Stable & Cart House

2022 National Architecture Awards: Residential Architecture – Houses (Alterations & Additions) – Shortlist

Stable & Cart House | Clare Cousins Architects

Traditional Land Owners: Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people of the Kulin nation

Originally a stable and cart store designed by esteemed architect Harry A Norris, Stable & Cart House is a sensitive adaptation in North Melbourne, engaging thoughtfully with the imperfections and idiosyncrasies of the 1920’s brick warehouse. The design challenge presented itself as a paradox, to introduce the obligatory domestic programme while preserving the warehouse scale of the interior and memories of its past.

The original façade remains untouched, in its found condition. The interior strategy was an exercise in restrained removal, and repair only when structural integrity required intervention. Domestic zoning occurs around an introduced courtyard, with the insertion of rich blackbutt clad rooms, primarily containing spaces for utility or privacy. The rust-hued steel stair goes beyond its utility, playfully engaging with existing structural members, providing opportunities for elevated vantage points, and dividing the expansive living space into more intimate spaces.

Client perspective:
How does the design benefit the way you live/work/play/operate/educate/other?

The design provides a discreet, modern and comfortable urban refuge from the bustle of city life offering a sense of escape, privacy and calm around a courtyard garden – which is a token of the natural world. But this sense of disconnection from the city is countered by many reminders of the building’s past, and of its ongoing presence in North Melbourne, both through the rich surviving textures of the interior and through the undisturbed facade which hides the internal transformation.