Revitalising a Victorian-era home in Melbourne’s inner north, Bryant Street Residence by Freadman White carefully removes a 1990s addition, restoring original heritage details while integrating new elements with a minimal touch.
Completed in 2023, the renovation reflects the practice’s sensitive design approach and ambition to explore how existing urban contexts can be engaged to create homes that respect their past. Freadman White practice co-director and architect Illana Freadman shares that the owners had “a clear appreciation for the home’s heritage value alongside a desire for contemporary family living”. Their openness to preserve historic character—while rethinking the floor plan and introducing a new rear extension—allowed the project to develop with clear intent and direction.
In the original part of the house, the ground-floor sitting room and bedrooms are repurposed to create a main bedroom suite, study, and laundry. A custom bedhead, built-in robes and matching timber flooring unify the interiors with a refreshed and cohesive visual narrative. Upstairs, a new balcony balustrade repeats the soft arch of the study window. Additional bedrooms and a secluded second living area improve functionality while maintaining focus on the home’s heritage qualities.
Reflecting the proportions and character of the original dwelling, the extension provides a generous ceiling height. A glazed stairwell brings additional light into the kitchen and places the exposed bluestone base and textured brickwork on display. This connection to the building’s foundation becomes an anchor, highlighting the balance between old and new.
A glazed stairwell connects the new and old, drawing attention to the dwelling’s bluestone and brick foundation.
In deliberate contrast to the original brickwork and fine heritage detailing of the arched windows, intricate lacework and stained glass, materials rich in texture such as exposed concrete bring a strong, unrefined finish to the addition. This interplay of robustness and refinement informs the design. “A repeating colonnade creates architectural rhythm”, Freadman says, and “provides summer shade while allowing winter sunlight to reach the living space”. Timber adds material continuity and softens the concrete’s rawness, adding warmth and tactility. In the kitchen and service areas it lends a sense of crafted refinement, reinforcing the home’s balance between function and comfort.
Light, proportion, and restraint guide both the restorative and new elements of the home. By spatially combining different functions in the heritage volume, adding amenity, and by extending and introducing open and generous living areas, the home has been refreshed to suit contemporary needs.
Four-metre-high steel-framed pivot doors align with the colonnade, contributing to indoor-outdoor flow.
Artwork includes ‘Untitled’ (2024) by Angus Tjungurrayi from Station Gallery, ‘THIS WAY UP’ (2023) by Jake Walker from Station Gallery, ‘Found Series’ Sculptural Vessel #5 by Julianne Lewis from Craft Victoria, Japanese ceramic basket vase from Kazari, and the ‘Don’t Let Me Fall’ tumbler by Issy Parker from Craft Victoria.
The Saba Italia Pixel sofa, Lowe Furniture Manhattan coffee table, Cassina Soriana lounge designed by Afra & Tobia Scarpa, Halcyon Lake Anatolian Avanos 16 rug in the living room, complemented by a Japanese Iron Kama from Kazari.
The soft arch of the study window references the heritage brick arches. Pictured: Resident Kashmir chair.
The hallway features the Trizo21 Austere chandelier and ‘Untitled’ (2020) by Jake Walker from Station Gallery.
‘Tom Polo Leg to stand on (i)’ (2014) by Tom Polo from Station Gallery and Trizo21 Austere wall lights in the primary bedroom.
Raw, unfinished concrete asserts a bold presence while complementing the heritage brickwork.
