NEWPORT HOUSE

Situated on a compact site in suburban Melbourne, Newport House does a lot with a little, squeezing a 4-bed home onto a long narrow corner block.

Set up to formally address the shorter side of the block the program is treated as if in an urban rather than suburban context, targeting all possible outdoor spaces for courtyard connections to visually enlarge internal spaces and allow maximum use of the building envelope.

Cosy downstairs living connects to the generously appointed kitchen / dining / pantry via a glazed stair void / bridge zone, the street side of which is frosted to maintain privacy whilst lighting up as a lantern moment during the evenings. Upstairs living and courtyard facing balconies make use of carefully curated outdoor spaces at ground level, whilst a street facing balcony serves to break up the upper-level massing to the long street boundary.

A strong use of mass forms is offset with incisions and carefully placed curvilinear moments which provide a counterpoint to the possible brutality of the overall volume. Fine grain materiality comes by way of painted brick, weatherboard, and perforated block courtyard walls.

Newport House generates privacy to the streetscape and opens up generously to the internal, maximising space, light, and the lived experience for its people.