton andhis family transformed the existing antechamber spaceadjacent to the laundry into a sunny study by adding new windows and a desk. The hardwood windows had glassinstalled on the outside face to create a usable window sill for books and potplants. Louvres were installed forcrossflow ventilation, and these were glazed with various coloured and textured glasses to give someprivacy and shadow play across the walls and floor.Brenton ground the floor by hand and sealed it with thesame wax used in the bathroom and kitchen. He says “a wax finish gives a surprisingly warm finish to concreteand doesn’t make it look like a layer of plastic has beenpoured over it”.
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