There was plenty of scope for things to go wrong for this home reno

When a Sydney-based architect took on a Melbourne couple’s home reno, there was plenty of scope for things to go wrong.

Surprisingly, given the variety and choice of architects in Melbourne, the owners’ search ended beyond Victoria’s border. Complicating things further was the client’s architecture background. Would they be tempted to change, interfere and make the process more challenging?

Luckily for Sydney’s Pohio Adams Architects, the clients – a couple with two children – were open to pushing the envelope as much as running with ideas. And what started out as a tired old Edwardian house in St Kilda is now a light-filled family contemporary home that also creates touchstones to the past.

Sydney-based Pohio Adams Architects transformed a tired old Edwardian house in St Kilda.Credit: Ryan Wehi

The client, who only worked as an architect for a relatively short period, had been in the same year in the school of architecture at Auckland University as Bianca Pohio, a director of the practice.

“There were few constraints when it came to the design. Our client regularly travels the world looking at great architecture, including by architects Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier,” says Pohio, who worked closely with her life and business partner, architect Chris Adams. “I’ve known this client for 30 years, so there’s also that element of trust,” she adds.

Located in a leafy heritage streetscape, the Edwardian house set on a 475-square-metre site, was always going to be retained. However, the house – renovated over intervening years with a number of Arts & Crafts and Art Deco elements – “fell away” at the back with a poorly added lean-to. “We were also faced with a three-level apartment block to the rear of the property which meant that we had to address issues such as overlooking,” says Adams.

Pohio Adams Architects retained the front four rooms of the period home but reworked them into two separate bedrooms for the children and a large main bedroom and an en suite – with the remainder of the space used as a separate bathroom.

Beyond this more traditional arrangement with open fireplaces and decorative plaster ceilings, the house starts to express new forms and materials.

“Our client’s brief included a courtyard-style house that would minimise overlooking,” says Pohio.Credit: Timothy Kaye

There’s a large dose of glass bricks in the walls that envelop the first level, the curved staircase and extend into the basement, framing the car stacker.

Glass bricks aren’t a new material. They were first popularised by Pierre Chareau in the early 1930s when his masterpiece, Maison de Verre, translated to House of Glass, was unveiled. Many have since been inspired, but most fail to capture a real sense of this heroic Paris home.

For the St Kilda house, Pohio Adams Architects selected “Obeco”, the French glass block embedded with a raised circle that adds depth and texture as well as increasing privacy. The practice also drew inspiration from Mies van der Rohe’s crucifix-style steel columns and his penchant for using materials such as travertine. So, from the period home one moves into a light-filled extension, with a double-height ceiling over the dining and living area, and unimpeded sight lines from the south to the north, the latter benefiting from a swimming pool.

Pohio Adams Architects selected “Obeco”, the French glass block embedded with a raised circle that adds depth and texture as well as increasing privacy.Credit: Pohio Adams Architects

“Our client’s brief included a courtyard-style house that would minimise overlooking,” says Pohio, pointing out the elongated window in this living area that draws one’s eye to the garden, designed by Grounded Gardens. Travertine is also generously expressed throughout the home from the six-metre-long island bench in the kitchen to floors and bathrooms – the latter sometimes combined with onyx.

The light-filled extension has a double-height ceiling over the dining and living area.Credit: Timothy Kaye

The glass bricks also extend to the basement and are used to clad the bar that forms part of the second living area. The architects also used the circular motif found in these blocks to create skylights.

Although the site is relatively modest, the brief included a guest bedroom and a study which are found on the first floor, completely enveloped in these glass blocks. And to make the mezzanine study functional in a relatively open-plan arrangement, oak screen panels allow this section to be closed.

Glass bricks aren’t a new phenomenon, and travertine has been a material of choice since the early 20th century. However, this renovation by Pohio Adams is much more than merely working with these materials – it has expressed them in a new way that pushes boundaries and makes the spaces feel blurred to the courtyards. “I love seeing how the light washes down some of the curved walls. It’s not dissimilar to the effect of seeing the reflections of a water wall,” adds Pohio.

The Market Recap newsletter is a wrap of the day’s trading. Get it each weekday afternoon.