Serre du Mont Stuart / Bence Mulcahy

Serre du Mont Stuart / Bence Mulcahy

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Text description provided by the architects. Culverden circa 1900 takes advantage of the elevation and aspect of Mount Stuart. Turning away from the street, towards Hobart and the River Derwent, it occupies a large development with a large private garden. Culverden has features typical of its Italian federation style: asymmetry, a narrow, square two-story entrance tower, and a wooden veranda adorned with a filigree iron balustrade. The house is red brick with a sandstone base, complemented by tall brick fireplaces encircled with glazed chimney pots.

The project involved:

– the demolition of the failing greenhouse in 1986 and its replacement with a new kitchen and dining room,

– a new bathroom and a dressing room leading to the master bedroom

– expansion and reconfiguration of the existing bathroom on the ground floor to provide level access from the guest bedroom, and

– associated landscaping, including a time machine in a hot tub.

The client expressed a desire to live “swallowed up by the garden”. The new addition was designed as a garden furniture, veranda or greenhouse. The new dining and kitchen area expands from the south corner of the existing house and encloses it. As one moves, traces of the new home gradually appear, culminating in the kitchen dining room where the full expanse is revealed. The kitchen is a formal bookend to the road through the house and connects the upper and lower landscaped terraces.

Upstairs, the bathroom and bathrobe are accessible directly from the master bedroom and are suspended above the dining area from the kitchen. The new addition shares formal characteristics with the existing one. The sandstone base establishes a link between the existing building and the landscape and anchors the new work. The addition of the greenhouse contrasts with the existing interior spaces of the existing residence. Transparent but deliberately and overtly structural, it captures the proximity to the gardens and formally establishes a relationship with the existing veranda, but also offers possibilities for storage and order in the kitchen.

Generous in volume, the space stretches upward, capturing the scale of immediate vegetation and city views, while resting in a subservient fashion under the soffit of the existing home. Handcrafted details and materials blur the distinction between the existing and the new, and ensure the continuity of pattern and texture throughout the space. The project presented opportunities for local artisans and skilled trades including an industrial blacksmith, heritage plasterer, metallurgist, ceramist, and materials such as tadelakt, brass and stoneware. Natural and handmade raw craftsmanship. Materials that age and acquire a patina have been favored.

A lived space. The new addition is double glazed for efficiency and incorporates a custom designed thermal cap system. It is naturally ventilated with custom steel casement windows and top level fans. It is served by the heating system of the existing houses. For guests, a busy professional couple and their children, the Mount Stuart Green House provides a stage, for family life linked to the garden and veranda, in a way that complements the quality and craftsmanship of the existing house.