The outside room
Cleverly designed terraces add extra living space where you’ll definitely want to linger longer. By Stephen Crafti
The outdoor terrace is ingrained in the Australian psyche — a place that draws people irrespective of the weather. Often protected by pergolas, they function as outdoor rooms that are perfect for entertaining family and friends.
As we head into the warmer months, the pull of the terrace grows — be it for dining or simply relaxing around the pool.
Architect Lucy Clemenger was commissioned to oversee a renovation on an Edwardian house in the Gascoigne Estate precinct of Melbourne’s Malvern East. Originally The 1890s-era period home has previously been extended to include a second level, but that renovation didn’t really connect to the north-facing garden, prompting Clemenger and her team to add a contemporary kitchen and living wing, with generous glazing to frame the garden designed by landscape architect Fiona Brockhoff. “We also redefined the swimming pool, reducing its size to accommodate water tanks for the garden,” Clemenger says.
Clemenger Architects included a new first-floor terrace, protected by a pergola off the first-floor bedrooms, and also a small interstitial courtyard-style garden linking the period home to the new wing.
Complete with a day bed, this area offers a place to pause and reflect, with surrounding birch trees offering dappled light.
There’s also an enclosed garden accessed from the new kitchen and delineated by a pool fence. Here you’ll find an outdoor dining setting, a timber deck and a built-in barbecue.
Clemenger also created a curvaceous tiled alcove next to the swimming pool for the complete outdoor experience. “When you’re creating outdoor areas, you need to allow for respite from the summer sun,” says Clemenger, who included a pergola with a deciduous vine to increase light during the cooler months of the year.
She also suggests looking at the broader context of a garden setting, taking in borrowed views of neighbouring gardens and planting established trees from the outset to allow for sun protection.
Sydney-based architect Tobias Partners also focused on the outdoors for a new multi-level house in Lavender Bay. Spread over five levels, but only appearing as single level from the street due to a 16-metre fall to the water’s edge, there is a series of stepped gardens taking the form of terraces and balconies.
The main outdoor terrace can be found on the lowest level, adjacent to the rumpus room which includes a kitchenette. One of the most used spaces is the protected outdoor terrace which was thoughtfully planned by landscape architect Myles Baldwin. He also created a sliver of a garden on the south side of the rumpus room, to further create the sense of an outdoor room.
Benefiting from the proximity of Milsons Point and Luna Park in the foreground, views from the outdoor terrace are literally a moving feast. On the terrace, meals can be served for 12 people from the concealed barbecue located behind a large sliding door. Inside, seamless transitions to out are achieved by the large slabs of granite used by Tobias Partners in both the rumpus room and on the terrace. Encouraging dining outdoors even on chillier evenings, the off-form concrete soffit includes heating, lighting and also an audio system.
A built-in lounge allows the family to enjoy the outdoors irrespective of the weather. “It’s quite a sophisticated arrangement where everything has been thought through, whether that means accessibility or simply ensuring the right amount of sunlight, as well as shade,” says Richard Peters, a principal with Tobias Partners.
Albert Mo, director of Albert Mo Architects, was also keen to maximise use of the back garden for his own house, located in Kew in Melbourne. Unlike many homes benefiting from north-facing back gardens oriented to full sunlight, Mo’s house, originally designed by eminent architect Peter McIntyre in the 1950s, was oriented to the south. The property also had a significant fall of several metres towards the street that rendered the back garden underutilised.
As part of the renovation, which included restoring the original design and adding a new wing, Mo created a series of tiered terraces in the back garden, working with landscape architects Mud Office. The lowest level, closest to the house and connected to a study/home office, is akin to an overscaled garden bed.
On the first floor, accessed from a drawbridge, is the main outdoor terrace which allows seating for up to 20 people. And towards the top of the hill, adjacent to the swimming pool, is another outdoor area for the family. Instead of a traditional barbecue, Mo uses a smoker that allows meat to be slowly cooked. “Let’s face it, during the warmer months and over the Christmas period, when things slow down, there’s no rush to have meals quickly on the table,” Mo says.
Although the main outdoor terrace is oriented to the south, Mo enjoys the quality of the western sunlight towards the end of the day, as well as the morning light from the east. “The western light brings with it a certain theatricality,” says Mo.
To further create different experiences of the outdoors, both in a visual and in a physical sense, he treated the retaining walls on each level in a different manner — one being constructed in off-form concrete, another as a gabion wall (rocks arranged within a fence of steel), and the third being an original brick wall framing the swimming pool and lightly rendered. “It was about layering the back garden rather than creating the one experience,” Mo says.
For many homes designed in the 1950s, including those by architects Peter and Dione McIntyre, a terrace was the place to be for growing families wanting a healthy lifestyle, with children often shooed outdoors to get more sun.
Today, the traditional terrace has morphed into another room. That sunlight is now enjoyed by a new generation who not only want to play, but also to dine, swim and — for those fortunate enough — enjoy the views.
This is an extract from an article that appears in print in our thirteenth edition, Page 92 of Winning Magazine with the headline: “The outside room”. Subscribe to Winning Magazine today.
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