Welcome to our gallery featuring the Crocker Street house, by Moloney Architects.

Built in Ballarat, a smaller city near Melbourne, Australia, this project is an especially detailed extension to an original structure.

The original home was a 1920s-built brick house that had been renovated in the early 1990s, but lacked a necessary large open family space.

The new owners wanted to really open up the structure, and contacted Moloney for the extensive project, which involved redoing the landscape surrounding the home as well.

The original backyard layout was poorly planned, with a large double stall garage obscuring most of the northern light. Because Australia sits in the southern hemisphere, this lack of sunlight was an important consideration.

Because Ballarat stands in a relatively colder climate zone, the design proposal included the demolition of the garage structure, and complementary creation of a north-facing courtyard space in its place.

This L-shaped extension includes two distinct sets of large sliding glass doors, creating a visual and spacial connection between the interior and the new courtyard.

Although the architectural language of the extension is different than that of the original home, the designers chose materials and fenestration elements to complement the grand scale of the older structure. It’s a relatively seamless extension, in other words.

A walk through the home reveals several important improvements, like restored bedrooms and formal living areas, plus a simple square archway acting as a threshold to the new extension. It’s a subtle divide, perfectly reflecting the nature of the project.

The new space, as well as the original home it stems from, is a refined, restrained, warm and welcoming interior.

Moving inside the home, we first come to the grand, largely open living room space that commands attention at the center of the add-on. This area is flush with bright whites and warm natural wood tones, contrasted with darker hued furniture.

The open plan redesign offers up elegant, subtly handsome spaces like this home office, tucked into a cove within a larger open room. The sleek natural wood cabinetry defines this area, connected to the wider home via hardwood flooring and pristine white walls.

In this split screen shot, we take a look at the large central open space from two angles. First, we see the living room set back beyond the large kitchen island. Second, we see the stairs toward the bedroom area of the home, as well as one of the large sets of sliding glass doors.

With this angled view, we can fully appreciate the wide-open modern design of the addition. The restrained palette is a mixture of bright whites, natural wood tones, and deep blacks, making for a high contrast minimalism. The kitchen, dining, and living room areas all share this dynamic space.

Now here is a closer look at the kitchen, a sleekly minimalist space dominated by a large island with white countertop. A subtle white marble backsplash adds a dose of elegance, while sleek white cabinetry emphasizes the restraint of the design.

Moving back outside, we see the grand L-shape of the structure, wrapping the cozy courtyard. Full height glass panels all around make for an intriguing fluidity of space between indoors and out.