Camberwell House by AM Architecture in Victoria, Australia

Project: Camberwell House
Architects: AM Architecture
Location: Camberwell, Victoria, Australia
Area: 5,920 sq ft
Photography: Dianne Snep

Camberwell House by AM Architecture

The Camberwell House, located in Victoria, Australia, is a beautiful home designed by AM Architecture. The unique L-shaped block faces a green park, offering spectacular views of the surroundings. The project's goal was to create more space for the family while maintaining a connection to the street and the beautiful park views.

To achieve this, a new separate layout for living spaces was created, allowing high ceilings and an unobstructed view of the park. The pavilion concept emerged from this, with wooden columns defining the pavilion and supporting a wooden roof above. Large glass surfaces were used to embrace natural beauty and allow winter sunlight to penetrate deep into the space.

The use of natural materials, mid-century modern furniture, and careful placement of brick walls ensure annual natural temperature regulation, making the Camberwell House a truly unique and functional space.

The site is located in Camberwell, Victoria, on a distinctive L-shaped block facing a green park. The existing architecture is made of pre-stressed concrete on the first floor, standing on external brick planes at the base. The living spaces were originally located on the first floor.

The main task was practical: more space for a large family, better zoning, and most importantly, creating a stronger connection to the street without losing the magnificent views of the neighboring park. To solve this typical dilemma, we created a new separate layout for living spaces and redirected the entrance into this new central space, which now acts as a connecting element between clearly defined zones: children's area, parents' area, guests' area, living area, and outdoor space.

The feeling of the new space is like standing on a fence, fully connecting with the park, while the separate layout allows high ceilings to embrace the green space. The pavilion concept naturally emerged here. Wooden columns form the boundaries of the 'pavilion' and support a wooden roof above. The rhythm of these columns creates tactility and depth at the edges of the space, modulating the rigidity of the glass surfaces. The external brick planes reappear to frame the new interior space, suggesting that living areas are outdoors. Simple ceramic fluorescent lights hang above each column, and a dramatic fireplace enhances the verticality of both the space and surrounding trees.

The space follows its mid-century modern roots in horizontal lines, honesty of steel connections and beams, natural materials, and joinery details. The external venetian blinds enhance the 50s Venetian charm, and the space is furnished with mid-century modern but contemporary furniture.

The new living areas were placed in the northeast and northwest. Large glass surfaces are used to embrace natural beauty and allow winter sunlight to penetrate deep into the space. To balance large glass surfaces, we used high-performance insulated double glazing with low-emissivity coating.

Large internal brick walls were carefully placed to allow their thermal mass to absorb morning, daytime, and evening sun, regulating internal temperature year-round. Sun penetration is controlled by northern eaves and external venetian blinds covering the full length of the main northeastern and northwestern facades.

All new spaces have natural cross-ventilation, and all natural wood is native plantation-grown oak. High arched windows are protected from late western sun with deep finishes that echo the rhythm of glazing and architectural divisions of the existing house. They serve to block hot sun but also catch the color of late afternoon sunlight, creating a warm atmosphere in spacious rooms.

– AM Architecture