Restoring and Extending Wongi House: Navigating Heritage Constraints and Orientation Challenges

Ben Callery Architects successfully restored and extended Wongi House in Fitzroy North, Melbourne, which was originally built in the early 1900s.

The project presented several challenges, including navigating heritage constraints and dealing with a challenging orientation. The brief was to retain and restore the existing front rooms of the heritage house while adding a new, contemporary addition to the rear that would not be restricted architecturally. The owners wanted the finished home to reflect the different periods of time that it was created and recreated, and council stipulations required the rebuild to replicate the original. Detailed heritage drawings were used as a blueprint.

To ensure the restoration of the old part of the house was structurally sound, thermally stable and energy efficient, the rooms were upgraded. For the rear addition, a two-storey design was created to house a bedroom with an ensuite and walk-in robe upstairs and an open-plan living room on the ground floor. The challenge of the site was its orientation, with the north to the side and west to the rear, making it difficult to bring in warming northern sun without overshadowing the neighbouring property to the south. To solve this problem, Ben Callery Architects used highlight windows, which are wide, short windows positioned high on the wall of a room. The angled roof and ceiling design also helped to bring in natural light and warmth while being low on the south.

The original 1900’s part of the house used a deep verandah to block out the harsh sunlight, whereas the new, contemporary addition was designed to embrace winter sun. To prevent overheating, Shade Factor was approached to supply a number of motorised external venetian blinds and a retractable awning to control it in summer. The west-facing windows required excellent external shading, and Ben Callery Architects chose Shade Factor’s External Venetian Blinds with Flat-Edge Slats. The ground floor bi-fold glass doors are full width, creating a sense of space and connection with the small backyard. The folding arm awning over these doors provides great shading in the afternoon and extends the living space into the backyard. The highlight windows to the north required operable external venetian blinds to prevent overheating in summer while allowing in full sunlight when it’s wanted in winter.

The trapezoid-shaped asymmetric external venetian blinds on the west-facing window to the bedroom were the hero of the project, allowing the occupant to block out the late afternoon summer sun while also opening up fully to enjoy the sunsets over the neighbouring rooftops and palm trees.